I'd have picked Abbey Road for sure, and any of the others (save for CSN which I never grew to enjoy) over Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
Just of of curiosity, an apologies if I missed it earlier on in the thread but what is the criteria for choosing the albums on the Grammy list. Are they based on reviews, sales, record company payments or just randomly chosen behind closed doors by some faceless worthies? I genuinely have no idea. Some of the choices seem very odd. In any event, for 1970, I've only heard to of the albums. Couch & Abbey Road. Love the former, not so keen on the latter so that would have won the Carlies.
Oh ! What happened here? I had a shower and took a nap after the 1963 Grammies post and now ' Abbey Road' is being bested by Blood Sweat and Tears! I gots some reading and catching up to do...
It seems that Grammy loves an album that 1) is a big seller, 2) has a sense of artful sophistication and class (is there an orchestra; is it jazzy without being Jazz; is there some pleasing cross-cultural blending; is the production state-of-the-art?) , 3) is by an established act already favored by voters, 4) is by someone new who meets the first two criteria and seems to have a fresh sound, but still feels familiar, 5) is backed by a label that has spent a lot of money and called in their favors. Of course they're a lot of nonsense, self-congratulatory back-patting.
Not too quickly for me personally but if you want people to be able to listen along you could drop the pace a little.
From about 1977 through some time around the 1990s, I knew a great guy named Dusty Neely. (He was my boss for a few of those years, about 1983-1986, give or take.) He was a drummer with Jimmy Dorsey back in the 1940s, and loved to chat about music, but largely the music of his generation, of course. One time in the 1980s, we were just chatting, and Streisand was on the radio, and boy....he could not stand Streisand! Once the Barbra-bashing ended, he said something like, "You know who I think is really talented? Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Those guys play together so well and are so tight. I'd listen to them play almost anything!" This from a guy who would probably listen to, say, Jack Teagarden before almost anything else. Point being: I think the band had a fair amount of crossover appeal, as did, it seems, many of the winners in the 1950s and 1960s.
Not a comment on the quality of the other albums, but you'd have to pick Sgt. Pepper as the album of 1967. The impact it had culturally, critically, on recording and the album itself can't be denied. Even the old guard recognised this.
Many thanks for replying! You've summed up how the process has felt to me, looking in from the outside, all these years. Still, occasionally, they've thrown up some worthy winners, and this thread is a fascinating look at how the zeitgeist changes from year to year, so nice one, Albuman!
Certainly has that feel. Still, it's an interesting snapshot of each year and is making for an excellent thread, Appreciate all your hard work!
Did he also like Chicago? It surprises me, come to think of it, that Chicago didn't do better at the Grammy Awards. They only won a trophy once, for "If You Leave Me Now."
13th Annual Grammy Awards - March 16, 1971 Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water The Carpenters, Close to You Chicago, Chicago Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Déjà Vu Elton John, Elton John James Taylor, Sweet Baby James We’re officially out of the 1960s now. Andy Williams will be joining us for a bit, as this marks the first of seven Grammy ceremonies he hosted. But without further ado, here’s the first Album of the Year to come out in the 1970s. It must have been awkward for Simon & Garfunkel to break up the same year they released Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album was a giant success and the title track would become their biggest hit single. Both were number one on their respective Billboard Year-End Hot 100 lists. So when Bridge Over Troubled Water was nominated for Album of the Year and the title track was nominated for six different categories, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had to bite the bullet and go to the Grammy Awards together. It’s a good thing they did because, of the seven categories in which they were nominated, they won six. Now, in previous ceremonies, when an album is hugely successful, I usually find that it’s only just okay. Not this time, folks - this album is as good as you’ve heard. Paul Simon isn’t in the Songwriters Hall of Fame for nothing. His voice is mixed a bit too quietly on Keep The Customer Satisfied, but even then it’s still a wonderful song. I highly recommend the album if you haven’t heard it already. For the other nominees, we’ll start with the year’s Best New Artist winner: The Carpenters. Close to You is actually the brother-sister duo’s sophomore album, but their debut, 1969’s Offering, was a commercial failure upon release, so it didn’t count. The album did have a minor hit with their cover of the Beatles’ Ticket to Ride, which is probably why this album has another cover of a song from Help!: the title track itself. Quick aside, remember what I said earlier about hugely successful albums in this category generally being just okay? From now on, I’m going to call those albums “Ultrons.” You know, like Avengers: Age of Ultron - very successful and very average. Close to You is definitely an Ultron. When I typed this, I had just finished listening to the album, and I could barely recall any of it. It’s not an unbearable listen by any means, but I wouldn’t recommend it all that highly. Next is Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. You’ll remember that I wasn’t a fan of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s self-titled debut - the restaurant job I mentioned last time must have conditioned me to resent the group’s harmonized vocals - but perhaps Neil Young’s contributions could make it all work better. It clearly made it all work financially as it’s the highest-selling album of each member's career. So is it an Ultron? Actually, no. While the album starts out much the same as last time (save for the opener Carry On becoming a Santana song in the second half), everything between Helpless and Country Girl is really good because the vocals don’t sound the same as they did on the previous album. Even without that, however, the songs are just a lot more well-written and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the closer Everybody I Love You is a bit of a let-down because everything in the song except for the harmonized vocals is great. In short, if you took out the first three songs and the closer, Déjà Vu would make a perfect 22-minute EP. Next up is the self-titled sophomore album by Chicago. This was produced by James William Guercio, who produced the previous year’s winner Blood, Sweat & Tears as well as all of Chicago’s material between 1969 and 1977. Sadly for Chicago, the thirteenth Grammy Awards was an unlucky one; their album lost all three of the categories in which it was nominated. Though the album isn’t bad, I don’t have the enthusiasm to try and claim it deserved to win. Elton John’s self-titled sophomore album, however, is a different story. I was raised on Elton John’s music, so I have already listened to this album multiple times. Call me biased, but it’s absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend it. Finally, there’s James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James. I actually met James Taylor once. Without getting into too much detail, I said something that wasn’t as clever as I thought. So as a form of penance, I will say that this album is also really good and that I recommend it. Not to suggest I would dislike the album otherwise; it’s not quite as good as Bridge Over Troubled Water or even Elton John, but it’s still a solid album. Highlights include Lo and Behold, Suite for 20 G, and the title track. Now then, did the Academy pick the right winner? Yes, they did, though I wouldn’t have objected to Elton John winning either.
Although Andy Williams hosted the show, I think this was the first year without any nods to traditional pop or Broadway in the Album of the Year category. The Beatles were shut out of the recording awards, but sort of slipped through the back door (or came in through the bathroom window, haha) to collect one Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special, for Let It Be. I'm not sure that allowing a camera crew to film the recording sessions for your album should count as writing a movie score, but hey. Way to go, Fabs. They avoided the awkwardness of gathering together for the ceremony after their break-up, though. I see on YouTube that Paul & Linda were the only Beatles representatives to come up on stage to accept the trophies from John Wayne. Paul just said thanks, and he and Linda bounded off. Miles Davis won his first Grammy that year, Best Jazz Performance - Large Group, for Bitches Brew. I don't know if he attended to show his appreciation. Just kidding. If there could be an ultimate showdown of all Grammy winners for the Album of the Year award (which sounds like an interesting way to settle it, actually), I'd take Bitches Brew, but Bridge Over Troubled Water is fine.
That sounds pretty awesome. The Eminem Show would probably kick 24K Magic's ass. Also, I need to listen to Bitches Brew again.
This is about when the Grammy's get more interesting for me. It's my time. I' m familiar with the artists and the albums. ' Bridge Over Troubled Water ' won ? Of course it did ! What an incredible record. How could it not have won?The competition is solid but pales against it. Did I mention it is my favourite album ? I bought it about a year after it was released and liked it just fine but almost 50 (!) years of listening later I find it simply amazing.Everything about it is perfect. This was the last Simon and Garfunkel album and Simon went on to make great solo records ( some of which we'll be discussing later here) but he never made a better album than this.
Here's my 1968 "why weren't they nominated!" list: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison The Beatles, The Beatles The Band, Music From Big Pink
The Grammy's and Hendrix? Geez Louise...they let in The Beatles cause they had to. And they were oh-so-slowly opening up to other 'rock' artists. Hendrix would have been seem by them as some kind of alien.
Aww, but this was when all the best rock bands were either active or just starting out. Creedence Clearwater Revival, for example, had their debut in 1968. And despite what I said about which albums should have been nominated, all but one of their albums deserved a nomination at the very least.
