By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune
Cosimo Matassa, the New Orleans recording engineer and studio maestro who functioned as a midwife at the birth of rock 'n' roll, is among the 2012 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He will be enshrined via the hall's Award for Musical Excellence, which is reserved for non-performers who made significant contributions to the music's evolution.
Matassa joins fellow 2012 honorees the Beastie Boys, Guns 'n' Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Small Faces/the Faces, Donovan, Laura Nyro, the late Chicago blues guitarist Freddie King, TV concert impresario Don Kirshner and producers Glyn Johns and Tom Dowd.
The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is April 14 in Cleveland. Highlights will air on HBO in early May.
Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, who as a young man observed how records were made at Matassa's studio, was a member of the 2011 class. Previous New Orleans inductees include Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint, Lloyd Price, Jelly Roll Morton, Professor Longhair, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson and drummer Earl Palmer. Fewer than 650 bands and individuals have been voted into the Hall of Fame since its 1986 inception.