Nebraska Music Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame Inductees

From 1995 to 2004 the Hall of Fame inducted 83 performers and music pioneers, from 1950s rock and roll bands and teen-dance ballrooms to nationally known artists such as Randy Meisner, Buddy Miles, Wynonie Harris, Preston Love and Roger Williams. Jump to a class: 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004. You can also browse the full list by year or alphabetically.

The large classes of 1999, 2000 and 2001 are listed on the inductees by year page.

A Short History of Rock and Roll in Nebraska

The Hall of Fame grew out of a simple idea: the rock and roll that Nebraskans danced to in the 1950s and 1960s was worth remembering, and so were the people who made it. Early induction ceremonies and reunion concerts – the "Nebraska Rocks" shows – were held in Norfolk, Nebraska, and later in Lincoln, Omaha, Fremont, Columbus and Mitchell. The story below is adapted from the original Hall of Fame web site.

Norfolk: the early "hot-bed" of Midwest rock and roll

Norfolk, then a town of about 22,000 people, was the early hot-bed of not only Nebraska rock and roll but of the whole Midwest. As early as 1956 several organized and active rock and roll bands called Norfolk home, and there was as much or more live rock activity in Norfolk and Northeast Nebraska as in the metro areas of Omaha and Lincoln more than 100 miles to the south. Early bands included Don Sohl and the Roadrunners, Ron Thompson and the Broughams (with Dick Allison), Little Joe and the Ramrods, The Classics, The Strollers and The Dynamic Drifters.

The ballroom circuit

These Norfolk bands called the legendary King's Ballroom their home base and played to sell-out crowds of more than 1,000 at weekly teen dances. King's had earlier hosted touring big bands such as Lawrence Welk, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and the Thundering Herd, the Six Fat Dutchmen and Frankie Yankovic. With the birth of rock and roll in the mid-1950s and the decline of the big bands, local and national rock groups took over the ballroom circuit. Other major ballrooms in the region included the Pla-Mor in Lincoln, the Oak Ballroom in Schuyler, Howells Ballroom, the Starlite in Wahoo and the Arlington Ballroom in Nebraska, and the Val-Aire (Des Moines), the Surf (Clear Lake) and the Roof Garden (Lake Okoboji) in Iowa. National recording acts on the circuit included Johnny & the Hurricanes, Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids, Bobby Vee and the Shadows, Bill Black's Combo, Del Shannon, Tommy Roe, Rufus Thomas and Dickey Lee. Read more in our article on Nebraska's ballroom circuit.

Omaha's early rock and R&B acts

At about the same time, Omaha rock bands were forming. Early groups and individual acts included the Rock-A-Bops, Carl Cherry and the Cherry Flips, Lou and Red Berry and the Bel-Raves, Vince Emmanuel and the Premiers, Luther and the Night Riders, Sparkle Moore ("a female Elvis") and Bobby Williams and the Royal Flairs. Lou Berry and the Bel-Raves released their legendary "Hot Rod" / "What A Dolly" first on Dreem Records and later on 20th Century Fox, and Sparkle Moore – in leathers and short, Presley-style greased-back hair – released several 45s, including "Skull and Crossbones" on Fraternity Records, before leaving the rock scene.

Classic Nebraska 45s

In Norfolk, Don Sohl and the Roadrunners, Ron Thompson and the Broughams and Little Joe and the Ramrods all released now-classic and hard-to-find 45s on the Minnesota labels Soma and Studio City. Sohl and Thompson also released singles on the Dreem label from Norfolk (and later Omaha). Dennis Volk, a flashy "Jerry Lee Lewis"-style singer and keyboard player who played in both the Roadrunners and the Broughams, released the rockabilly single "Dennis Boogie" / "You Are The One" on Flame Records of New York, a subsidiary of Fury Records – one of the finest early rock records to come out of the Midwest. Sohl later took the Roadrunners, with Dennis's younger brother Roger Volk on drums, to New York in the early 1960s, where they played the Metropol and the Peppermint Lounge, trading sets with a pre-Detroit Wheels Mitch Ryder and jazz drummer Gene Krupa. Collectors can find tips in our guide to collecting Nebraska 45s.

The Smoke Ring and the Memphis connection

In the mid-1960s Little Joe and the Ramrods united with The Strollers to form The Smoke Ring, bringing brothers Little Joe Hupp, Nick "Red" Hupp and Bob "Tunda" Hupp together in one band for the first time. The group grew from a guitar-bass-keys-drums combo into an eight-piece rhythm and blues horn show band, in the style of The Fabulous Flippers and The Red Dogs from Kansas and The Magnificent Men from Pennsylvania. The Smoke Ring backed touring stars on the ballroom circuit – Dickey Lee, Rufus Thomas, Bobby Vee, Tommy Roe, the Everly Brothers and the Shangri-Las – and their work with Dickey Lee took them to Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis. In 1968 they recorded again with Lee producing, helped by Allen Reynolds, Knox Phillips and Sam Kesler, with Bobby Wood, songwriter Bob McDill and Memphis horn players Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson on the sessions. Their remake of the Four Lads' "No Not Much", released on Goldust and then nationally on Buddah Records, reached No. 1 in several regional markets and charted in Billboard, Record World and Cash Box, and in 1969 the band appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. More on this story in Sun Records and the Nebraska connection.

From Nebraska Rocks to the Hall of Fame

The bands above appeared at the annual "Nebraska Rocks" shows in Norfolk from 1995 on, and the shows expanded to Lincoln in 1997 with The Coachmen (later Professor Morrison's Lollipop), The Chancellors and The Smoke Ring. The Coachmen – possibly the most popular pure rock band to come out of Nebraska in the 1960s, along with The Rumbles – released "Mr. Moon" and, as Professor Morrison's Lollipop, charted on White Whale Records in 1968. The Chancellors, a premier Midwest soul band from David City, featured singer Max Carl Gronenthal, who went on to The Fabulous Flippers, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack and 38 Special. In 1998 the Hall of Fame also honored Wynonie Harris, Ron Tuccitto, Sandy Jackson and Sandy's Escape teen club, KOIL disc jockey Roger W. Morgan and the Royal Grove night club, with shows at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha and the Royal Grove in Lincoln.

The Hall of Fame was founded by Nashville musician and songwriter Jim Casey, a Norfolk native who played in The Classics, The Strollers, Little Joe and the Ramrods and The Smoke Ring, and who wrote songs recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys, bluesman Albert Collins and Bobby Bare. Read his own words in A Message from Our Founder.

Photo Galleries and Reunion Pictures

• Hall of Fame photo gallery
• Bourbon Street 2001 reunion pictures
• Rock 2001 Fremont photos
• The Smoke Ring: lost pictures from 1998
• Heartbreak Fatty benefit photos
• Friends of the Hall of Fame and other cool links

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