Rock’s Hall of Famers Tame the Night : All Are Polite at the Ninth Ceremony; Even the Jam Minimizes Previous Chaos

Paul McCartney read a fond letter to John Lennon. Bono riffed a poem of freedom and solidarity about reggae great Bob Marley. Bruce Springsteen and Axl Rose came together to sing the Beatles’ “Come Together.” Eric Clapton, who admitted that he traveled to Woodstock in the late ‘60s hoping to join the Band, got his wish by singing and playing guitar on a rousing grand finale of “The Weight.” Bruce Hornsby talked about being a teen-age Deadhead and an adult member of the Grateful Dead.

All in all, a relatively uneventful year in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The ninth annual ceremony, relocated to Manhattan after 1993’s sojourn in Los Angeles, was a smoothly run cavalcade of stars. Like the middle-aged veterans it celebrates, the gala was tame and polite. Even the jam session that ended the four-hour extravaganza after midnight was organized to diminish the chaos of pre-’93 years: Each song featured a different agglomeration of players and singers, avoiding past displays of everyone-in-the-pool sonic confusion.

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was jammed with celebs, including Kings hockey star Wayne Gretzky, QVC mogul Barry Diller, RuPaul, Phil Spector and U2. But the ceremony was just as notable for its absences. Of the 10 awards, three were made posthumously, to Bob Marley, John Lennon and Willie Dixon. For various other reasons, ranging from the Los Angeles earthquake to overseas commitments, Rod Stewart, Eric Burdon of the Animals, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and Levon Helm of the Band were not present.

Elton John accepted his statuette from Guns N’ Roses leader Axl Rose, who characterized the flamboyant pop star as his greatest inspiration. Twang guitar star Duane Eddy got his from Foreigner’s Mick Jones (subbing for an absent John Fogerty). Enough members of the Band, the Dead and the Animals were there to make it all seem right and proper--maybe a bit too right and proper: The sight of the Grateful Dead in tuxedos was an unexpected culture shock. But there was a diminished sense of the majesty that usually attends music’s most honorific night.

Guitarist Jeff Beck provided the first sparks of the evening, both as a musician and with a comically wry presentation speech for Stewart. Backed by keyboardist Paul Shaffer’s group, Beck played a soaring rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” and then, after a short film recapping Stewart’s career, fondly teased his old bandmate, for whom he also accepted the award. “People say we have a love-hate relationship,” Beck quipped. “It’s true. He loves me and I hate him.”

Largely misunderstood throughout his 50-year career, R&B; legend Johnny Otis was inducted as a “non-performer” by Hall of Famer Etta James; Chuck Berry, a 1986 inductee, did the honors for the late Willie Dixon, the bassist, songwriter and producer who shaped Chess Records’ blues and R&B; sound in the ‘50s. “He was on the first 20 records I recorded,” recalled Berry. “He made me what I am, the basis of my music.”

That sense of debt to African American music wove throughout the evening. Clapton praised the all-white Band’s sense of “black music,” Elton John cited such artists as Ray Charles and Little Richard, alongside Jerry Lee Lewis and George Shearing, as formative influences.

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum, on hand to induct the Animals, praised the English group as “the key link in the transition from black R&B; and punk rock.” Even Paul McCartney, in the touching details of his fond Lennon reminiscence, mentioned the Beatles’ early days playing the Cavern Club in Liverpool. “It was officially a blues club,” he said. “So we told ‘em (the Everly Brothers’) ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ was by (American bluesman) Big Bill Broonzy.” In a related vein, Bono called Bob Marley “Dr. King in dreads.”

Yoko Ono, accompanied by her son Sean Lennon, accepted the honor for her late husband. Moments later, in a backstage press room, McCartney spoke lovingly of his old friend as “a beautiful person, a serious dude” and joked that had Lennon been at the ceremony, he would have heckled it. Standing with Ono and the young Lennon, McCartney downplayed the recently announced Beatles reunion. “We’re doing this TV documentary, and we thought we’d try and do some incidental music. For old time’s sake we’re going to give it a whirl. We’re not trying to better the Beatles.”

The evening’s only genuine surprise came when Elton John said, “I feel like I’m cheating up here.” He then called his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin onstage and handed him the award; this emotional display brought the Grand Ballroom to its feet.

After the speeches, the program switched to live music, beginning with a lengthy rendition of Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle,” performed by Chuck Berry, the Dead, John Popper of Blues Traveler on harmonica and Dixon’s daughter, Shirli, on lead vocals. Berry then geared the company into a more compact “Roll Over Beethoven.” That was followed by “One Love,” the Bob Marley classic sung by his widow, Rita, along with assorted Wailers, Marley offspring, Bono and Whoopi Goldberg.

Although Elton John and McCartney were scheduled to perform the Beatles’ “Come Together,” Springsteen and Rose appeared instead, trading verses on a respectably tight version of the song. But Chuck Berry, on whose music the tune was based, was--typical of the night--missing from the action.