CLEVELAND – Miles Davis could be headed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even if rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t his claim to fame.
The late jazz legend has been nominated for induction into the Rock Hall here next year, along with singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, new-wave group Blondie, British Invasion faves the Dave Clark Five and a dozen other far-flung performers.
Besides those aforementioned artists, other first-time nominees on the latest Rock Hall ballot include the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Black Sabbath, the quintessential heavy-metal group led by Ozzy Osbourne, received its eighth nomination.
Also in the running again after being snubbed in the past are John Mellencamp, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the J. Geils Band, the Stooges, the Patti Smith Group, the Sex Pistols, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Chic and Joe Tex.
“It’s probably the most eclectic list we’ve ever had,” says Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. He also sits on the hall’s nominating committee.
The 2006 induction ceremony will be held in New York City, Stewart says. Details have not been announced.
Trumpet player, bandleader and composer Davis was born in Alton, Ill., and raised in East St. Louis. From the 1940s until his death from pneumonia, respiratory failure and a stroke in 1991 at the age of 65, he pushed the boundaries of jazz, from bebop through jazz fusion and beyond.
Davis “certainly wasn’t playing straight-ahead jazz in his later years,” Stewart says.
Davis influenced many rockers, not only musically, but in terms of his attitude, Stewart says.
Tommy LiPuma, who co-produced three albums for Davis, says he would love to see the jazz icon’s memory honored, although it’s a stretch to enshrine him in the Rock Hall.
“I’m not sure you can look back at the guy’s recordings – maybe with the exception of “Bitches Brew’ – and put anything in the rock category,” says LiPuma, chairman of Verve Music Group, the world’s largest jazz record company.
All the same, Davis “loved all kinds of music,” LiPuma says.
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