Entering Rock’s Most Exclusive Club : A Timeless Neil Young and a Reunited Led Zeppelin Highlight 10th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony

In a night of renewal and mourning at the 10th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, the enduring artistry of Neil Young outshined even a dramatic reteaming by the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin.

Halls of fame are supposed to salute old-timers, right? We’re used to paying tender tribute to musicians and athletes whose most productive years are a decade or more behind them.

That’s why Young’s induction Thursday night at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was one of the most liberating moments ever in the music industry’s most glorious annual party. He is a singer-songwriter who, after more than a quarter-century as a recording artist, is still at his creative peak.

Young’s last four albums are as superbly crafted and as compelling as any in his distinguished career--albums that measured up to the best of today’s most heralded young rockers in year-end critics’ polls.

Appropriately, it was one of those young rockers, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who inducted Young during ceremonies whose highlights will be shown on television for the first time in a two-hour MTV special at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Other performers inducted were the Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, the late Janis Joplin, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the late Frank Zappa and Zeppelin.

Of Young, Vedder said affectionately, “He taught us a lot as a band about dignity, commitment and playing in the moment, and when I hear speeches inducting Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa, I’m just glad he’s still here.”

Stepping to the microphone, Young, wearing a tux jacket with red shirt and a string tie, thanked various people who have helped him over the years, from family members to business associates.

Young, 49, then saluted today’s young rockers--a group of musicians, including Nirvana and Pearl Jam, whose music has been rejected as too noisy and angry by much of Young’s own generation.

“There is a lot of great music out there today and I’m proud to be a part of it. I’m happy there are so many great bands out there, and I’d like to thank (the late) Kurt Cobain for giving me inspiration. . . . “

Rather than play one of his old hits as is the custom in the musical jams that follow the induction speeches, Young kept the focus on the present. Backed by his Crazy Horse trio, he played a blistering version of a new song called “Act of Love.”

Though many in the tuxedoed crowd of 1,200 seemed restless as the number stretched toward the 10-minute mark, Young didn’t let up. Instead of giving in to the nostalgia tradition of the Hall of Fame dinners and playing something old and accessible like “Heart of Gold,” Young--joined this time by Vedder and other members of Pearl Jam--roared through “F---in’ Up,” a wildly raucous number from his 1990 album, “Ragged Glory.”

It was nearly midnight by the time Young finished his 15-minute set and the audience’s attention turned to the evening’s biggest question: Would the surviving members of Led Zeppelin put aside their differences and come together again?

Some musicians have overcome hard feelings at previous induction dinners, notably the long-battling Byrds in 1991 and even longer divided Cream in 1993. But others failed to set aside their tensions. John Fogerty refused to perform with Stu Cook and Doug Clifford when Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted in 1993 and Levon Helm was a no-show when the Band was inducted last year.

The chances of a performing reunion Thursday appeared doubtful when bassist John Paul Jones took a verbal slap at guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant shortly after they were inducted by Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler and Joe Perry.

Jones had good reason to be angry at his old mates from the band that broke up in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham. When Page and Plant decided last year to reunite to perform some Zeppelin songs for an MTV special and for an upcoming world tour, they didn’t even inform Jones of their plans. He read about the Plant/Page project in a newspaper. Their decision not only denied Jones a chance to relive some of the Zeppelin legacy, but it also cost him potentially millions of dollars.

Jones drew audible gasps from the crowd as he looked at Page and Plant and said sarcastically, “I want to thank my friends for finally remembering my phone number.”

Yet Jones did return later with Plant and Page for a 20-minute blues-rock jam, kicked off by the rollicking “Train Kept a-Rollin’.” They were joined by Bonham’s son, Jason, on drums and by Tyler and Perry on backing vocals and guitar, respectively. For an encore, Young joined the Zeppelin trio for another medley, moving from Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” to “For What It’s Worth” from Young’s Buffalo Springfield days.

It was exactly the kind of memory-bank charge that the audience wanted and the crowd, which paid up to $1,500 a ticket, was thrilled.

The evening’s musical numbers also included Al Green and Willie Nelson teaming on Nelson’s “Funny How Times Slips Away,” the Allman Brothers’ rendition of the landmark “One Way Out” and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ lengthy version of “Dancing in the Streets.”

All this was far different from the relatively sedate tone of the rest of the five-hour ceremony.

One reason things might have been less festive than most induction dinners was the large number of posthumous inductees. Under Hall of Fame rules, musicians aren’t eligible until 25 years after their recording debut. Voting is conducted among 600 musicians, critics and record executives.

After Natalie Cole inducted soul music great Green as the “best and the baddest,” Melissa Etheridge stepped forward to induct Joplin, the blues-rock performer who died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 24.

Etheridge made a mistake at the beginning of her tribute by singing one of Joplin’s most famous songs, “Piece of My Heart,” and failing miserably to reflect the anguish and obsession of Joplin’s own classic version.

She rebounded nicely, however, with one of the evening’s most passionate speeches.

About Joplin, Etheridge said, “Janis was the ‘60s. She was the style, the sound, the inspiration for men and women all over the world. . . . I never knew Janis or never heard her voice live. I never witnessed the fireball of fury that she unleashed on stage, but I think I understand.

“When a soul can look on the world and see and feel the pain and loneliness, and can reach deep down inside and find a voice to sing about it, a soul can heal, and Janis did.”

There was also a sense of sadness and loss as Lou Reed spoke of Zappa, who died of prostate cancer in 1993 at age 52. “Whether he was writing symphonies, satiric broadsides or casting a caustic glow across the frontier of madness that makes up the American political landscape . . . Frank was a force for reason and honesty in a business deficient in these areas.”

After Martha Reeves & the Vandellas were inducted by the B-52’s’ Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson, Willie Nelson paid tribute to the Allman Brothers Band, whose tragedy-filled story included the motorcycle deaths in the early ‘70s of guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley, both at 24.

Only one member of the Orioles, Johnny Reed, lived to see the R&B; vocal group--best known for the 1953 hit “Crying in the Chapel”--inducted in the early-influence category. Paul Ackerman, music editor of Billboard magazine for 30 years, was also inducted posthumously in the non-performer category.

The decision by Hall of Fame directors to let MTV air a special comes after years of reluctance to allow TV cameras in the room, fearing it would interfere with the relatively spontaneous nature of the annual affair.

There was extra incentive to allow the broadcast this year because the exposure will draw attention to the formal opening of the $92-million Rock Hall of Fame complex in Cleveland on Sept. 1.

Viewers will likely see some of the evening’s levity.

On stage to induct Young, Vedder pointed out that some “smart ass” had placed Pearl Jam’s table next to the table assigned to representatives of Ticketmaster, the firm that the Seattle rock band has accused of maintaining a monopoly over ticket distribution on the pop concert circuit. Ticketmaster has denied the charges and suggested Pearl Jam’s stance is simply a publicity stunt.

Warning of a possible food fight, he added, “I’d recommend to (people nearby like) Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson to scoot away . . . or join in. Maybe we should all join away while we’ve got them right here.”

Viewers will also get to see Plant, 46, wrestling good-naturedly with the issue of rock ‘n’ roll maturity.

Like Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend and numerous other inductees over the years, Plant said he felt uneasy being honored in such a formal way.

“I never wanted to do this,” he said, shaking his head as he accepted his award. “I thought we’d always be rebels.”