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This Just In...
Kevin Fischer is an award-winning veteran broadcaster who has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for nearly three decades.
Kevin, who is a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, “INTERchange,” on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Franklin.
Elvis and the Grammy Awards
By Kevin Fischer
Sunday, Feb 10 2008, 08:19 AM
Elvis Presley had 81 albums, 53 singles, and 16 extended play singles that went gold, platinum or multi-platinum.
So, how many Grammy Awards did he win?
Try three.
From elvis.com:
Elvis received 14 Grammy nominations from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). His three wins were for gospel recordings - the album How Great Thou Art (1967), the album He Touched Me (1972) and his live Memphis concert recording of the song How Great Thou Art (1974). In 1971, NARAS also recognized him with their Lifetime Achievement Award (known then as the Bing Crosby Award in honor of its first recipient). Elvis was 36 years old at the time.
Six of Elvis' recordings, all of them his original studio masters, have been inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame: Hound Dog (1956 recording, inducted 1988), Heartbreak Hotel (1956 recording, inducted 1995), That's All Right (1954 recording, inducted 1998), Suspicious Minds (1969 recording, inducted 1999), Don't Be Cruel (1956 recording, inducted 2002) and Are You Lonesome Tonight (1960 recording, inducted 2007). The Recording Academy's national trustees established the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1973 to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Many inductees are recordings that were created and released before the 1958 inception of NARAS and the Grammy Awards.
That last sentence is key.
The Grammy Awards first began in 1958, two years after Elvis exploded on the music scene.
One would assume Elvis would have easily been New Artist of the Year if the Grammy Awards had been around in 1956.
Take a look at his singles that charted on Billboard in ’56 and ’57 along with the highest position they charted and imagine the Grammy’s he could have taken home:
| Heartbreak Hotel |
1 |
1956 |
| I Was the One |
19 |
1956 |
| Blue Suede Shoes |
20 |
1956 |
| I Want You, I Need You, I Love You |
1 |
1956 |
| Don't Be Cruel |
1 |
1956 |
| Hound Dog |
1 |
1956 |
| Love Me Tender |
1 |
1956 |
| Anyway You Want Me (That's How I Will Be) |
20 |
1956 |
| When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again |
19 |
1956 |
| Love Me |
2 |
1957 |
| Too Much |
1 |
1957 |
| All Shook Up |
1 |
1957 |
| (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear |
1 |
1957 |
| Loving You |
20 |
1957 |
| Jailhouse Rock |
1 |
1957 |
| Treat Me Nice |
18 |
1957 |
| Don't |
1 |
1957 |
| I Beg of You |
8 |
1957 |
But why so few Grammy Awards from 1958 on?
Looks like the King, at least in some instances, got a royal screwing.
Philip Arnold writes on elvisblog.net:
An Elvis song would have been a shoo-in for Record Of The Year in 1956 with choices like “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Hound Dog,” and "Don’t Be Cruel.” The Album of the Year for 1956 would undoubtedly have gone to Elvis’ first RCA album, Elvis Presley. In 1957, the choices for Record of The Year would have been "Too Much," “All Shook Up,” “Teddy Bear,” and “Jailhouse Rock”. ” Elvis’ Christmas Album was the definitive rock & roll Christmas album of the period and would have been a strong contender for Album of The Year.
Elvis was off in Germany in the Army when the Grammy Awards were created in 1958, and he had no nominations. However, the next year he received three. “A Fool Such As I” was a nominee for Record of The Year, but got beat by Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” a really huge hit. “A Big Hunk of Love” received two nominations. However, Nat King Cole won Best Performance by A Top 40 Artist for “Midnight Flyer” (I can’t say that I even remember the song), and Dinah Washington won Best R&B Performance for “What A Difference A day Makes.”
1960 was Elvis’ best year for Grammy nominations with five, but he was up against Ray Charles who was having a huge year. “Are You Lonesome Tonight” had three nominations: Record of the Year, Best Vocal Performance, Male, and Best Performance by a Pop Singles Artist. “Theme From A Summer Place” by Percy Faith won the Record of the Year, and Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles took the other two categories. He won a total of four Grammys in 1960.
Elvis had two album nominations in 1960, both for the GI Blues. However, Ray Charles beat him again. The Genius of Ray Charles took the award for Best Vocal Performance, Male, Album. The Best Soundtrack Album award went to Ernest Gold for Exodus.
Elvis had another shot at Best Soundtrack Album in 1961 with Blue Hawaii. Ray Charles didn’t beat him, but Henry Mancini did with Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
For the next five years Elvis was making movies and none of his songs or albums received Grammy nominations. In 1967, he finally won a Grammy for Best Sacred Performance for the album How Great Thou Art, which sold over a million copies and reached #18 in the Top Albums Chart. In 1968, he was nominated in the same category for the single “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” but the award went to Jake Hess for “Beautiful Isle Of Somewhere.”
In 1972 Elvis won his second Grammy when his album He Touched Me took the Best Inspirational Performance award. In 1974 Elvis won this category again for his third and last Grammy. But instead of winning for a single or an album, Elvis won for the live version of the song “How Great Thou Art” from the album Elvis Recorded Live On Stage in Memphis.
It should be noted that the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences partially rectified their earlier snubs of Elvis by granting him their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1971.
The 50th annual Grammy Awards are being televised tonight. Because the Grammy Awards have become such a joke, I won’t be watching.
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