55th Grammy Awards – round-up
Written by admin on February 11, 2013 – 9:05 am -Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt and Dr John were among the veteran winners at last night’s 55th Grammy Awards.
The annual awards show was broadcast live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center. |
There were six nominations each for Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, Fun., Kanye West, Jay-Z and the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, and five each for Chick Corea and Miguel, but no artist swept the board. The Black Keys fared best, with three individual gongs, including Best Rock Album, as well as Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for the band’s Dan Auerbach. There were also three awards for Jay-Z and Skrillex, and two each for Frank Ocean and Kanye West.
Fun. picked up the Song of the Year award for “We Are Young” and was also named Best New Artist.
There were two awards for Mumford & Sons, including the coveted Album Of The Year for “Babel”.
Prince presented the Record Of The Year award went to Gotye and Kimbra for “Somebody That I Used To Know”.
Jazz musician Chick Corea won two gongs for Best Improvised Jazz Solo and Best Instrumental Composition.
Miguel lost out on all but one of his five nominations. His “Adorn” was named Best R&B Song.
The first award of the night was Best Pop Solo Performance and this predictably went to Adele for “Set Fire to the Rain (Live)”. The British singer now has an incredible nine Grammy awards.
The musical performances were an eclectic mix of the old and new, with unexpected collaborations and poignant tributes. The show was opened by Taylor Swift with a Mad Hatter-themed performance of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. Elton John then joined Ed Sheehan for a duet on Sheehan’s nominated hit “The A Team”. John would later return for a collaboration with Mavis Staples and Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes) on the Band’s “The Weight”. This was in tribute to Levon Helm who died last year.
The Black Keys performed their Grammy-winning “Lonely Boy” with help from Dr John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Kelly Clarkson, who had won the Best Pop Vocal Album for “Stronger,” performed tributes to Patti Page with “Tennessee Waltz” and Carole King with “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”. King was yesterday given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy’s Special Merit Awards on Saturday.
Bruno Mars was joined by Sting on “Locked Out Of Heaven,” which segued into “Walking On The Moon”. They were then joined by Rihanna and Ziggy Marley to sing “Could You Be Loved” in tribute to Bob Marley.
Summary of results for veteran acts
Paul McCartney’s “Kisses On The Bottom” was preferred over Carole King’s “A Holiday Carole” and Michael Bublé’s “Christmas” in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. McCartney has now won 15 Grammy awards.
The Grammy for Best Americana Album went to Bonnie Raitt’s “Slipstream,” seeing off competition from the Avett Brothers, John Fullbright, the Lumineers, and Mumford & Sons.
Dr John’s “Locked Down” won the Best Blues Album category, ahead of Shemekia Copeland, Ruthie Foster, the Heritage Blues Orchestra, and Joan Osborne.
“Woody At 100 – The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection” was named the Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package. There were also nominations for “Ram – Paul McCartney Archive Collection (Deluxe Edition),” and “The Rolling Stones – Some Girls (Super Deluxe Edition)”.
The Woody Guthrie set lost out to The Beach Boys’ “The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set)” in the Best Historical Album category. McCartney’s “Ram” set had also been nominated. This was the Beach Boys’ first ever Grammy award.
The Best World Music Album Grammy went to the late Ravi Shankar for his “The Living Room Sessions Part 1”.
Jimmy Cliff’s “Rebirth” won the Best Reggae Album award. Other nominees included Toots and the Maytals for “Reggae Got Soul: Unplugged On Strawberry Hill” and The Original Wailers for “Miracle”.
Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “Marley” lost out to “Midnight In Paris” (various artists) in the Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media category. |
Billy Vera won the Best Album Notes Grammy for the Ray Charles’ set “Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles”.
Bruce Springsteen received the MusiCares Person of the Year award on Friday, but came away empty-handed on Grammy night. He had received nominations in the Best Rock Album category for “Wrecking Ball” and in the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song categories for the song “We Take Care Of Our Own.” The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” took the latter two awards and their “El Camino” album got the nod as Best Rock Album.
Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Album category but lost out to Gotye’s “Making Mirrors”.
Ry Cooder’s “Election Special” received a Best Folk Album nomination, but the winner was “The Goat Rodeo Sessions” by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile.
Veteran singer Al Jarreau received a Best Jazz Vocal Album nomination for “Live” but the gong went to Esperanza Spalding’s “Radio Music Society”.
Tags: 55th Annual Grammy Awards, beach boys, Black Keys, Bonnie Raitt, Bruno Mars, Dr John, Elton John, Grammy Awards, Grammy Awards 2013, Jimmy Cliff, Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney, Ravi Shankar, Sting
Posted in Awards |