Harold Wexler requested this, and it’s a good idea: here are the 80 inductees into the Hall of Acclaim (through the 1979 election), in alphabetical order:
Louis Armstrong
The Band
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
Chuck Berry
Big Star
Black Sabbath
David Bowie
Jacques Brel
James Brown
The Byrds
Johnny Cash
Ray Charles
The Clash
Leonard Cohen
John Coltrane
Sam Cooke
Elvis Costello
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Miles Davis
Bo Diddley
Fats Domino
The Doors
Nick Drake
Bob Dylan
Duke Ellington
The Everly Brothers
Ella Fitzgerald
Fleetwood Mac
Aretha Franklin
Marvin Gaye
Al Green
Merle Haggard
Jimi Hendrix
Billie Holiday
Buddy Holly
Howlin’ Wolf
Robert Johnson
The Kinks
Kraftwerk
Leadbelly
Led Zeppelin
John Lennon
Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Richard
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Curtis Mayfield
Charles Mingus
Joni Mitchell
Thelonious Monk
Bill Monroe
Van Morrison
Roy Orbison
Parliament/Funkadelic
Gram Parsons
Pink Floyd
Elvis Presley
Ramones
Otis Redding
Lou Reed
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
The Rolling Stones
Roxy Music
Sex Pistols
Simon and Garfunkel
Frank Sinatra
Sly and the Family Stone
Patti Smith
Bruce Springsteen
Steely Dan
The Stooges
Television
The Temptations
The Velvet Underground
Muddy Waters
The Who
Hank Williams
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young
Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention
And the 21 Backstage inductees (there were 2 in 1970), also alphabetically:
Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Lester Bangs
Willie Dixon
Brian Epstein
Ahmet Ertegun
Alan Freed
George Gershwin
Berry Gordy
John Hammond
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland
Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller
Alan Lomax
George Martin
Malcolm McLaren
Les Paul
D.A. Pennebaker
Sam Phillips
Cole Porter
Harry Smith
Phil Spector
Jann Wenner
