i am surprised no one else has even bothered to create a grammy thread.. after all, we are music lovers, right?
any big surprises for anyone? any disappointments? any performances that really stood out to you?
i saw where the nielson rating for the show was down like almost 30%. i think they said 'desperate housewives' won the most viewers for the time slot? is this a real 'sign of the times', with how the public has become so blassy with the music industry? i know i am sick of it. they keep pumping millions of dollars into images, and keep cramming these no talent ass clowns down my throat. ashlee simpson, toby keith, sean john, kenny chesney, jo-jo, etc, etc.. i know the list could go on and on, but i just dont want it to.
maybe they need to promise next year that someone boobs will "pop" out, i bet then the viewers will go up!!
on a side note, my home-town band, 'The Los Lonely Boys', got a grammy for best performance from a duo or group, for their song 'Heaven'. not too many even expected them to win, so it was a great surprise for our town to have them win some hardware.
any other general thoughts or impressions about the grammys, or the state of music in general?
bigjohn
I didn't watch the grammy's this time around either. In fact, I think I have missed the last three. For what it's worth, I missed the super bowl as well. Don't know if it's because I am getting older, tired of watching self promoting bafoons, tired of listening to @ss kissing announcers or a combination of all three. Seems now I'd rather pop in a good movie or just listen to good music rather than get caught up in someone elses image.
Glad to have been one of the 30%.
bigjohn,
Good idea. I got home in time to watch an hour or so of the show, and it certainly looked spectacular in HD. I'd never heard John Mayer before--only seen posters of him in my local Towers store. While a bit on the bland side of the ledger, he is an excellent guitar player and singer.
And while I applaud the tribute to the late, great Ray Charles, it's a shame that only a couple of cuts on that Genius Loves Company album are really good, mainly the duet with the great Bonnie Rait.
Regards,
my personal opinion, BigJohn, is that the Grammy's have become so "out of touch" and "unhip" that most hardcore music fans that would be interested, tune out.
For myself personally, I've always been dissapointed by the lack of hardware for actual rock bands. Elvis Costello nominated for best rock album - come on! And Nickleback for best hard rock?!?
It would be interesting to see awards for best alternative album also - something that would encompass bands like the Flaming Lips, Sigur Ros, Libertines, etc. Give awards for being creative and talented, not for selling albums.
While it's quite obvious I didn't watch the awards, I have to say that I was dissapointed that Ray Charles beat out Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash for best collaboration (though I can't says as I'm surprised).
For the first time in my life I watched the Grammies. Thought I sould see what all the fuss is about--if I'm missing something by ignoring almost all popular music of the last couple of decades. There was almost nothing I wouldn't pay not to hear or see again.
The whole thing seems to me an execise in self promotion by an industry run on hype that can't stand on its own musical merits. I won't be watching again, once was more than enough.
I think there's not a lot of chat because the Grammy's seem to be less about loving music, and more about producers rewarding themselves for the work they've done. I read Ray Charles won 7 Grammy's? Absolutely no disrespect to him, but this reeks of pity awards. If he were alive, he'd have won 0, or maybe 1 for an obscure one.
I Think the Simpson's bit on the Grammy's summed it up best:
Homer, having no money for a tip, tips the bellhop with his Grammy.
Bellhop: Wow! An awards statuette..." then disappointedly "Oh, it's a Grammy" and he tosses it off the balcony
Voice from the ground below: "Hey! Don't throw your garbage down here!" as Grammy comes flying back up and hits Homer in the head.
Well, I'll be the lone voice of non-dissention.
I generally do watch the Grammy's each year and think that this was, by a country mile, the best one in quite a few years.
I don't really follow many of the top-40, hip-hop or R&B artists much anymore, but there were still more live performances, and a much, much wider variety of them then usual. As someone who has a tiny bit of experience with video and audio production, I'm amazed that the entire show went off without a hitch, as there were some very complex multi-performer sequences. The high-def imagery was very good; the 5.1 sound was excellent considering the complexity of all those performances.
While it was kinda "Ray Heavy", that was virtually unavoidable with an album released, a top movie on his life released, and, coincidentally, his death this year.
I think the Grammys have had a hard time up against more hip awards shows such as the MTV music awards, and I think some of that has been evident in past years. This year, I think they pulled out all the stops and pulled it off.
I'll still take the Grammys over the MTV awards with it's emphasis on Bling and posses' and posturing.
In reply to:
they keep pumping millions of dollars into images, and keep cramming these no talent ass clowns down my throat. ashlee simpson, toby keith, sean john, kenny chesney, jo-jo, etc, etc.. i know the list could go on and on, but i just dont want it to.
I couldn't agree more. This canned crap is promoted as art while the real talent remains in the shadows and the only way to learn about them is buried in the back of a few obscure audio publications. It's like living in the damn audio version of the Matrix. The Grammys used to be about the best talent, now it's only about commercially promoting what the big record companies want to push. What a sad thing the Grammys have become.
I see Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" won best surround album.
I have the regular 'stereo' cd has anyone heard the sacd?
BTW: I sure am glad they added this cat. to the grammys, maybe there is hope for sacd/dvda afterall.
B.J.,
I am a music lover,...............that's why I don't watch those type of music award shows.
LT
Well stated.
I am not a fan of ANY of the awards shows.
I'm not sure there was EVER a time when the Grammy awards were relevant artistically.
When I was growing up, Grammy awards were given to people like Nancy Sinatra instead of the Beatles. It's pretty rare that a Grammy is given to something I like, with the possible exception of the traditional blues category.
I just think you have to look elsewhere for credibility. I don't know whether it is the money or the "industry" or the sheer diversity of musical experience, but I've just never seen the Grammy awards list or show as very valuable.
i agree with you and LT61 both. the music industry is on a steady downward spiral, and its getting more and more out of control.
i just watch the grammys for the performances. regardless of who wins what, there is no doubt they manage to put together the most interesting 3 hour set of songs you will ever hear. i mean, where else you gonna get that large of a variety of music, on one stage. granted, not all of it is gonna be to your liking, but chances are you will be entertained. at least i was..
mark made a good point, it was a good show. excellent live sets from each band, and had more good music than bad. it didnt make me wanna go buy nothing that i dont already have, but did spark enough interest to check out a few new names.
bigjohn
bigjohn,
I agree, and many of the comments in this thread about the music industry and no-talents getting awards are dead-on. However, like you, I watch for the performances/entertainment variety--I mean, I have to say that Usher is an amazing dancer.
Regards,
As a whole, I enjoyed the show in HD and DD5.1.
I was not a big Alicia Keys fan until her solo performance in towards the beginning of the show. WOW! It was probably the only musical performance I really appreciated. I also liked the performance dedicated to the tsunami victims.
In reply to:
Usher is an amazing dancer
OOOHHHH!!! he is SOOOOOO dreamy!!!
sorry, just had to...
bigjohn
SO.........I guess nobody has heard the Ray Charles sacd.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Joss Stone getting punked by Melissa Etheridge. I like Melissa, but IMO she doesn't have the voice of Joss. But she definitely stole the show, bald and all.
Alan, John Mayer's albums are well-recorded and very involving. I'd highly recommend Room for Squares and Heavier Things.
I actually wanted to get the Ray Charles SACD, but no, I haven't heard it.
Yeah, now that I think about it, I was commenting on the show itself and the performances. I don't really pay attention to who wins in each category. As others had said, it's usually some top-40 flavor of the week that I've likely heard of, but don't really know anything about. I guess that makes me old! Funny thing is, I kept up with current music (alternative/rock, not pop) till just a few years ago. But now, I think I just don't care about today's flavor.
I did appreciate the fact that they gave a bit of homage to some "legends" with Lifetime Achievement awards. As a whole, there seemed to be a much higher percentage of performances in ratio to "lesser" awards this year compared to past years...
I'm a huge Joss Stone fan. I kept her name in TiVo so it could search out times when she was on Letterman or the Tonight Show.
I didn't really think she was at her best and yes, Etheridge definitely was. Good for her for not only kicking A**, but doing it while on Chemo.
I was seriously crushing on Alicia Keys. I've always thought that she had great, great talent and can have a VERY long career If only she'd drop the R&B stuff and let her voice dominate! Is there a pop female out there who doesn't think it's positively necessary to duet with a male rapper? It's become such a cliche! And yes, I like rap...mostly semi-old school Ice-T, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, etc....
But the female singer/male rapper thing has been SO overdone in the last five years!
I like rap too, but I'm older school than that. RUN DMC, LLCoolJ, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambataa, Sugar Hill gang, Treacherous Three, etc. That was real rap (I like a few of Ice Cubes, DR. Dre, Snoop Doggs, Warren G's songs, but I'm not big fans of theirs), Not crap about how I'm gonna shoot the police. There still is good rap, it's just harder to come by. Tupac and Eminem are the last rappers to vioce truth and public criticism/opinion while still having tight beats. Nowadays, I'll only listen to a rap song if it has a good bass line, not for the lyrics.
I have the Ray Charles 'Genius Loves Company' SACD. I'd say half the songs are pretty darn good. The other half...eh...I could live without them. It's a nice cd, but you can really hear Ray's age.
So is it still a worthwhile buy? I'm thinking of picking it up. Where did you buy the SACD version? At Warehouse or something of the like? I don't like purchasing little things like CD's on-line and I hate paying the high-prices for CD's at Barnes and Noble. Maybe Hasting will have it.
Last week I rented Joss Stone concert, it was recorded on a small NY club. It’s pretty darn good. It’s unbelievable how such a young girl could sign in such a soulful manner. Although you can make how young she‘s when she talk between songs on the DVD, she giggles a lot, it was sort of amusing in a good way seeing that contrast.
I also have the SACD, and I love it,
True, you can tell Ray’s age but the feeling is very much there. For instance, on the EltonJohn song, there is a Ray’s verse where he is enters out of pitch, I even cringe the first time I heard it. Now I hear it and realize that that’s how it should be…
He truly is a genius, the same way Sinatra was a master at phrasing, Ray is the master of feel.
They can place their awards the same place they can place their 7 second delay
.
I enjoy music, but award shows have me reaching for the remote.
The music was much easier to appreciate in DD5.1....much better quality than I can ever remember for any award show I have watched before I got my new setup.
What's a grammy?
I Love My Grammy she gives me milk and cookies.
player8,
Thanks for the recommendation on the John Mayer discs. Now I have to find out more about Joss Stone. I did see that segment and I agree.
Didn't know Genius Loves Company is available in SACD (I might have nodded off during one of the presentations. . .), although I do recall a bunch of producers/engineers getting an award. . . which included Doug Sax, the co-founder (30 years ago) and recording engineer of Sheffield Labs direct-to-disc recordings, among the best sounding vinyl stuff that ever appeared.
Regards,
JaimeG,
You are right about Ray's being the master of feel, and, like you, I cringed when I heard him off-pitch, which he never did when he was younger or on the many CDs in my collection, or in any of the live performances I attended.
But I first heard that duet he does with Bonnie Rait, "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?"--a great song-- in my car and I was floored by the emotion. It's when I heard some of the other tracks that I got disappointed and decided not to buy it. Maybe I will get it in SACD. This discussion has rekindled my curiosity. You do have to make allowances.
Regards,
Ha!!! Classic!!!
Hey Ford, have you checked out the Junos? They are a great event!
Yes; I have in fact watched them and I have even enjoyed some of the performances. In fact I am looking forward to seeing Neil Young.
As for my whining; I have 2 gripes with the award shows.
1. Pacing, slow to a fault. Make it a 90 minute show and I might give it my attention. I have heard that for the OSCARS some categories are going to awarded with all the nominees on the stage at the same time so as to eliminate the sometimes long walk to the stage. Don't think it will be much fun for the losers.
2. Time delay. I'm an adult, let me decide what I want and don't want to hear. Whenever I hear anything beeped I always insert the worst word possible so their efforts are sort of wasted on me.
Ray’s SACD is one of my favorites, mainly because I ‘m a huge Ray’s fan and Billy Preston plays B3 on two of the tracks. But regardless, the SACD sound, multi-ch-mix and orchestra arrangements are top notch, so for that alone is worth add it to your collection. I’ll say that my fav. track is Van Morrison “Crazy Love”. That’s the only track recorded at a live performance, dont know what year , but Ray’s voice was better than the studio performances. Diane Krall and BB King duets also are great. Norah Jones’ is my least fav. track (though it has a great B3 solo
) ... and that was the one that won the Grammy , go figure.
OK I'm sold. I'll pick it up this weekend. Thanks.
yep, me too. what i REALLY wish it had was a duet of Ray and Johnny Cash on "Busted", both of their versions of it are awesome and i can only imagine what it'd sound like together!
I got mine at Best Buys, they have the most SACD-dvd-a in my area.
Thanks, problem is there are no BB's, or CC's where I'm currently at. I'll either stop by B&N and pay the ridiculously high prices or wait till next weekend when I go to PHX and pick it up at a BB.
Also, John Mayer's Heavier Things is incredible in SACD surround. I would recommend anyone with a passing interest to get it.