The Kingston Trio

Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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Lifetime Achievement Award: The Kingston Trio

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Peter, Paul And Mary's Peter Yarrow on the transcendence of 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients The Kingston Trio's contributions to popular folk music
Peter Yarrow
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 12 Special Merit Awards recipients for 2011.

When I was at Cornell as a freshman I was a nerd, an outsider and a square. I was immersed in (perhaps obsessed with is the right phrase) traditional folk music. Yet, when I heard the undeniable joy and pleasure of three voices, meeting in midair to create the sound of the Kingston Trio, all of a sudden I was no longer out of step. In an insensitive, biased, selfish era, and a highly stratified society, these three bridged the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us who had to be satisfied with leftover scraps until, and unless, we bootstrapped our way out.

The Kingston Trio transcended this clearly dismal aspect of those times without moralizing, without philosophizing and without preaching. They brought us together by simply being comfortable in their skin, and being together, united as friends. They offered a more hopeful, brighter path to me and, I suspect, to many others.

Their music was a balm to the growing angst of a generation that was soon to turn our country and our world upside down. They tossed off renditions of song gems that felt effortless yet genuine, cool yet caring, sympathetic yet "no big ting." Sometimes they were wistful, as in "Sloop John B"; sometimes they sang a great, happy joke, as in "M.T.A."; sometimes they were oddly, at least for men in those times, sensitive, as in "Tom Dooley"; and sometimes they were wonderfully cutting-edge "hip," as in Bob Shane's classic rendition of "Scotch And Soda."

In college, I imagined them, only a very few years older than me, to be devoid of malevolence or unkindness. And I was right. I met the Kingstons for the first time with Noel Paul and Mary at our first club gig outside of New York, at Boston's mainly jazz club Storyville, owned by George Wein. We were opening up for the immortal Josh White.

I was self-conscious, and secretly blown away by the fact that they had come to see us perform. They were, all three of them, somewhat shy, gracious and oh so just plain nice.

Ah, we were all so young then. We were wide-eyed and green. Singing together was intoxicatingly wonderful. And the Kingston Trio had come to see us perform. Wow!

History has a way of allowing the truth of each era to become trivialized and marginalized, as the "gods" of the next thing obscure what has come before. However, we of the folk family know what we know. We know how much we learned from each other, how we inspired one another, and how indebted we are to those who brought us along in our similar paths.

Let us take our hats off to the Kingston Trio and the wonderment of a new chapter of American life to which they brought us closer. They showed us a very special and never-out-of-style path to love, life, music, and joy. Like the sound of a banjo, their music will always remain one of the best ways, ever, to announce that we are, indeed, a family.

(Peter Yarrow, a former Recording Academy New York Chapter Governor, is a member of Peter, Paul And Mary, who have earned five GRAMMY Awards, including four for "If I Had A Hammer" and "Blowin' In The Wind." In 1999 he founded Operation Respect, a nonprofit dedicated to creating safe school environments, an effort that was recognized by a congressional resolution in 2003.)

The Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 1962, is presented by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. To view a complete list of Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, click here.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, Juilliard String Quartet, Dolly Parton, Ramones, George Beverly Shea
Trustees Award: Al Bell, Wilma Cozart Fine, Bruce Lundvall
Technical GRAMMY Award: Roger Linn, Waves Audio Ltd.

 

Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage.com

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A tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Diana Ross

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A tribute to one of the most successful female artists of all time
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am
GRAMMY.com

In 1969, when Diana Ross, with the Supremes, joined the Temptations to sing "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," the song was truly an understatement. She had already won the world's heart as the leader of music's most successful girl group, though even she likely didn't know the extent to which she would ultimately own our collective affection.

Through her role as the lead voice of America's top singing group, a solo music career that resulted in a number of signature hits, and a film and Broadway career that proved she was a multidimensional talent, Ross became a beacon of hope and possibility not just for young African-American women, but for any woman aspiring to prove her worth in a professional world stacked against her.

Ross and friends Florence Ballard, Barbara Martin and Mary Wilson formed the Supremes (originally the Primettes) in the Brewster housing projects in Detroit. The group didn't emerge as stars immediately, and after their first few mid-chart singles, Martin left. But starting with "Where Did Our Love Go?" in 1964, the Supremes would ultimately chart 12 No. 1 pop singles with Ross.

That might have been enough for mere mortal singers, but Ross went solo in 1969 and started a hit-making run of her own that rivaled the Supremes. No less than "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" launched her with a No. 1 hit in 1970. Her first leading movie role came in 1972 with Lady Sings The Blues, which resulted in a Best Actress Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award. The role led to 1975's Mahogany — for which Ross even designed some of the costumes — and a No. 1 hit for "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)." Major hits continued into the '80s with such No. 1s as "Upside Down" and the smash movie theme "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie.

Among Ross' list of other achievements are 12 GRAMMY Award nominations, three recordings inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame (with the Supremes), two Hollywood Walk of Fame stars (one with the Supremes and one as a solo artist), and a Kennedy Center Honors recognition. And most of all, the status of being arguably, as the Guinness Book Of World Records stated in 1993, the most successful female artist of all time.

In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 54th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients.

Follow GRAMMY.com for our inside look at GRAMMY news, blogs, photos, videos, and of course nominees. Stay up to the minute with GRAMMY Live. Check out the GRAMMY legacy with GRAMMY Rewind. Keep track of this year's GRAMMY Week events, and explore this year's GRAMMY Fields. Or check out the collaborations at Re:Generation, presented by Hyundai Veloster. And join the conversation at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Lifetime Achievement Award: The Memphis Horns

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Booker T. Jones pays tribute to founding members Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love
Booker T. Jones
GRAMMYs
Jun 22, 2016 - 9:42 am
GRAMMY.com

If you've ever heard the brilliant unison horns that play the starting phrases on records such as "Knock On Wood," "Hold On, I'm Comin'" or "In The Midnight Hour," then you've experienced the excitement that the Memphis Horns can stir when opening a song.

The enthusiasm exhibited by these extraordinary session players appears on every recording take, every rehearsal and every live show that they have been involved with. If you call the Memphis Horns, you know what you're going to get: solid horn lines and warm, flowing harmonies to accentuate the vocals or highlight the melody.

I had the pleasure of working with founding members Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love during my days at Stax Records as a fellow session player. Nicer guys, or more hardworking and reliable people, you just couldn't find. They were true team players. 

I remember working with them on the introduction to Otis Redding's version of "Try A Little Tenderness." Otis said he wanted to begin with a horn part that was reminiscent of a traditional southern ballad for this slow romantic song. What at first seemed a simple request morphed into a maze of musical possibilities. This note or that? Start in unison and develop into harmony. Build here, a decrescendo there.

As the Horns patiently entertained and played through Otis' ruminations, which he hummed to them, as well as the ideas of other musicians, including myself, I witnessed their endurance and professionalism. The process of inclusion and elimination, which in times past might have taken only a few minutes, stretched out for more than an hour, but the simple, beautiful gem that resulted was well worth it, and we started the song with this longing, emotive phrase.

Only the horns are heard during this introduction. Plainly presented and arguably one of history's most moving showpieces, they pave the way for Otis' aching vocal performance.

An essential element of the Stax family, and a unit unto themselves, they put their distinctive mark on the Memphis sound before they expanded to the wider musical community.

Aside from Otis, the Memphis Horns played on Stax records by Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and Rufus and Carla Thomas. You can also hear them on recordings by the Doobie Brothers, Al Green, Neil Diamond, Elvis Presley, the Robert Cray Band, U2, and Neil Young. They are members of the Musicians Hall of Fame.

And now the time has finally come for the recording industry to play a unison note in tribute to the men that defined what a horn section should be.

(Booker T. Jones played on countless hits as a member of Stax Records' house band, Booker T. & The MG's. The band also recorded their own gold records, won a Best Pop Instrumental Performance GRAMMY in 1994 for “Cruisin'" and received their own Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.)

In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award [http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/technical-awards]. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 54th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients.

Follow GRAMMY.com for our inside look at GRAMMY news, blogs, photos, videos, and of course nominees. Stay up to the minute with GRAMMY Live. Check out the GRAMMY legacy with GRAMMY Rewind. Keep track of this year's GRAMMY Week events, and explore this year's GRAMMY Fields. Or check out the collaborations at Re:Generation, presented by Hyundai Veloster. And join the conversation at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Lifetime Achievement Award: George Jones

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GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Merle Haggard pays tribute to one of country music's finest
Merle Haggard
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

Sometime around 1956, I picked up a copy of Country Song Roundup. For you new kids, that was a song magazine that was a must-have for an aspiring songwriter. And it was important to me whose names were written at the bottom of the songs.

At the time I was kinda out of touch, up the river, incarcerated. Little things meant a lot inside there. There were two new songs I didn't recognize, didn't know the melody to, and a couple names attributed to them that I was barely familiar with. In fact, these two songs were written by a couple of guys who would become lifelong friends of mine — Roger Miller and George Jones. I believe those songs were Roger's "Big Harlan Taylor" and George's "Seasons Of My Heart."

It wasn't long before I had the pleasure of hearing George Jones sing both of those songs. Soon I began singing "Seasons Of My Heart" myself. George, this exciting new singer to me, had a big record a couple of years later called "The Window Up Above." I just can't help but get emotional about this. A few years went by, George had some great hits. I was in Bakersfield, Calif., at KUZZ radio presenting my very first single, "Sing A Sad Song." Bill Woods, the disc jockey on duty, told me he was gonna play it on the air. At that very moment, the door opened and into the studio walked George Jones and songwriter Georgie Riddle. That was the first time I met George personally. They had a new record in their hands. It was different. His went on to be one of the biggest songs of 1962: "She Thinks I Still Care," backed by "Sometimes You Just Can't Win."

It's only been half a century, but from that day forth I was a "Possum" disciple and as far as I'm concerned he has no equal. It's no surprise he was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 2008, among other awards he's received. It's good to see one of the bad boys of country music rise above it all. Some of us have to work longer and harder than others. Congratulations, George.

(A 13-time GRAMMY nominee and two-time winner, Merle Haggard received his own Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.)

In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 54th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients.

Follow GRAMMY.com for our inside look at GRAMMY news, blogs, photos, videos, and of course nominees. Stay up to the minute with GRAMMY Live. Check out the GRAMMY legacy with GRAMMY Rewind. Explore this year's GRAMMY Fields. Or check out the collaborations at Re:Generation, presented by Hyundai Veloster. And join the conversation at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

News

Lifetime Achievement Award: Gil Scott-Heron

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Common pays tribute to revolutionary rap artist
Common
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

Gil Scott-Heron was a leader, a leader in revolution. He had the courage, strength, heart, will, sense of sacrifice, and selflessness that few embody in this world. Gil was a leader who possessed a powerful but soothing voice, a voice that had the tone and texture of standing up for the people. He represented the people from the ghetto, the people who were oppressed and the people who were standing up for justice and equality for all. Gil Scott-Heron was the embodiment of millions; their voices and their spirits were alive in him.

I remember the first time I heard Gil as a young boy. My best friend played his record, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” I was intrigued, excited and amused by this inspirational piece. At the time, I was unaware of the mighty influence the song's empowering message would have on me not only as an artist, but as a human being.  From that point on, every time I listened to Gil's music he truly left footprints on my soul. He left footprints of joy, footprints of resistance, and footprints of power and love. Gil gave us a chorus of power to chant to. And he gave us shoes of positive change and upward mobility to walk in.

What was so beautiful about Gil's gilded gift of artistry was that he blessed the world with messages that impacted the paradigms of the youth in such a dynamic way. What makes this truth so magical is that in the eyes of our youth we find our development and progress as a collective human race. We find our future. I was a member of that youth at one period of time. I represent the generation Gil influenced and crowned with his wisdom, style and musical genius.

In college, as I was being exposed to more and more types of music, I was reintroduced to Gil Scott-Heron. It was then, after having the same intrigue and excitement as hearing him the first time, that he officially became one of my favorite artists. I loved the depth of his voice, the soul he sang with, the music that he created, and the words that sparked illuminating thoughts. I loved the beautiful experience I had every single time I listened to Gil's music and felt the movement that naturally shined through the lyrics.

I found myself taking pieces of him and placing them into my own music because he represented something bigger than us and of the spiritual realm. I would quote him, sample him and use his lyrics for inspiration in my songs. On my single "The 6th Sense" I quoted "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." On my single "The People" we sampled "We Almost Lost Detroit," and it felt great to connect my work to the work of such an iconic poet and artist as Gil Scott-Heron.

To make it all even more mesmerizing, in August 2010 I was afforded the blessing to connect with Gil personally during a performance we had together in Central Park. I remember the day vividly. First, I went to Gil's home in New York. He was barbequing and we were talking about how to perform the songs at the show. We traded thoughts and I even revealed to him that I someday wished to play him in a movie. He told me all about the new book he was writing. As we exchanged stories and thoughts with one another, I thought to myself, "This is one of the greatest artists the world has ever seen," and I was honored just to share the moments we had as artists and as brothers.

I know Gil Scott-Heron shared his soul in every note, lyric and song we heard from him. I will always appreciate the influence and impact he had on me and the world. I will forever work to keep his inspiration alive.

(Common is a two-time GRAMMY winner. His most recent album, The Believer/The Dreamer, was released in December 2011. He currently stars in the AMC TV series "Hell On Wheels.")

In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 54th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients.

Follow GRAMMY.com for our inside look at GRAMMY news, blogs, photos, videos, and of course nominees. Stay up to the minute with GRAMMY Live. Check out the GRAMMY legacy with GRAMMY Rewind. Keep track of this year's GRAMMY Week events, and explore this year's GRAMMY Fields. Or check out the collaborations at Re:Generation, presented by Hyundai Veloster. And join the conversation at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.