FEATURE ARTICLE
1997 Grammy Award Preview
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Feb. 21, 1997) -- What year was it when the Beatles, Tony Bennett, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Booker T. and the MGs, "Killing Me Softly With His Song," Bo Diddley, Pete Seeger, Nat King Cole, Andy Griffith, Frank Sinatra and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" were all nominated for Grammy Awards?
1965? 1969? 1973?
Try 1997.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, these vintage artists and classic songs will vie with more contemporary sounds at the 39th annual Grammy Awards. Performers will include Celine Dion, Vince Gill, No Doubt and Smashing Pumpkins, and presenters will include Sheryl Crow, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin and LeAnn Rimes. Ellen DeGeneres will host the ceremony, which will be broadcast on CBS at 8.
The two names to remember - indeed, names you will not be able to forget after Grammy night - are singer Celine Dion with five nominations and producer/songwriter Babyface, who boasts a record- tying 12 nominations. He won't win nearly that many awards, however, because he is up against himself with multiple nominations in several categories, including three of the five nominees for Best R&B Song and Best Song Written for TV or Movies. As a producer he had a hand in a remarkable four out of the five nominees in the Best Female R&B Performance category. The scary thing is Babyface is also a bestselling recording artist. Lucky for the competition, though, his recent solo album was released too late last autumn to make the cutoff for this year's award ceremony.
As for Celine Dion, her bestselling "Falling Into You" was nominated for Best Album and Best Pop Album, and singles from it garnered nominations for Best Record, Best Song and Best Female Pop Vocal. Production credits on the album were shared by 14 different individuals, one of whom - David Foster - earned a Producer of the Year nomination. Foster would also share the Best Record award with Dion if her single, "Because You Loved Me," gets the nod.
And now, the predictions:
BEST RECORD: You should be able to tell long before the final trophy is handed out in this category who will win. Chances are this will be the final feather in the cap after a long night of parading to the podium for Celine Dion. But she faces tough competition from comeback artist of the year, Tracy Chapman, who also received five nominations, and the sentimental favorite, Eric Clapton. And it's possible the voters might withhold the biggest award from Dion, instead opting to confirm their alternative credibility by replaying Alanis Morissette's triumph from last year's award show. Smashing Pumpkins actually topped Celine Dion with seven nominations; the group's failure to win this award will end an evening which sees them totally shut out.
BEST ALBUM: Another tough call. The Fugees will be rewarded amply tonight for rescuing rap from the gangstas and making it safe for yuppies, and Beck's "Odelay" is by far the critical, alternative favorite. But Babyface's "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack spawned a myriad of hit singles on its way to the top of the charts. Look for the man to win.
BEST SONG: The songwriting award pits Babyface, for Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," against Diane Warren, for Dion's "Because You Loved Me." Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" was a startingly raw piece of music that not only brought her distinctive voice back to the airwaves but returned the blues back to the top of the charts for the first time in ages. But this award will go to the team of non- entities who penned Eric Clapton's "Change the World" - produced, incidentally, by Babyface.
BEST NEW ARTIST: You think they're going to give the kiss of death to a group named Garbage? LeAnn Rimes and the members of the Tony Rich Project and No Doubt are praying they don't win this award, and their prayers will be answered when it goes to Jewel. Say goodbye, Jewel.
BEST FEMALE POP VOCAL: Shawn Colvin is the deserving dark horse for her insinuating, sneering, "Get Out of This House," but she's not even in the running against such pop powerhouses as Toni Braxton, Gloria Estefan, and Celine Dion, who will win. Say goodbye again, Jewel.
BEST MALE POP VOCAL: This is one of my favorite categories, where they always stick awesome crooners _ NOT! - like Bryan Adams, John Mellencamp and Eric Clapton. Somebody get these guys a gargle! Clapton is sounding pretty smooth in his old age, actually, and let's face it, the voters love a guy whose son fell out of a window, so he will nab the trophy out of the clutches of the more deserving Tony Rich and Sting.
BEST POP GROUP PERFORMANCE: Do you really believe the voters would pass up the chance to give the Beatles a Grammy Award in 1997 in favor of the Gin Blossoms, Journey, the Neville Brothers, Take 6 or the Presidents of the United States? The only question in this category is will Ringo, Paul or Yoko be on hand to accept the award? George wouldn't stoop so low; if it's Yoko, be prepared for five minutes of emotional applause and a teary speech about John Lennon.
BEST POP ALBUM: Again, Shawn Colvin deserves it for her career- topping "A Few Small Repairs," but since when does merit have anything to do with it? It's sales, I tell you, it's sales, which is why Celine Dion will walk away with this one.
TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL: Tony Bennett will deservedly and ironically beat out Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, Bernadette Peters and -get this - Liza Minnelli, with his aptly-titled "Here's to the Ladies."
BEST FEMALE ROCK VOCAL: Bonnie Raitt is the sentimental favorite, but no one did back-flips over her version of the Talking Heads' "Burnin' Down the House." The contest here is between Tracy Chapman and Sheryl Crow, a previous Grammy winner, this time nominated for the catchy complaint, "If It Makes You Happy." They're both deserving. I'd vote for Crow, but Chapman will eek this one out.
BEST MALE ROCK VOCAL: Beck and John Hiatt don't have a chance against the likes of Bryan Adams and Eric Clapton, but old slowhand is nominated for the wrong song, so Bruce Springsteen (remember him?) wins his second Grammy of the night (see below) for "Dead Man Walkin'."
BEST ROCK GROUP PERFORMANCE: The nominees are Garbage (no way), Dave Matthews Band, Oasis (too English), Smashing Pumpkins (too weird) and the Wallflowers, whose leader, Jakob Dylan, will make his daddy proud.
BEST ROCK SONG: Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers deserves the award for his epic, sprawling, "6th Avenue Heartache," but Tracy Chapman will nab it for "Give Me One Reason.
" BEST ROCK ALBUM: Bonnie Raitt goes home empty-handed tonight - for heaven's sake, "Road Tested" was a LIVE album - as Sheryl Crow beats out Dave Matthews, No Doubt and Neil Young.
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE: With alternative now firmly ensconced in rock's mainstream, as reflected in the nominees for best rock group performance, this category has grown redundant at best and irrelevant at worst. But it gives the voters an excuse to give the much-deserving Beck an award, beating out Tori Amos, R.E.M., Smashing Pumpkins and Tracy Bonham.
BEST R&B GROUP PERFORMANCE: The Fugees take it for their faithful remake of "Killing Me Softly With His Song."
BEST R&B SONG: Babyface wins, but that's easy, since he is nominated for three of the five songs in this category. But if the vote is split among all three of his songs and the academy doesn't add them all together, Luther Vandross or Rod Temperton could steal the trophy that rightfully belongs to Babyface.
BEST RAP ALBUM: The Grammys like Coolio because he samples Stevie Wonder, but this is the year for the Fugees to clean up in every rap and R&B category in which they're nominated.
BEST FEMALE COUNTRY VOCAL: This is where newcomer LeAnn Rimes will pick up an award, outpolling previous winners including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Alison Krauss and Trisha Yearwood.
BEST CONTEMPORARY FOLK ALBUM: The voters totally ignored the thriving new-folk, singer-songwriter scene, instead nominating bluegrass duo Jerry Douglas and Peter Rowan, folk-rock artist Richard Thompson, country-folk singers Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Gillian Welch, and acoustic rock 'n' roller Bruce Springsteen, who will win for his Woody Guthrie-meets-John Steinbeck concept album, "The Ghost of Tom Joad."
BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM: Hillary Rodham Clinton will wind up bringing home the first Grammy ever awarded to a resident of the White House, for the book-on-tape version of her bestseller, "It Takes a Village."
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Babyface is credited with 15 different production efforts for this nomination, including records by Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Kenny G, Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and Brandy. He's up against David Foster (Celine Dion), Don Gehman (Hootie and the Blowfish, Tracy Chapman), Brendan O'Brien (Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam) and Don Was (Jewel, Bonnie Raitt, Rolling Stones, Travis Tritt). It's Babyface all the way. He'd better bring a truck to the ceremony.
[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Feb. 21, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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