Monday, March 5, 2012

2012 Hall of Fame Announcement-Tuesday 9:30am

As many of you have already noted, the 2012 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees will be officially announced Tuesday morning at 9:30am, central time. (that is 10:30am in the east). The announcement is being webcast on the CMA website, so like many others, I will be watching it live.

There are 5 finalists in each category. The finalist list is supposed to be kept private, only known to the voters. I had one voter tell me a few years back that if the list of finalists did get out and the CMA found out who released it, that person would lose their voting right. My thought is that they do not want to make the other finalists who did not get in feel bad. Especially if they are listed year after year. One of the reasons that the CMA stopped doing the Hall of Fame announcement as part of the annual awards show in the fall was that those not elected were complaining about having to dress up and sit on camera and smile at not getting in. I know Minnie Pearl, Kitty Wells and Hank Snow all complained about that.

With that said, for the 2nd time I have seen a list of 5 finalists that has been floating around the internet. I do not know if this is the official list of 5 or not, but I would not be surprised if most of these were correct. Anyways, here we go:

Modern Era: Garth Brooks, Ronnie Milsap, Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers and Ricky Skaggs.

Veteran Era: Archie Campbell, June Carter Cash, Connie Smith, Jerry Reed and Hank Williams, Jr.

Touring Musician: The assumption is that Don Rich will be elected. I do not see any of the 4 other names being floated around.

If these are the 5 finalists, here is how I handicap the vote:

Modern Era:
Who Should Be Elected: Ronnie Milsap
Who Probably Will Be Elected: Garth Brooks

Veterans Era:
Who Should Be Elected: Archie Campbell
Who Probably Will Be Elected: Connie Smith

I know it probably means nothing, but Connie Smith was scheduled to do the Opry on this past weekend but cancelled out and Ronnie Milsap was scheduled to host the Midnight Jamboree, but he also cancelled. Also at the Opry on Saturday night, Jim Ed Brown was reportedly asking if anyone had hear anything regarding the Hall of Fame, so I would say, and I am sorry to say, that The Browns, who should get in, probably won't.

Knowing how these things go, I am probably wrong on all counts, but it is fun to speculate. Good luck to all the nominees. We all have our favorites and they are all deserving!!

11 comments:

  1. Byron:
    I have seen those same names floating around for several weeks now as well.

    The five names in the musician catagory I have seen have been Rich, Brother Oswald, Hargus Robbins, Johnny Gimble and Hank Garland.

    I would love to see Brother Oswald go in, but with Johnny Gimble still with us at 85, he would have been my pick. Three more years....you just never know.

    Of the Veterans mentioned: Archie, Connie Smith, Jerry Reed, Hank, Jr. and June Carter Cash, my pick would also be Archie. I'm guessing as well it will be Connie Smith (and who could argue?). Missing is The Browns, Bobby Bare, The Wilburn Brothers and Dottie West (all four of these acts should be elected before the stars of the 70's take over this catagory, and I'm afraid that has already happened!). Also, I would have thought there would have been a push to get Mother Maybelle & The Carter Sisters elected over June, just as a solo act on her own?

    Yes, put Garth Brooks in and just get it over with! Then let's move on to Milsap, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs..etc...

    We'll know tomorrow. I'll be watching, and I'll be happy for those elected. Like it or not the Country Music Hall of Fame is not the easiest to get into. That is what makes it special. Those elected surly must be worthy.

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  2. David, my thought on June Carter is that if she was going to get in it would have been a couple of years ago when the "Walk The Line" movie came out and people were really talking about June.

    I 100% agree with you on Dottie West, The Browns, The Wilburn Brothers and especially Bobby Bare. When I see Tom T go in, I thought Bobby was next, but it was not to be.

    I do find it interesting that last year, The Browns and Ray Stevens were actually finalists, but are missing this year. It shows how the voting can change from year to year.

    (from Byron, aka fayfare)

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  3. Maybe we'll get lucky and have a tie again this year !

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  4. I was hoping for a mass induction like they had in 2001.Maybe not yet.I would be diffrent if they had 3-5 people from each category go in.

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  5. Johnny, ask Bill Anderson how he feels about the mass inductions? He was part of one and I don't believe it seemed very special too him.

    If they did a mass induction I would be more in favor of limiting it to deceased acts only. But really, I'm not in favor of one at all.

    The Country Music Hall of Fame is exculsive. That is what makes it special.

    I would love to see Stringbean, Bradley Kincaid, Hank Locklin, Cowboy Copas..etc.. all go in, but not if it takes away from the "who's who" of the hall.

    The veterans I mentioned above, The Wilburns, The Browns, Archie Campbell, Bobby Bare and Dottie West are all well deserving acts. I'd say they are the only ones of their generation who stand a chance of getting in before we get to the Charlie Daniels, Kenny Rogers, Hank, Jr., Jerry Reed acts of the 70's & 80's. And each year that goes by without those I mentioned above getting in, will make it extra thougher the next year for them.

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  6. David B., I know Byron has mentioned this. Ol' Whisper was elected independently of the mass induction, but--and this is why I would add you were right in principle--he made it a point to say that was the case and had the Hall of Fame do the same. The point being, he wasn't actually part of the mass induction and he did indeed look down on that.

    I think we all could agree that all of the candidates are deserving, no question. The idea that The Browns and Bobby Bare and Dottie West are not finalists boggles the mind. I don't know whether Byron is right on his predictions, but I will offer my two cents (I'm overvaluing myself) and say that any of the five from the modern era would be deserving, but Garth is, truthfully, the least deserving. Not because he doesn't belong, but because the four others did a lot to pave the way for him.

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  7. I agree--no mass inductions are needed. Perhaps expanding the categories again might be an answer. Mike and David are both right about the feelings of Bill Anderson. For about a year after the mass induction, he made sure that everyone knew that he was not part of that group. I also know that Waylon Jennings and Don Gibson did not think much of it either. Neither attended their induction.

    By fear is that if they go ahead and put Garth in this year, it will open the door for the rest of that group including Alan Jackson, Clint Black, The Judds, Brooks & Dunn and a few others of that era to go in immediately, while overlooking folks like Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Milsap, the Oaks and others who came ahead in the years before Garth. We have seen it play out this way before.

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  8. Fred here:

    Bill Anderson might have looked down his nose at the mass induction ... but to whom of that class was he superior?

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  9. Well I am inclinded to think that of that 2001 class of HOF inductees Bill Anderson may have been THE most important.

    In addition to his solo career with 7 No. 1 hits and 29 other top tens (some of which, including "Still", "Mama Sang A Song", "I Get The Fever"..etc are now classics), he is properly one of the most prolific songwriters in the annuals of Country Music History. A sample of the songs written or co-written by him are: "When Two Worlds Collide"- Roger Miller; "Saginaw, Michigan" - Lefty Frizzell; "I Don't Love You Anymore" - Charlie Louvin; "The Lord Knows I'm Drinking - Cal Smith; "Which Bridge To Cross" - Vince Gill; "Slippin' Away" - Jean Shepard; "City Lights" - Ray Price; "Once A Day", "Nobody But A Fool" & "Cincinnati, Ohio" - Connie Smith; "Wish You Were Here" - Mark Wills
    "Two Teardrops" - Steve Wariner; "Whiskey Lullaby" - Brad Paisley; "I May Never Get To Heaven" - Conway Twitty; "A Lot of Things Different" - Kenny Chesney and "Give It Away" - George Strait. NOW THAT'S A HECK OF A CATALOG!

    And in addition to being a hit for Anderson himself, the classic "Tips of My Fingers" (penned by Whispering Bill), has been a major hit for Roy Clark, Eddy Arnold, Jean Shepard and Steve Wariner. If there was ever a country "evergreen" tune, it is that classic.

    Now compare that career to The Delmore Brothers or Homer & Jethro !! Waylon Jennings MAY top him from the class of 2001, but other than that I'm not seeing it ! Sorry.

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  10. David, I don't disagree in the least. I would rate Bill Anderson above all of them. That said, while we do have to make choices here--well, the voters do--that doesn't make the others undeserving. I'd debate whether Waylon was more deserving, but Don Gibson isn't far behind Ol' Whisper.

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  11. I think the right way is inducte 2-3 of the older acts [pre-1965],2-3 from the 1970s-1980s,then 1-2 from 1990s.Keep doing for a few years,that way will get the hugh backlog get smaller.

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