Best New Artist
an examination of the best new artist Grammy to see who got lucky and who got jobbed out
I’m still working on a larger, more involved piece for a future week, but there was no way I was going to finish that by my weekly deadline. The topic I picked expanded into a far more elaborate entry than I had originally envisioned, even before I had a schedule delay this week. Instead, I wanted to put together a more evergreen article for my loyal readers.
No, I’m not doing a line-by-line review of “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet”, although that would be fun. Today, I’m going through the nominees for Best New Artist for the Grammy Awards for a couple of years and determining:
Did the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences make the right call?
Should there have been different nominees altogether?
Did the winner have lasting success, or fall prey to the supposed curse surrounding the award?
For whatever reason, the Grammys did not award a Best New Artist in 1967, so it seems natural to start with 1968. Let’s begin there…
1968 Nominees
Jefferson Airplane
1967 was the year that the Airplane landed (see what I did there?) with the critical success of Surrealistic Pillow and its follow-up After Bathing at Baxter’s. It’s safe to say that the original incarnation of the band peaked with those two releases. I freely admit that the Haight-Ashbury hippie scene is not my thing, with my disdain for the Dead and their contemporaries very well-known.
Harpers Bizarre
Were there a grid challenge for obscure musical acts, I think Harpers Bizarre would count. Their cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” was their only notable hit. Their drummer Ted Templeman would go on to great success as a producer for Bette Midler and Van Halen.
Lana Cantrell
Australia’s pop chanteuse is another fairly obscure entry, having never had a top forty hit in America. Her best known song is “Like a Sunday Morning”, which only reached number sixty-three. She would go on to become a fairly successful entertainment lawyer in the Eighties and Nineties, but this is her peak as a performer.
The 5th Dimension
Making their national debut in 1966 with a cover of the Mamas and the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go”, the 5th Dimension exploded in 1967 with “Up, Up, and Away”. That song by itself won six (!) Grammys, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Contemporary Song, and three performance-related awards.
Bobbie Gentry
“Ode to Billie Joe” is arguably the best debut song of any artist of this era, bar none. Her nomination is solely due to the impact of that song, which was number one for four weeks in the late summer of 1967. Gentry would go on to write “Fancy”, another southern gothic masterpiece most famous for its interpretation by Reba McEntire.
Winner - Bobbie Gentry
Answering our prompts in order:
At the time, Gentry was seen as more marketable than the other real contender, the 5th Dimension. Having the benefit of hindsight, I would have gone with the 5th Dimension. Neither Cantrell nor Harpers Bizarre made sense, and Jefferson Airplane is marginal to me.
As for other artists that should have been considered, The Doors are at the top of the list. Other contenders include the Box Tops (although they were essentially a one-hit wonder with “The Letter”), the Monkees (who debuted in 1966, but should have received a make-up nomination here), and the Association (with 1966’s “Cherish” leading the charge).
Unfortunately, Gentry is largely seen as a victim of the curse. Having been dissatisfied with the way the music industry treated her as a songwriter and producer, she lost her affection for performing and essentially became a recluse during the early Eighties. Her last recording was in 1977, and she hasn’t made any official public appearances since 1982.
1969 Nominees
Cream
Formed in 1966 by Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and a drunken racist, Cream broke up in the middle of 1968. Disraeli Gears was released in November 1967, and by the time Wheels of Fire came out in June 1968 the band had already planned to cease activities. They’re probably the apotheosis of white English blues, for better or for worse.
José Feliciano
The forefather of Latin crossover music in America, his second album Feliciano! was nominated for Album of the Year after hitting number two on the charts. His rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Tigers game gave him ample press coverage, presaging anti-Latin sentiment in the media and opening the door for more creative interpretations of the anthem.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
The Union Gap combined a visual gimmick of Civil War costumes and a penchant for singing songs about “romance” with girls hovering around the age of consent to create a successful few years. Their producer Jerry Fuller was responsible for their branding and their sound; when the two parted ways the Union Gap’s success ended.
Jeannie C. Riley
“Harper Valley P.T.A” is one of Tom T. Hall’s best songs ever, which is saying something for a Songwriter’s Hall of Fame member. Riley was one of the first country artists to perform and appear in “modern” outfits that were both stylish and contemporary; the fact that they showed off her appealing figure was a bonus. Without her, there is no Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, or even Taylor Swift.
O.C. Smith
Another contender for obscurity, Smith’s version of “Little Green Apples” was his only hit. Reaching number two behind “Hey Jude”, his version surpassed both the Roger Miller and Patty Page interpretations released around the same time. The song itself won Song of the Year for composer Bobby Russell.
Winner - José Feliciano
Answering our prompts in order:
Feliciano is the obvious choice here. Having both fame and notoriety thanks to the controversy over his anthem rendition, Feliciano was sure to gain attention to the awards. His differentiators (Spanish speaker, Latin descent, blind, classical guitarist) meant that his win would check a lot of boxes, irrespective of his talent. (You didn’t think this was a meritocracy, did you? Silly.)
Other potential nominees are Archie Bell and the Drells (“Tighten Up” is a bop, as the children say), Sly and the Family Stone (with the success of “Dance to the Music” and before Sly imploded into mental health and substance issues), Steppenwolf (although they were never critical favorites) and Classics IV (most notable for “Spooky”, an instrumental piece with lasting power).
Feliciano went on to have a long-lasting career, with his most famous song “Feliz Navidad” coming out two years later. It’s a staple of holiday radio and advertising, and makes Feliciano a pretty penny. Outside of that massive hit, he has had a successful run as both a solo performer and a guest artist for numerous other acts. I think we can mark him down as someone who beat the curse.
I know this is an abbreviated post, but bear with me. I hope to have something out soon that drones on and on like only I can. If this format appeals to you, let me know by reaching out via social media and I’ll put out more in this line of work. If it doesn’t appeal to you, I suppose you can also let me know that too. (Thea, you can still yell at me in person.)
Join me next week for either more of this or (if I get the other thing finished) that piece I’ve been teasing for a couple of weeks. Regardless, you’ll get something.