Carnival of Soul

As anyone who works in or around the music industry knows, it’s the behind the scenes men and women who have the best stories, who see the most and are responsible for driving the machine.

Bob Dylan won’t take you through his writing process, but Daniel Lanois, who produced Time Out Of Mind, will. I once asked Questlove his dream interview for the Pandora show he was doing at the time and he said Michael Jackson’s engineer, because Questlove knows that is who can share the secrets on what it was like to be in the studio for Thriller.

So the Rock Godz Hall Of Fame, which bills themselves as celebrating “Musicians who built the legacy of rock music,” is a very worthwhile endeavor, The group, which was founded in 2009 by Cynthia Lundeen, held their annual awards ceremony this past Sunday at the Canyon in Agoura Hills, California. The event featured a surprise performance by Rick Springfield.

Lundeen explained to me the impetus behind the organization and how it started.

“As I, through the years, have gotten to know people in the music industry it just amazes me all that goes in to what we experience at the end of the process. So I think that’s how it started and also that there really was no organization that acknowledged the individual contributors, not just musicians. But the stage guys, the producers, the Rita Wilde’s, the Tommy Nast’s, the Sandy Rizzo’s, the people that really have been there throughout the years doing the same things over and over, always there to bring the music on,” she says, referencing industry insiders and veterans known within the music world. “And that’s really the concept, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is now just mostly bands. But we are individuals period, no bands. We acknowledge the bands they’ve been in and say, ‘That’s great, that’s why they’re here.’ But it’s about them and their career and just saying thank you for what they do.”

Indeed, this year’s class is a wide range of musicians and industry veterans. The 2019 inductees include Alex Skolnick, guitarist in the band Testament; Bob Glaub, a session bassist who’s played with Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt and more; Brett Tuggle, a composer and player who has worked with Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Isaak, Steven Tyler and more; Burleigh Drummond, a drummer who helped found Ambrosia; Danny Kortchmar, one of the most respected musicians in the business for his work Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Carole King and more; Greg Leisz, who also works with Browne, among others; Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bova; iconic drummer Jim Keltner, who has played with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton and more; pianist/drummer John J.R. Robinson; Skid Row co-founder Rachel Bolan; musician/producer/songwriter Richie Zito; radio personality Rita Wilde; producer/mixer/engineer Ross Hogarth; musician/producer Rowan Robertson and instrumentalist/singer Teddy Andreadis.

Also inducted was Peter Beckett, co-founder and singer of the band Player, best known for the massive ’70s hit “Baby Come Back.” Beckett spoke to me about the honor.

“The thing that’s different about this one is it’s not all artists. There are all these musicians, especially in L.A., but all over the country, and they’re really highly rated musicians. And there were a whole bunch of them there last night. And they played with everybody, from [Eric] Clapton to Elton John and this, that and the other. And they never really get appreciated,” he says. “That’s mainly what I got from last night, what this particular award show is all about. I’m a little different in I had a hit record, and sang it and wrote it and everything. But I met a lot of people that I worked with for the last 40 years and these guys have worked with John Lennon, Bob Dylan and it’s just crazy. So these guys get rewarded for their time put in.”

For Lundeen, that was the goal. And after 10 years of Rock Godz, she has more plans in the works.

“We’re working on an induction ceremony in Minnesota, Minneapolis, my hometown, with Prince’s Revolution band members. And I’ve wanted to do that because I used to know Prince before he became famous,” she says. “His band used to come to my house when I was a young person in Minneapolis. We had a Bible fellowship. Prince was into learning about religion. We were all young people and the band would come over. So I thought it would be really cool to acknowledge some of those early members of that band in our home state, And we’d really like to grow the organization and continue to go to other places.”