Glory Days Return

Make sure you’ve got a tape ready for the VCR tonight.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinners have been pretty much a bust since the annual affair went from being essentially a memory-filled private party to a sterile television show three years ago.

Instead of the spontaneous musical jams and often irreverent speeches that highlighted the early induction ceremonies, the event turned into a carefully scripted TV show, in which everyone seemed more concerned with making an impression than sharing an emotion.

TelePrompTers and TV cameras were still rolling Monday night during the 14th annual induction dinner in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here, but the magic was back.

The evening’s highlights, which included the inductions of Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, will air tonight at 9 and again at 11:30 on cable channel VH1.

The award program’s brain trust reinstated the freewheeling jam session, and you had some high-powered inductees and presenters who weren’t about to be intimidated by the cameras during their speeches.

Elton John, a 1994 inductee, set the freewheeling tone early in the evening in his induction speech for the late Dusty Springfield.

After calling the British pop-soul star the “greatest white singer” ever, John put his affection in even more colorful terms, suggesting she was almost enough to “turn a gay boy straight.”

The often scrappy Billy Joel, who was inducted by Ray Charles, took a swipe at critics who have characterized the New Yorker’s musical vision as far too borrowed.

“I’ve been referred to as derivative,” he said during an acceptance speech that stressed the influence of Ray Charles and other black pioneers on rock. “I’m derivative as hell. If anybody that’s derivative was excluded from this [Hall of Fame], it would mean there wouldn’t be any white people here.”

Bono took dead aim at rock star excesses and cliches in praising Springsteen for his integrity as a person and as a musician. In a lighthearted portion of the speech, U2’s leader drew laughter by pointing out all the embarrassments that Springsteen has avoided: “No drug busts . . . no blood-switching in Switzerland . . . no embarrassing movies . . . and no exhibitions of his paintings.”

But the highlights weren’t limited to the podium in an event that also inducted Curtis Mayfield, Del Shannon and the Staple Singers. Bluesman Charles Brown, western swing king Bob Wills and record producer George Martin also were inducted in special categories.

The real treat was a closing hour of music that kicked off when Springsteen brought the E Street Band onstage for a 25-minute preview of the reunion tour that begins April 9 in Barcelona.

After a decade apart, Springsteen is ready to rock ‘n’ roll again with the band that was at his side during his glory days of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Will the spark still be there?

It didn’t take long Monday to get a preliminary answer.

After a speech about his parents and the band that was as warm and generous as any song he’s ever written, Springsteen and the group burst into one of his most popular anthems, “The Promised Land.”

The relentlessly idealistic song includes the kind of underdog rock romanticism that established Springsteen as the most popular and acclaimed American rock star since Bob Dylan: “Blow away the dreams that tear you apart / Blow away the dreams that break your heart. . . . “

And Springsteen and the E Street Band did a lot to answer any questions about the team’s power to make music that lifts and inspires. The joy wasn’t just in the music, but in the smiles on the musicians’ faces. The performance turned the black-tie evening from a formal, sit-down affair into a rock ‘n’ roll party where people in the rear of the ballroom stood on chairs for better views.

Springsteen then went into the growling “Backstreets” and the party-minded “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” before calling soul singer Wilson Pickett on stage to join on the latter’s “In the Midnight Hour.”

Bonnie Raitt (who inducted Charles Brown) and Joel then teamed up for “Runaway,” the ‘60s hit most associated with Del Shannon.

A nervous McCartney celebrated his rowdy rock ‘n’ roll roots by singing Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes,” backed by a band that included Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson on guitars.

After Joel led the ensemble through Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say,” virtually the entire cast of presenters and inductees, including Lauryn Hill (who inducted the Staple Singers) and Bono teamed up for an extended version of Mayfield’s spiritually tinged anthem “People Get Ready.”

Shadows of Death Give Night Poignancy

In the program’s final and perhaps most emotional moment, Joel started playing the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” and the evening’s musical director Paul Shaffer brought McCartney back on stage to lead the audience in a sing-along. The comforting song was all the more moving in the context of the evening.

Though there have been lots of posthumous inductions over the years, the sense of loss this year was unusually immediate. Dusty Springfield died just two weeks ago, and Charles Brown died in January.

And Monday’s dinner was one of McCartney’s few public appearances since the death of his wife, Linda, last April--and it came just three days after what would have been the couple’s 30th anniversary.

McCartney’s daughter Stella added a bit of spice when she joined her father onstage, wearing a T-shirt that said, “About [expletive] time.”

It was an apparent reference to the fact that Hall of Fame voters waited four years before inducting McCartney--who became eligible in 1995--as a solo artist. Fellow Beatle John Lennon was inducted as a solo artist in 1994.

In a show of unity Monday, McCartney urged Hall voters to hurry up and induct his other bandmates, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as solo artists.

But it was Linda who was most on his mind.

“I love rock ‘n’ roll because it made my life,” he said, tears welling in his eyes. “I love Cleveland [home of the Rock Hall of Fame museum] because Cleveland gave me Linda’s mother. And I love New York because New York gave me Linda.”

Holding his Hall of Fame statuette over his head, he said, “This one’s for you, baby.”

For once, it’s good to have it all on tape.