Not even actor Jamie Foxx trying to sing “Georgia on My Mind” could ruin Ray Charles’ evening Sunday at the 47th annual Grammy Awards. The late soul great hauled in eight Grammys, including album of the year, for his posthumous 2-million-seller “Genius Loves Company.”
Though Charles’ sweep was not unexpected given the publicity from his death last year at age 73 and an Oscar-nominated movie starring Foxx, the rest of the big honors were inexcusably if predictably bland, in keeping with longstanding Grammy tradition of honoring milquetoast over innovation.
The upshot was a disappointing night for 10-time-nominee Kanye West, the South Side native and triple-threat rapper-songwriter-producer who took home three awards but was shut out in the major categories. The biggest upset was in the best new artist category, where West lost to frat-pop lightweights Maroon 5, and for song of the year, where the rapper’s instant classic “Jesus Walks” was beaten by John Mayer’s tepid “Daughters.”
West, clad in white, took out his frustrations on a slamming collaboration with fellow Chicagoan Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama that included “Jesus Walks” and an angel-winged finale. West’s acceptance speech for best rap album crackled with tension, given the rapper’s petulant comments after he was snubbed at the American Music Awards last year. Instead, he demonstrated the humor that punctuates his debut album, “The College Dropout.” “Everybody wanted to know what I’d do if I didn’t win,” he said, and then, while holding his award aloft, added, “I guess we’ll never know.”
West was not the only Chicagoan to enjoy his first Grammy. Wilco won its first two, for best alternative album and best recording package (“A Ghost is Born”), and 80-year-old Ella Jenkins was honored for best children’s album (“cELLAbration! A Tribute to Ella Jenkins”). The night’s other big winner was Alicia Keys, with four Grammys, while U2 and Usher won three each. But the mostly unadventurous selections were trumped by several of the televised performances, an unusually lively broadcast by Grammy standards. It was startling to see a bald Melissa Etheridge, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, joyously ripping into a tribute to Janis Joplin by snarling the line, “A woman can be tough.” She left no doubt. Equally inspiring was Loretta Lynn’s victory for best country album (“Van Lear Rose”) over a field of Nashville best sellers, including Tim McGraw. Improbably, it was the first time the legendary singer has ever won the honor.
“We were sitting on the front porch together while we were making this record and in between songs, she told me `You know what, Jack, 14 of my songs got banned by country radio and every time they wouldn’t play it, it went No. 1,’ ” said Lynn’s producer, the White Stripes’ Jack White. “Well, country radio wouldn’t play this record either. Look who’s No. 1 now.” The telecast itself skewed a bit racier than the heavily homogenized Super Bowl musical events, with Gwen Stefani and Eve romping in barely there outfits, while Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez sang a duet on a stage with a king-size bed. But Lopez was too busy struggling with her wobbly pitch to make much of the moment, as she and her husband generated about as much sexual spark as the Captain and Tennille. Green Day had to edit the explicit lyrics to their hit “American Idiot” and even the six-pack-flashing Usher kept his shirt on.
The biggest letdown was an ambitious opening segment that threw together the Black Eyed Peas, Stefani, Eve, Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5 and Franz Ferdinand into a musical “mash-up” of blues, rock and hip-hop that sounded more like a train wreck, with the increasingly annoying “Let’s Get It Started” in the role of the Song That Wouldn’t Die. A tag-team of all-stars for the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” also fell flat, each singer creaking nervously through a couple of lines; only the Velvet Revolver’s Scott Weiland brought his bravado to the performance.
U2 opted to perform its new single, “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own,” instead of “Vertigo,” which won three Grammys. It was a gutsy move, going for the slow-burn, ultra-personal ballad instead of a bash-and-crash garage rocker, but it was an afterthought in the wake of incandescent performances by West, Green Day and Etheridge.
Perhaps the strangest collaboration was a tribute to Southern rock that enlisted country singers McGraw, Gretchen Wilson and Keith Urban to lend some incongruous star power to supremely untelegenic veterans Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elvin Bishop and Dickie Betts as they performed “Free Bird,” “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” “Ramblin’ Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama.”
A few more snapshots from the 3 1/2-hour broadcast, covering 107 awards:
– Better late than never: Veteran artists who won their first Grammys included Brian Wilson (best rock instrumental for “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow”), Steve Earle (contemporary folk album for “The Revolution Starts . . . Now”), Rod Stewart (traditional pop vocal album for “Stardust: The Great American Songbook Vol. III”) and, most improbably of all, the mighty Motorhead (“Whiplash” for best metal performance).
– Happiest reconciled couple: Estranged ex-bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, seated together and smiling, upon receipt of Led Zeppelin’s lifetime achievement Grammy. Now, where was Robert Plant?
– Best rock criticism, from Quentin Tarantino on Green Day’s “American Idiot”: “They released a concept album with a very novel concept: All the songs are good!”
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THE TOP WINNERS
Album of the year
“Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles and various artists
Record of the year
“Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles and Norah Jones
Song of the year
“Daughters,” John Mayer
New artist
Maroon 5
Pop vocal album
“Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles and various artists
Rock album
“American Idiot,” Green Day
Contemporary R&B album
“Confessions,” Usher
Alternative music album
“A Ghost is Born,” Wilco
Rap album
“The College Dropout,” Kanye West
Country album
“Van Lear Rose,” Loretta Lynn
Contemporary folk album
“The Revolution Starts . . . Now,” Steve Earle
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For a complete list of winners, go to metromix.com
