As we have mentioned here on Notinhalloffame.com, we don’t foresee us ever ranking those who are not in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. This is not to say that we don’t have respect for this institution as we certainly do, but as much as songwriting is an obviously vital part of music, this Hall of Fame does not raise even a fraction of the ire and passion that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does.
Regardless of that fact, there is a major event which occurred yesterday as they have announced their 2014 Class which includes a pair of recognizable names and three names who penned for some of the greatest musical legends of all time.
The arguable headliner is Ray Davies, the frontman and songwriter of the popular British band, The Kinks. The band themselves have long since been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though it can be argued that this is an overdue induction as Davies was not a songwriter who penned the standard rock tune. He could appeal to the working class, the avant garde and those who just wanted a cheery pop song.
The other high level name selected was Donovan, who also was selected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Scotsman was a major force on the Folk scene that was labelled as a genius by some and eccentric by others; of which they might both be right. No matter what, he was unique and he is a man of which time has shined a very positive light.
They are joined by another man from the United Kingdom, Graham Gouldman. He penned three well known songs that have persevered from the late 60’s, including two made famous by the Yardbirds (Heart Full of Soul & For Your Love) and Bus Stop which was recorded by the Hollies. He was a performer himself and was part of 10cc, which themselves had a decent run.
The fourth inductee is Mark James, form the United States. He wrote “Hooked on a Feeling” which was performed by his friend, B.J. Thomas and “Suspicious Minds” which was arguable Elvis’ last great hit. In our opinion, his greatest songwriting performance was “Always On My Mind” which was executed so well by Willie Nelson, that he often erroneously receives credit for writing it.
The final inductee is Jim Weatherly, also an American. Like everyone else selected this year, he wrote many hits but was known mostly for his work writing the majority of the songs for Gladys Knight and the Pips, including “Midnight Train to Georgia”.
We would like to congratulate this year’s class, and we will certainly keep an eye on who will be selected next year.
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