Who were the Grammy Award winners 40 years ago?
The 10th Grammy Awards were (for recordings in the year 1967:)

Album of the Year: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles,
George Martin (producer)

Record of the Year: “Up, Up and Away” by The 5th Dimension,
Johnny Rivers & Marc Gordon (producers)

Song of the Year: “Up, Up and Away” by the 5th Dimension,
Jimmy L. Webb (songwriter)

Contemporary Album:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles

Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts:
Peter Blake, Jann Haworth for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Best Engineered Recording:
G.E. Emerick for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Contemporary Single, Contemporary Vocal Group AND Group Vocal Performance:
“Up, Up, and Away” by the 5th Dimension

Best New Artist - Best Vocal Performance, Female AND Female Contemporary Vocal Solo: Bobbie Gentry for “Ode to Billie Joe” (she bested Jefferson Airplane and the 5th Dimension, who were also nominated in the New Artist catagory)

Best Comedy Performance: Bill Cosby for his Revenge album

Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group:
Johnny Cash & June Carter for “Jackson”

Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Female AND Best Rhythm & Blues Recording:
Aretha Franklin for “Respect”

Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male: Lou Rawls for “Dead End Street”

Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental:
Sam & Dave for “Soul Man”

Best Album Cover, Photography:
John Berg, Bob Cato, Roland Scherman for Dylan’s Greatest Hits (Bob Dylan)

Best Album Notes:
John D. Loudermilk for Suburban Attitudes in Country Verse (John Loudermilk)

Best Country & Western Performance - Female:
Tammy Wynette for “I Don’t Wanna Play House”

Best Country & Western Recording AND Best Country & Western Vocal Performance:
“Gentle On My Mind” by Glen Campbell

Best Country & Western Song:
“Gentle On My Mind” written by John Hartford

Best Instrumental Arrangement:
“Alfie” by Burt Bacharach (& his Orchestra)

Best Instrumental Performance:
Chet Atkins for Chet Atkins Picks the Best

Best Instrumental Theme AND Best Original Score written for a Motion Picture or Television Show: Mission: Impossible by Lalo Schifrin (& his Orchestra)

Best Recording for Children:
Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TV Soundtrack) by Boris Karloff

Best Sacred Performance:
Elvis Presley for “How Great Thou Art”

Male Contemporary Vocal Solo AND Male Vocal Performance:
Glen Campbell for “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ella Fitzgerald

Grammy Trivia:
The most Grammys won by a female artist in one night is five, which has been accomplished by six different artists: Lauryn Hill in 1999, Alicia Keys in 2002, Norah Jones in 2003, Beyonce in 2004, The Dixie Chicks in 2007 and Amy Winehouse in 2008.

Sources:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awards

L.A. Times Awards Insider: http://theenvelope.latimes.com

Events like the Grammys are great learning moments. There’s so much more to most of these artists than their “hit songs.” Once you dig into their catalog and their roots, you find all kinds of things you may not have known before. But one thing’s for sure. This year’s 50th anniversary show really turned into solid gold.

I’d like to share a few of MY favorite Grammy moments with you…

Herbie Hancock surprised everyone with his win for Album of the Year with River: The Joni Letters. Presented by the legendary Quincy Jones, it was one of many “feel good” moments in this year’s Grammy show.

Vince Gill had the funniest line of the evening when Ringo Starr presented him with the Grammy for Best Country Album; “I just got an award presented to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?”

Gotta love it. Bonnie Raitt introduced the classic rock segment of the show featuring John Fogerty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, who really rocked the house!

The LOVE Soundtrack Album won BOTH categories it was nominated in; Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media AND Best Surround Sound Album. It was so cool to see Ringo Starr with Sir George Martin and his son Giles on the stage together to receive this award.

Cirque du Soleil delivered a fantastic performance of “A Day In The Life” from their Beatles LOVE show, which continues to be one of the hottest tickets in Las Vegas.

There was a GREAT performance of “Let It Be” by Timothy T. Mitchum and Carol Woods from the movie soundtrack Across The Universe. I just love the way they redid the song with a gospel feel, complete with backing choir. Makes me want to go see the movie now.

It’s thrilling to see and hear those great artists I’ve respected and revered for so long, like Aretha Franklin, turn in such a soulful performance. She was honored by the MusiCares Foundation as their 2008 Person of the Year.

Amy Winehouse won a total of five awards, including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for “Rehab,” which she performed via satellite from London. The look of pure disbelief on her face when she won was priceless. I hope these awards give her the incentives she needs to overcome her personal demons and complete rehabilitation.

The Foo Fighters performance was very cool, as was their string orchestra conducted by John Paul Jones. The winner of the My Grammy Moment, Ann Marie Calhoun, did a great job as soloist.

As always, a ton of awards are presented before the actual show…

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals award went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for their duet “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” from their Raising Sand album.

The Eagles won Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for “How Long.”

Joni Mitchell claimed the Best Pop Instrumental Performance award for “One Week Last Summer.”

Best Contemporary Blues Album: The Road To Escondido by J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton. If you must buy any album because it won a Grammy, this is the one!

Fellow Texan Willie Nelson earned the award for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for his album with Ray Price, Lost Highway.

The award for Best Spoken Word Album “The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream” went to Barack Obama, who won over other nominees Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Alan Alda.

Lifetime Achievement Awards went to The Band, Max Roach, and Earl Scruggs.

I’d also like to give a nod and remember a couple of great performers who left us last year; Dan Fogelberg and Ike Turner.

Congratulations to all the nominees, winners and performers. Read more about the entire show at grammy.com.

25 Cirque du Soleil dancers and acrobats from The Beatles LOVE show at The Mirage in Las Vegas will perform “A Day in the Life,” live at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

The Beatles LOVE album has been nominated for 2 Grammys, in the categories of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album. The special remix of Beatles music was masterfully redone in 5.1 surround sound by Sir George Martin and his son Giles, at Abbey Road Studios.

The awards show airs on CBS February 10th at 5pm PST from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with special hosts Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole, Cyndi Lauper and Juanes, presenting.

Performing: Foo Fighters (with special guest conductor John Paul Jones 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood; Beyoncé; and Rihanna with a reunited the Time in a special 50th anniversary segment.

The CBS Television Network will be broadcasting the show in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound. The show will also be supported worldwide on radio via Westwood One and XM Satellite Radio, and online at GRAMMY.com/