John Sutton-Smith is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor.
It is rare that a song can so deeply permeate the popular zeitgeist that it is played at moments of deep communal grief and universal gratitude. A few standards, such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "A Change Is Gonna Come" or "Let It Be," come to mind, but Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," with its signature mix of a beguilingly simple melody…
Recording industry legend Phil Ramone, who passed away March 30 at age 79, was a undoubtedly a great producer and engineer. By every measure and consensus, Ramone was also a good man. He was a "people person" — always friendly and willing to offer a few words of wisdom to an artist or student (or journalist). He was also a…
As many seasoned music fans will remember, the experience of spending hours flipping through racks of vinyl are long gone, let alone the seemingly exotic experience of sitting in a glass sound booth listening to untouched vinyl before deciding whether to purchase. One of the last record stores with listening booths was Los Angeles' Wallichs Music City. Considered one of…
Every year the GRAMMY Awards show presents memorable and unique performances to a worldwide audience and announces a select group of major awards for the greatest musical achievements of the year. In fact, there are only 10 trophies handed out during the show itself out of 81 total awards.GRAMMYs for the other 70-plus categories are presented at the GRAMMY Pre-Telecast…
After that breathtaking moment when they accept their award before an audience of their peers and millions of fans on television, one of the first individuals a GRAMMY winner meets after walking off stage is Danny Clinch. At that moment, while caught in a whirlwind of emotion and excitement, music's top artists immediately step into Clinch's backstage photo studio for their…
