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Trustees Award: Jim Marshall

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Henry Diltz and Graham Nash pay tribute to one of music's most iconic photographers
Henry Diltz and Graham Nash
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. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Jim Marshall was my guru. He told me so himself. He was the guru of most of today's music photographers because he was one of the first and one of the best. His mantra was "Get the picture!"

I met him in the mid-'60s. He worked mostly in San Francisco and I worked mostly in L.A., but our paths crossed at the Monterey Pop Festival and at Woodstock, and then more often as the years went by.

There are many colorful adjectives that come to mind when remembering Jim: irascible, impatient, explosive, but always very, very kindhearted. He liked to drink and tell stories and he loved pretty women. "Cars, guns and cameras always get me into trouble," he used to say. He brooked no denial as he waded right in with his little Leica clicking quietly and constantly. His eye was amazing as he caught the essence of each scene before him. His subjects loved his energy and commitment to the moment. He was always very much in the moment.

I had always known Jim for his photos of San Francisco's rich music scene: the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Santana. I knew his famous photo of Johnny Cash giving the finger (a message to the warden of the San Quentin State Prison), but I was totally unprepared for the breadth of his subject matter the day I walked into a gallery in L.A.'s Bergamot Station that was exhibiting his work. There were several big rooms whose walls were completely covered with his photos from floor to ceiling with no space in between. I saw old blues singers, civil rights marches, baseball players, famous comedians, beatniks, hippies, and jazz musicians. I never saw so many pictures on a wall in my life. That huge collection of images is his living gift to us all.

Jim had no family as long as I knew him; his family was his friends, all of whom have hilarious and harried "Jim" stories they love to share. Some involve guns, some involve drugs, all involve the "F" word (his favorite), and all include an awe and a warm feeling for the man we all loved.

We still love you, Jim!

— Henry Diltz

The world is a better place because of the talent and vision of my friend Jim Marshall. He, of course, took countless iconic photographs over the years and always brought a deeper insight into the world of photography and music. His images can be likened to haiku poetry: everything in its proper place … no "extra" information … only the very essences necessary to convey what he wants us to see. Never one to be dissuaded from a good shot, he opened our eyes to the wonders of his portraits. Jim's images always have a sense of completeness and his ability to compose instantly is renowned. It's possible that I took the last portrait of Jim shortly before his untimely passing. Jim may be gone but his images will absolutely stand the test of time and be around for us to see and enjoy for years to come.

— Graham Nash

(With a career spanning more than 40 years, photographer Henry Diltz is responsible for capturing iconic images of historic events such as Woodstock and artists including Blondie; Eric Clapton; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Doors; and Led Zeppelin; among countless others. In 2001 Diltz co-founded the Morrison Hotel Gallery, which represents some of the most renowned photographers in music.)

(A GRAMMY-winning founding member of Crosby, Stills And Nash and the Hollies, and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Graham Nash is also a photographer and published author. His photographic work is collected in the book Eye To Eye: Photographs By Graham Nash. In 2008 he curated others' photographic work in Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock 'N' Roll Photographs Selected By Graham Nash (2009). Since 2005 the first IRIS 3047 printer owned by Nash's digital printing company, Nash Editions, and one of its first published works — his 1969 portrait of David Crosby — have been in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.)

Ennio Morricone

Photo: Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images

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Trustees Award: Ennio Morricone

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A tribute to one of film and television's most prolific composers
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. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Hear that whistling? That's not just the haunting sound of the theme to the 1965 classic spaghetti Western For A Few Dollars More, that's the signature sound of composer Ennio Morricone. And that theme was just the prelude to one of the most classic and enduring movie themes of all time: Morricone's theme to the 1966 follow-up film, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. The series of iconic Sergio Leone-directed Clint Eastwood movies (that also included A Fistful Of Dollars) and their moody soundtracks full of kitschy instrumentation had such a powerful impact on film buff-turned-filmmaker Quentin Tarantino that decades later Morricone would score Tarantino films such as Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained.

In between, Morricone scored more than 500 films and TV shows, won a 1987 GRAMMY for Best Album Or Original Instrumental Background Score for his work on The Untouchables, has been nominated for five Oscars and received an honorary Oscar in 2006 for his contributions to film, and became a towering institution in the film scoring world.

The son of a jazz trumpeter, Morricone was born in Rome in 1928. His musical gifts developed early. He was composing by age 6. In the late '50s he found work as an orchestrator and assistant to leading Italian film composer Nascio Nascimbene. Morricone himself began writing film scores in the early '60s, and early on connected with Leone's Westerns. It was during this time he began to cultivate his unique style, incorporating whistling, flutes, electric guitars, Jew's harp, and wordless choruses (with occasional vocal grunts) into his music.

He would go on to compose scores in various styles, earning Oscar nominations for Days Of Heaven (1978), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991), and Malèna (2000).

Prolific barely describes an artist who in just one year, 1969, racked up 22 different composing credits, and whose more than 500 film and TV scores since 1960 works out to more than 10 projects a year.

The wide appeal of Morricone's music and respect for the man resulted in We All Love Ennio Morricone, a 2007 tribute album featuring artists as varied as Celine Dion, Metallica, Roger Waters, and Yo-Yo Ma.

So the next time you find yourself whistling "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" — which fellow arranger/conductor/composer Hugo Montenegro took to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a sleek version in 1968 — know that you're quoting the work of a true master.

News

Trustees Award: Rick Hall

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Alicia Keys pays tribute to the father of Muscle Shoals Music
Alicia Keys
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. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

The moment I stepped into Rick Hall's Fame Recording Studios, I felt a buzz! I was giddy like a little girl with excitement! The history, fellowship and talent of the artists who'd come before enveloped and surround me and it was powerful. I tasted it on my lips, it sank down to my heart. I wanted to absorb and revel in the ambiance where this beautiful music was created and has gone on to move generations.

It's hard not to feel overwhelmed by the legacy and the names that walked through Fame Recording Studios' doors and put Muscle Shoals, Ala., on the music map. As someone who has a real love and appreciation for music, I wish I could have spent just a few moments in the presence of the artists who made magic at Fame. I wish I could have sat in on those sessions with Etta James, Andy Williams, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett, just to name a few, as they found there was something incredibly special bubbling alongside the rolling Tennessee River. It had Southern charm, deep soul, R&B, rock, pop, and just the right dose of funk. It was original and Rick Hall and the musicians he brought together were the very heartbeat of the sounds that came from the now-legendary town.

Hall built Muscle Shoals from the ground up with his determined spirit. Originally an artist and songwriter, Hall understood what it was like to want to share your music with the world. When doors were closed on him, he opened his own with his first small studio and soon after laid down roots as a music producer in Muscle Shoals. Thanks to Hall, the town of about 1,000 has since become home to countless musicians, with many getting their first start and a chance to be a part of something completely original.

While the civil rights movement shook the country, the musicians entering Fame Studios were colorblind. Side by side with Hall, they created some of the most unique sounds and lasting music of their generation. Maybe Hall didn't know it then, but he was truly bringing people together through the universal language of music. The name Hall was making for himself with Fame Studios had artists from all over the world heading down south for a chance to be a part of what could come out of that magical studio.

Anyone who creates music knows that any good song comes with little magic, and I am proud to have been able to record at Fame Studios as part of the documentary Muscle Shoals. I was filled from being able to learn more about and experience a little bit of what Hall had created. He is a leader and visionary for our industry. His sheer diligence and determination are a lesson in themselves. And his desire to find the magic is the Soul of the Shoals. He is truly the father of Muscle Shoals music.

(GRAMMY winner Alicia Keys was featured in the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals, and contributed a cover of Bob Dylan's "Pressing On" to the film's soundtrack. Keys is nominated this year in the Best R&B Album category for Girl On Fire.)

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Lifetime Achievement Award: The Isley Brothers

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R&B singer/songwriter Kem pays tribute to an R&B/soul institution
Kem
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. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

The Isley Brothers have been making music for almost six decades. Nearly 60 years in music is tribute enough, but there are artists with long careers whose music never resonates with fans the way theirs has.

When I think about the Isleys' legacy, and what it has meant to me as an artist, I'm reminded of a hot, Kool-Aid-deprived day on Detroit's northwest side, just off of 8 Mile Road. I was holed up in a back bedroom at a friend's house, my face pressed against the speaker of a cassette player, my finger wearing out the rewind button. I played "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)," one of their chart-topping singles from 1980, over and over. I was 9 years old, and regardless of it being Saturday, Ronald Isley was taking me to school. That was one of my first lessons on the importance of melody, and I was being taught by a master.

Fast-forward to 2013. I'm sitting at the board in a Detroit studio with none other than Ron Isley. Recording a song with him is the fulfillment of a dream. And here he is, in the vocal booth, hitting all the licks. The memory nearly brings tears to my eyes. That session was a moment for me, the closing of a circle through which a student was rewarded with an opportunity to honor a master.

You forget how many hits the Isley Brothers have had until you find yourself in the audience at a sold-out show: "Shout." "Voyage To Atlantis." "Harvest For The World." "Summer Breeze." "For The Love Of You." The Isley sound is rooted in gospel, and can be traced to the early 1950s in Cincinnati. But their good news has spread through doo-wop, disco, soul, R&B, and various fusions of sound. An Isley record is to music what The Godfather is to film. You've seen it a million times, you know every word by heart and, even if you don't catch it from the beginning, you're captivated until the end.

The last two active members of the the Isley Brothers are Ron and Ernie, but their career has truly been a family affair, with many an Isley helping to build the group's legacy, including Rudolph, and late brothers Vernon, O'Kelly and Marvin. They were also aided by the early encouragement of their father, a professional singer himself, and their mother, a church pianist who accompanied her sons' early performances. Oh yes, and a young Jimmy James played in their band in the '60s (you know him better today as Jimi Hendrix).

When in their presence, I get the sense that for them it has been, and will always be, about the music. In fact, Ron once told me, "We didn't really know it was going to turn into all this. We were just making music the best way we knew how."

How fitting, that at the core of the legacy, and the larger-than-life character Mr. Biggs, there's just a guy who likes to sing, and another who loves to play guitar. Should we be amazed that this perspective made the Isley Brothers' music the unofficial soundtrack to conception? That they've done it masterfully longer than most popular artists have been alive? That they really are your favorite artist's favorite artist? Their resilience, craftsmanship and ability to survive generations is not the result of commercial machination, but of the love of the music.

(A two-time GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter, Kem was featured on Ron Isley's 2013 single "My Favorite Thing," which is featured on Isley's album This Song Is For You.)

 

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Lifetime Achievement Award: Maud Powell

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Rachel Barton Pine pays tribute to an iconic violinist
Rachel Barton Pine
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. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Every industry needs its pioneers and the recording industry found one in legendary American violinist Maud Powell. She stood for the highest achievement in the art of violin playing and radiated an unbounded spirit of adventure. 

In 1904 Powell stepped into a recording studio to play into a recording horn and helped launch the science and art of recording the violin. She became the first solo instrumentalist to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company's Celebrity Artist series (Red Seal label), and for the first time, violin recordings entered into the Victor Red Seal catalog.  

Recognized as America's greatest violinist and ranked among the preeminent musicians in the world, Powell was known for breaking barriers. Her magnetic personality, brilliant artistry, scintillating technique, and versatility were unequaled and she used them to introduce classical music to countless new audiences at a time when few performers dared to face the uncertain concert conditions and hardships of travel in North America. She championed music composed by women and by Americans alongside the music of Europeans. She fathomed the depths of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos, giving them their American premieres when other violinists balked at their difficulties. She was among the first white instrumentalists to integrate the works of composers of African descent into recitals and recordings.

Powell recognized recording technology's potential to aid in her mission to bring the best in classical music to people everywhere. She recorded prolifically from 1904 until her untimely death at 52 in 1920, making more than 100 acoustic recordings. Powell mined the phonograph's potential to elevate the public's musical taste as she recorded only music that met the highest artistic standards. Through her recordings of short classical works and condensed versions of longer works, her artistry helped to revolutionize music appreciation. 

Powell's musical heritage is preserved by Naxos in four meticulously remastered CDs of 87 of her recordings. Even now, her playing as captured by the recording horn sets the standard by which today's classical recording artists are measured. 

Countless individual lives have been inspired and enriched by Maud Powell. Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler and Yehudi Menuhin considered her to be one of their musical heroes. Leading concert artists today include her repertoire in their programs. Students are inspired by her high ideals and mission to enrich the lives of everyone through music.

Maud Powell is the violinist I most admire. Dedicated to her art, brave in her repertoire choices, nurturing of young artists, tireless in utilizing music to break down social barriers and elevate society, her example inspires me every day.

(American violinist Rachel Barton Pine is internationally renowned for her interpretations of great classical works that combine her gift for emotional communication and her scholarly fascination with historical research. She is the music editor and advisor for Maud Powell Favorites, a collection of Powell's transcriptions and music dedicated to Powell, and in 2007 she released a best-selling recording of these treasures: American Virtuosa: Tribute To Maud Powell.)