Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse
Tonight, Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse are up for a Grammy for A Band a Brotherhood a Barn (directed by dhlovelife) in Best Music Film category. But still no major Grammy win for Neil after 7 decades in the music business. (see The Story Behind Why Neil Young Has Never Won a Major GRAMMY Award + updated below)
Not so incidentally, Beck has a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance for a cover of Neil Young's song "Old Man.
Best Rock Performance Grammy Nominations 2023
In an interview with Neil Young in AARP by Edna Gundersen, he discusses what happened with the Beck NFL Ad Controversy.
Beck Covering Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ for NFL Commercial
In other Grammy news -- as has been observed here repeatedly over the years -- during Neil Young's 50+ years recording career, he has been awarded only a single Grammy Award for music and that being only in a minor musical category.
Jenice Heo, Neil Young, and Gary Burden
Grammy Award Pre-telecast Ceremony, Los Angeles, Jan 31, 2010
Photo by Matt Sayles/Associated Press
Zero Grammys for Buffalo Springfield or Crosby Stills Nash and Young or Crazy Horse.
Neil Young's first Grammy nomination did not come until 1989, for the video for “This Note’s For You”. We started exploring this question back in 2006 on Neil Young and Emmylou Harris: Guess who has 11 Grammy Awards and which one has zero?.
Neil Young's 1st Grammy win (in a non-musical category) finally came 4 years later in 2010 when he won his very first Grammy Award in a pre-telecast ceremony in Los Angeles. The award, for best art direction on a boxed or special limited edition package, was shared among Mr. Young and his art directors Gary Burden and Jenice Heo for the boxed set “Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972).”
"Best Art Direction on a Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package"
Jenice Heo, Gary Burden & Neil Young, and
Grammy Award Pre-telecast Ceremony, Los Angeles, Jan 31, 2010
Note, the Grammy was for a boxset design -- not the music inside the box. Not for the breakthrough technology. Not for the release itself. Year after year after year, we've have blogged on the injustice of the Grammy Awards handed out by industry elites, so none of any of this should come as a surprise to anyone.
But, as G.B. observed:
"... Neil Young winning for packaging is like Martin Scorsese winning an Oscar for costume design.".
Also, in 2010 Neil Young was honored as MusiCares Person Of The Year for his incredible commitment to charitable work and worthy causes.
Neil Portnow, President of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences & Neil Young
Neil Young: MusiCares Person Of The Year - 2010
January 29, 2010 - Los Angeles, California
Neil Young's 1st Grammy win in a musical category finally came the next year in 2011 for Rock Song "Angry World".
2011 Rock Song: "Angry World," Neil Young
So just remember for tonight while watching the Grammy Awards. And what is the story behind why Neil Young has never won a major GRAMMY Award?
Could it be the awards are rigged? Is there corruption on the highest floors of the GRAMMYs? Shocking, we know. Again, secrecy, a lack of transparency, and a complete disregard for the TRUTH are the root cause for the dismal state of affairs in the music industry.
In 2020, former Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan made claims against the Recording Academy (which confirms observations above) after which she was put on administrative leave.
Former Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan
From The Grammys Are Rigged According to Ousted CEO by Tiffany Fitzhenry:
“Conflicts of interest and self dealing are rampant” [at the Recording Academy] according to ousted CEO Deborah Dugan.As the gap between what we suspected and corroborating info hastens "The Big Shift", truth (and wheat) is coming. Truth that will transform us all.
Dugan filed an incendiary complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the institution that presides over the Grammys and wields arguably more power over the whole of the music industry than any other entity on the planet.
Some of the more shocking claims lodged by Dugan in the complaint:
• The Grammy voting process is allegedly “ripe with corruption” and allows nomination committee members to “push forward artists with whom they have relationships.” The complaint states, “It is not unusual for artists who have relationships with Board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end up receiving nominations.”
• The Recording Academy also allegedly “manipulates the nominations process to ensure that certain songs or albums are nominated when the producer of the Grammys [Ken Ehrlich] wants a particular song performed during the show.”
The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Event
Village Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California - January 21st, 2014
Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Image
(Click photo to enlarge)
In 2014, Neil Young accepted the President's Merit Award from the Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy/GRAMMYs.
In Young's acceptance speech, he covered a lot of ground discussing the recording process relative to producers and artists.
Here is what Matthew L. said in reaction to the injustice and outrage (one of the milder responses.):
Oh come on, people, they deserve the award for such great art direction. The artistry is awesome. I agree that Neil deserves a Grammy for his music, and doesn't get half the overall recognition he deserves, but that shouldn't take anything away from the artists who did such a fine job creating the packaging for the Archives.More on Gary Burden Receives Grammy Nomination for NYA Design.
It's beautiful.
What y'all need to understand is that mainstream people in our society and the music industry aren't looking for creativity or the quality of personal expression, or your ability to channel the universe in music.
They are much more shallow than that. The people want what's sold to them, they want to be part of the popular crowd, they aren't interested in identifying personally with a song in a profound, emotional way.
They far outnumber the people who enjoy music because it moves them or titillates their minds, because of how it effects them personally, both emotionally and intellectually.
The music industry, by-and-large, plays to this tendency. It releases shallow garbage, people buy it and pretend they like it in order to satisfy their need to be accepted. This is mainstream American pop culture we're talking about here, not the land of smart, thoughtful, multidimensional individuals.
So obviously the chances of Neil Young winning a Grammy are much, much slimmer than Taylor Swift, even though he writes better music. Neil writes better music than almost anyone. It's not about good music - it's about popularity. It's about who sold the most albums because they were aggressively marketed by the industry to the shallow mainstream cult of popularity.
I'd be happy if Neil Young did get the recognition he deserved, but Neil isn't after recognition (thank GOD, because his music wouldn't be half as good as it is), and he doesn't need it, so who really cares?
In some sense it might even be a travesty to award him a Grammy, considering that winning one basically indicates that you're simplistic and derivative enough to easily market to sheep.
Also, Gary Burden’s blog has fascinating entries about this project with respect to design, sustainability and collaboration.
Also, see Neil Young Honored As MusiCares Person Of The Year.
Neil Portnow, President of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences & Neil Young
Neil Young: MusiCares Person Of The Year - 2010
January 29, 2010 - Los Angeles, California
Neil Young's Grammy Award Moments
hmmm, zero comments?
ReplyDelete1st, a news update. Neither Neil, Daryl nor Beck won a Grammy last night.
2nd, Grammys paid tribute to Crosby with more than 3 seconds. Crosby's Guinevere played for about 20 seconds, which is pretty good recognition.
That's the good news.
fyi, the above Grammy post has run in some variation over the past 15 years or so.
Each year, we pose this question of why the GRAMMYs refuse to award Neil year after year yet keeps rewarding folks like say Beyonce, the answer is quite obvious.
Some folks get this clearly and understand completely the answer.
And any "aware" person who watched last night or saw the summary also knows exactly why.
so just thank God that Neil didn't win a GRAMMY last night and let's hope he never does.
@ Thrasher : It seems to me that the Grammy Awards is not for Art, but rather, for sales. This is the music industry patting itself on the back & handing out some awards for music sales, as in, the units sold, and the money made. They might say it’s about the “best” music Art from a given year, but that is up for debate. Neil Young probably doesn’t give a crap about winning a Grammy. The Beatles never won a Grammy. It’s a popularity (sales) contest each year & it’s also political. The idiot formerly known as Kanye West has a huge collection of Grammy awards, and yet nobody cares, & rightfully so!
ReplyDeleteCrazy Horse missing from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fane is a crime. Neil Young with no Grammy is appropriate. Neil Young matters so much more than a Grammy Award ever could. The Grammy awards are ho hum, boring.
Your Brother Alan in Seattle
I know it's nit picking but listing Crosby's musical history ,they list CSN but don't mention CSN&Y, in light of Deja Vu's place in musical history
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ReplyDeletethe whole grammy thing is just gross. I think it is best not to care?
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine sitting around one of those tables? "I'd rather start all over again"
It was cool when Artist Gary Burden won a Grammy for the NYA1 Box set. It was truly an impressive accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am happy for Neil being happy for his long time Album cover Artist on that occasion.
Sharing a memory now for when I was fresh out of college in 1992 and working in the mental health system with behaviorally disturbed teenagers (are there any tens that aren’t?!).
Neil was on the Grammy show playing Philadelphia. The kids knew I was a Neil Young fan and one of them said, “He sounds like Kermit the Frog!!! What could I say? It’s kind of hilarious, if I can step away from my title for a moment…. “Hard Core Neil Young fan.” Don’t take it personally Neil! Orbison used to get shit too!
@ Our Brother Alan in Seattle - agree.
ReplyDeletewhich is sort of the point of the post. The Grammy's aren't really what they appear to be. but then again, what is?
and funny Philly kids story.
@ Still young - no, you're not nit picking. we noticed this as well with many of Crosby's obits where Y is edited out the story. Only CSN existed in many obits.
Editing the Y out of CSNY seems to be appropriate from the European point of view. Here is why: CSN and sometimes Young was a short lived band who delivered one remarkable show case album followed by a wildly popular live album in the early 70's. Rumour has it, that they also played the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, at least the festival's records say that. The Woodstock movie does not give any evidence that Neil Young was even there. Most of the songs on both the acclaimed first album and also the live album later were performed by other famous bands such as CSN or Neil Young and his various tour and studio cohorts. At this other center of the universe CSNY in the first half of the 70's were able to stage but four shows, two of them in London, the other ones in Denmark and Sweden, the latter being nice places - no doubt! - but pretty eccentric places to start with conquering this continent music-wise. (I know Jimi Hendrix played there, too.) Today very few Europeans can actually claim this band ever existed, because they have seen it live. Maybe CSNY was an invention of Atlantic Records and Ahmet Ertegun, even a conspiracy?
ReplyDeleteMuch later there were efforts to "revive" the phantom band with two mediocre reunion records that made a ripple with record collectors. So I am sure somewhere an entity labelled CSNY must have existed, but not here. In Europe CSNY was a chimera, a mirage, a hippie dream. Every once in a while the aforementioned CSN toured this continent, once - I believe - with Neil Young around the corner, which lent some credibility to the legend of CSNY being based on reality, somehow.
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ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/sfjp7DeDdkE
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