Elliott Smith

Not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Eligible since: 2020

First Recording: 1994

Previously Considered? No  what's this?

Elliott Smith
HALL OF FAME INDICATORS
Rolling Stone 500 Albums
🔲Rolling Stone 500 Songs
🔲Rolling Stone Cover
Saturday Night Live
🔲Major Festival Headliner
🔲Songwriters Hall of Fame
🔲“Big Four” Grammys

R.S. Top 500 Albums (?)RankVersion
Either/Or2162020

Essential Albums (?)WikipediaYouTube
Either/Or (1997)
XO (1998)
Figure 8 (2000)

Essential Songs (?)WikipediaYouTube
Between the Bars (1997)
Angeles (1997)

Elliott Smith @ Wikipedia

Will Elliott Smith be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
"Musical excellence is the essential qualification for induction."
Yes: 
No :


Comments

5 comments so far (post your own)

Not that I care that much about the Hall(the voting political side of it) I do think it would be nice for his family and friends and would make more people aware of this genius who could blow people away with his songwriting and his singing and playing.

Posted by Jimmies on Tuesday, 08/2/2016 @ 16:53pm


While I doubt Elliott would care if he were inducted into the HOF, his talent and abilities require that he is inducted. One of the rare talents in music who could evoke feelings through his lyrics, singing and music.

Posted by Big B on Thursday, 05/16/2019 @ 13:27pm


Elliott is THE most well rounded songwriter who ever lived.

In terms of his emotional expression, instrumental skills, lyrical mastery, live performing, stylistic range (dark acoustic folk to jazzy pop rock, to avant-garde to heavy indie rock), his ability to combine all that to create mood and atmosphere like no one before or since.... He can't be touched. You can draw comparisons in certain categories, but if you tally it all up, Elliott is far above and beyond even songwriter's like Dylan and Lennon, both of whom I love very much. Their fame came mostly from revolutionizing the sound and being pioneers. That said, Elliott could play circles around them on every instrument. They couldn't layer a song like Elliott, they didn't have the range Elliott had, nor the consistency - Elliott didn't put out an album that was anything less than perfect in it's own rite - 6 absolute gems. Though his career was relatively short, even his b side and back catalogue is full of genius. Consistent genius. Even the great's did not have the combined intuitive and technical ability of Elliott Smith. Elliott was good for SO many reasons. He could have made it a million different ways.

Take the album Figure 8... To anyone who doesn't know, finding out that he is essentially a one man band, who writes
and plays nearly every note on every instrument (other than the orchestral parts of course), is mindblowing. Other
one man band, singer/songwriters rarely have such a fleshed out sound like Elliott did, without heavily relying on
session musicians, or a backing band. Elliott was an excellent drummer and bassist.

His sings were deeply rooted in himself and so they have a profound honest quality to them, that becomes clearly evident in his many live shows on the internet.

Elliott Smith is heavily influential to any musician who has delved into his music. A true musician's musician. He was a very smart songwriter too, and there is so much going on, much of intentional, much of it intuitive.

Elliott's music has never been recreated in any convincing sort of way. There is the same old list of "similar artists" to Elliott, that much of the community agrees, doesn't really come close to capturing his essence. New Elliott inspired artists have popped up a lot recently, however, as young musician's who listened to him growing up, are coming into their own.

I don't think many people who have had a fair glance at Elliott's music would disagree that he surpasses the criteria for Rock Hall of Fame by light years. Elliott was scary talented, and he was one in a million. Can't be touched! Irreplaceable. He's not a household name, but I've never seen an artist with so few haters. His like:dislike ratios on YouTube are a total anomaly, some videos with ~500 likes before even getting a single dislike. He's an industry legend though, and if the rock HOF is truly about skill, then Elliott Smith has to be in it. Elliott Smith was out of this world in terms of skill.

He doesn't often show up on these things though, like the artists Rolling Stone Magazine, for example, has above Elliott Smith is hilarious. I think record sales are more important to big corporate music entities 2020. Elliott's music was pretty dark, and not
about catchy hooks, it was about atmosphere, emotion, tension, and intricate instrumentation. He truly was not writing for anyone but himself, the way music should be written. Becoming an indie rock God was just a bonus.

Posted by Dustin Vincent Mulligan on Friday, 11/27/2020 @ 17:15pm


The comment above is really well put. I couldn't agree more, and would add that he was a gifted poet, and his songs made many interesting references and observations on the human condition.

He even used his philosophical knowledge from his undergrad degree in his songs. He had an interest in existentialism. There was a book about it called "XO" by a writer named Matthew LeMay.

He was clearly extremely intelligent.

Posted by Iris E on Saturday, 11/20/2021 @ 20:40pm


Smith's music takes me out of myself—I don't even drive when I listen—it's like having the man sitting across from me singing and playing acoustic guitar. His voice is soft and personal, which evokes a rainbow of feelings inside me. I feel I am in the presence of greatness

Posted by Suzette Burr on Thursday, 08/11/2022 @ 22:01pm


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Future Rock Legends is your home for Elliott Smith and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including year of eligibility, number of nominations, induction chances, essential songs and albums, and an open discussion of their career.


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