Music News

Posted: Tue., Feb. 24, 1998, 11:00pm PT

Grammy crowns Dylans

Father, son honored; Colvin gets key 2

COMPLETE LIST OF GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS
BACKSTAGE AT THE GRAMMYS
REVIEW OF GRAMMY TELECASTNEW YORK -- Normally a sedate affair, the Grammy Awards, held Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall, were a mixed bag of surprises and expected wins, interruptions by stage crashers and last-minute artist substitutions.

Shawn Colvin and producer John Leventhal earned the record of the year Grammy for "Sunny Came Home," a quirky single about arson -- a surprise, since that top trophy typically goes to a commercially successful work that gets seared into the nation's consciousness.

Colvin and Leventhal also picked up a Grammy for song of the year for "Sunny," which was one of the year's longest charting singles and came off her Columbia disc, "A Few Small Repairs."

The win was her career third, having picked up a contemporary folk album statuette in 1990.

Bob Dylan nabbed album of the year for "Time Out of Mind," a win that was expected and greeted with sustained applause and a standing ovation from the crowd.

"In the words of the immortal Robert Johnson, 'the stuff we got'll bust your brains out' and we tried to get that (on) this record," Dylan said while accepting the award. The album is widely considered his best work in two decades.

Daniel Lanois, who co-produced the disc with Dylan, said the lyrics "were hard, were deep, were desperate, were strong and came from having lived a number of lives."

The win was Dylan's career sixth and his third of the evening.

Multiple nominees, such as Babyface, who went into the ceremony with eight noms, landed just one statuette as producer of the year; and seven-nod recipient Paula Cole scored just one trophy, for new artist.

Cole said "this is my dream, getting this award from Aretha Franklin," She thanked her "parents and music teachers from high school and college" who supported her in the tough times.

Cole's Imago/Warner Bros disc "This Fire," which boasts the familiar "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone," has been on the charts for much of 1997 and recently eclipsed the 1 million sales plateau.

Earlier, Dylan got his first Grammy of the evening for contemporary folk album and later nabbed rock male perf for "Cold Irons Bound," a track from the album.

Dylan's album of the year win followed his performance of "Love Sick," during which a half-undressed intruder crashed the stage with "Soy Bomb" printed on his chest, but Dylan didn't miss a beat or even blink at the man's presence.

Moments after Sarah McLachlan picked up her first Grammy, for female pop performance for "Building A Mystery," she returned to the stage to receive a statuette for pop instrumental perf for "Last Dance." Both tracks were off her Arista Records disc "Surfacing."

The announcement that James Taylor and producer Frank Filipetti's efforts on "Hourglass" nabbed the Grammy for pop album earned gasps from the house and the press room.

The Columbia Records disc, which was up against Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance," Jamiroquai's "Travelling Without Moving," Cole's "This Fire" and McLachlan's "Surfacing," was widely thought to be the category's dark horse in light of its relatively low profile compared to the other nominees.

"I was really surprised," Filipetti said backstage after accepting the award for Taylor who was on tour.

He said Taylor, who normally doesn't think about awards, will be "very excited" because he "really didn't think he had a chance of winning this."

Will Smith nabbed the Grammy for rap solo performance, moments after performing the nominated track "Men In Black" and seguing into his latest single "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" off his Columbia Records disc "Big Willie Style."

It was the third win for Smith but his first solo trophy: he has two wins as part of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince. In his acceptance speech, Smith dedicated the award to "rap prophets" 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.

LeAnn Rimes performed the nominated song "How Do I Live," on the show, but it was Trisha Yearwood who nabbed the female country perf Grammy for the tune.

Rimes recorded the song for the Touchstone pic "Con Air," but the film's producers rejected it in favor of Yearwood's.

Erykah Badu picked up the R&B album prize for her debut Universal Records effort "Baduizm," which has been snapped up by 2 million consumers in less than a year.

Badu, who has been touted as one of the industry's new musical bright spots -- a reputation helped by her hit single "On & On" -- said the award was for all the artists "who don't get heard."

Her acceptance speech was preceded by an unscheduled visit from Dirty Ol' Bastard, a member of the WuTang Clan, who was unhappy the group was not part of the national telecast; he dissed Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G before being escorted off the stage. (The crashers were a unique touch for the Grammys, even though British music events regularly feature renegade interruptions -- for example, when members of Chumbawumba interrupted the recent Brit Music Awards, and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp jumped onstage to protest a Michael Jackson performance.)

The Grammy for perf by a duo or group with vocal was nabbed by Jamiroquai for "Virtual Insanity," the lead track from his Work Group bow "Travelling Without Moving."

The win surprised many in the house, since No Doubt's "Don't Speak" was thought to be the frontrunner in the category that featured Fleetwood Mac's "Silver Springs" and the Rolling Stones' "Has Anybody Seen My Baby."

Another upset came two categories later when John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison landed the pop collaboration with vocals Grammy for "Don't Look Back," the title track from Hooker's Pointblank/Virgin Records disc.

The win was but one example of sentimentality taking prize as the aging Hooker and Morrison won alongside Dylan, Taylor Elton John, John Fogerty and three favorites who died last year: Sir Georg Solti, John Denver and Charles Kuralt.

Morrison and Hooker bested Tony Bennett's "God Bless the Child" and Babyface and Stevie Wonder's "How Come, How Long," which the pair performed on the telecast backed by an enormous choir.

The highly anticipated duet from Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand, did not happen (Babs has the flu) but the diminutive diva performed "My Heart Will Go On" a track from her "Let's Talk About Love" disc and the "Titanic" soundtrack and the most frequently played song on the nation's radiowaves.

Aside from the Dylan perf, the evening's most galvanizing moment came when Aretha Franklin, subbing for an ill Luciano Pavarotti, wowed the house with "Nessun dorma," earning a lengthy standing ovation and cheers from the 6,000 attendees.

R. Kelly, who in the non-televised preshow ceremony won a Grammy for R&B song (a songwriter's award) for "I Believe I Can Fly" and one for best song for a motion picture, a track featured on the "Space Jam" soundtrack, also received a standing ovation for his perf of the soaring ballad.

Kelly's perf preceded a Grammy win for male R&B vocal performance.

Vince Gill, who performed in place of an ill George Strait, picked up the Grammy for male country vocal performance for his single "Pretty Little Adriana," moments after performing the song on the ceremony.

The elder Dylan scored a Grammy hat-trick, and his son Jakob led the Wallflowers to a pair of statuettes: best rock perf duo or group and best rock song for "One Headlight" a nod which went to the songwriter, Jakob.

The ceremony's first two awards went to Puff Daddy. The entrepreneur and Faith Evans landed the Grammy for rap perf by a duo or group for "I'll Be Missing You," while the rap album Grammy went to producers Puffy and Stevie J for "No Way Out."

Garth Brooks earned his first Grammy for his duet with Trisha Yearwood (country collaboration with vocals) for "In Another's Eyes," the track the duo previewed on talkshows.

Songwriters Bob Carlise and Randy Thomas picked up country song for "Butterfly Kisses," the tune that became a worldwide phenomenon last year and was inescapable on radio.

Thomas said the song is "not about fatherhood, it is about gratitude and was written for the ears of a child."

The pair's win topped other memorable tracks such as the Yearwood/Brooks duet "In Another's Eyes" and Deana Carter's breakout hit "Did I Shave My Legs For This," the title track from her debut album.

Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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