Post by rick on Nov 25, 2012 2:18:34 GMT -5
artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/grammy-hall-of-fame-harvests-a-new-crop-of-old-songs
Songs and albums recorded by household names including Bob Dylan, James Brown, Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston and Elton John lead the list of 27 works to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame next year. But this year’s crop of honorees, announced on Wednesday, also includes influential recordings by the jazz bassist Charlie Mingus and the pianist Lennie Tristano, as well as blues, country, Cajun, bluegrass, tango and Broadway cast recordings dating back as early as 1924.
“With the Grammy Hall of Fame celebrating 40 years, it’s especially important to note that these entries continue the tradition of inducting a wide variety of recordings that have inspired and influenced both fans and music makers for generations,” said Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammys. With these new inductees the Grammy Hall of Fame now includes 933 recordings.
To be eligible a recording must be at least 25 years old and, in the opinion of a panel of music industry professionals, “exhibit qualitative or historical significance.” Mr. Dylan, for example, was honored for his composition “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” first released in 1964, which quickly became an anthem of both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.
Similarly, Mr. Brown’s 1965 hit single “I Got You (I Feel Good)” is considered a landmark in the development of the soul music style that helped black urban music cross over to white audiences. Other recordings on this year’s list, like Elton John’s and Whitney Houston’s debut albums, are notable primarily because they inaugurated careers that became enormously successful.
At the other extreme, songs like the Memphis Jug Band’s “Stealin’, Stealin’,” from 1928, and the blues singer Son House’s “My Black Mama” sold modestly and were even out of print for many years, but became important influences on contemporary folk and pop performers that include the Grateful Dead, John Mellencamp, Gov’t Mule and the White Stripes.
The complete list of recordings to be inducted can be found at
www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-recording-academy-announces-2013-grammy-hall-of-fame-inductees