In
collaboration with the Recording Academy™, Great Performances presents GRAMMY
Salute To Music Legends 2017™, the second annual all-star concert offering a
primetime spotlight for the Academy's 2017 Special Merit Awards recipients. The
celebration and tribute concert feature rare performances by honorees and
renditions by those they've inspired.
The celebration, led by GRAMMY®-winning industry icon Paul
Shaffer as musical director, was recorded in July at New York's Beacon Theatre,
and will air Friday, October 13 from 9 - 11 p.m. on PBS. (Check local
listings.) Historically held during GRAMMY Week, this is the second time the
Recording Academy has celebrated the Special Merit Awards with a stand-alone
event and musical tribute.
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Shirley
Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, and
the Velvet Underground.
Additional Special Merit Awards honorees celebrated include
Trustees Awards recipients: producer, arranger, and songwriter Thom Bell;
record executive Mo Ostin; and recording executive, A&R man, and music
publisher Ralph S. Peer; and audio inventor Alan Dower Blumlein, who is the
Technical GRAMMY Award recipient. Also honored is Keith Hancock, this year's
recipient of the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum®'s Music Educator Award™.
Along with never-before-seen video packages celebrating each
of the honorees' contributions to the music industry and our cultural heritage
and heartfelt testimonials from the presenters, the star-studded event features
performances by Lifetime Achievement Award honorees John Cale and Maureen
"Moe" Tucker of the Velvet Underground, Lifetime Achievement Award
honoree Shirley Caesar, jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, past GRAMMY nominee Andra
Day, 12-time GRAMMY winner Kirk Franklin, GRAMMY winner Le'Andria Johnson, past
GRAMMY nominee Neal McCoy, six-time GRAMMY winner Randy Newman, GRAMMY-winning
Living Colour founder and songwriter Vernon Reid, past GRAMMY nominee Catherine
Russell, Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Charley Pride, past GRAMMY nominee
Valerie Simpson, past GRAMMY nominee Russell Thompkins Jr. of The Stylistics,
five-time GRAMMY winner Dionne Warwick, past GRAMMY nominee Charlie Wilson, and
two-time GRAMMY winner Dwight Yoakam.
There is also a special appearance by GRAMMY winner Whoopi Goldberg, who
accepts for the late Nina Simone.
The full musical program follows (the honorees in bold type;
performers in parentheses):
Thom Bell
•"You Make Me Feel Brand New" (Russell Thompkins
Jr.)
•"Then Came You" (Dionne Warwick)
Nina Simone
•"Mississippi Goddam" (Andra Day)
The Velvet Underground
•"I'm Waiting for The Man"/"Sunday
Morning" (John Cale Band with Maureen "Moe" Tucker)
Jimmie Rodgers
•"Hobo Bill's Last Ride"/"Mule Skinner
Blues"/"T for Texas" (Dwight Yoakam)
Ralph S. Peer
•"Crazy Blues" (Catherine Russell)
•"The Great Pretender" (Russell Thompkins Jr.)
•"Georgia on My Mind" (Andra Day)
Shirley Caesar
•Medley: "You Name It"/"It's Alright, It's
OK"/"You're Next in Line for a Miracle "/"Satan, We're
Going to Tear Your Kingdom Down" (Kirk Franklin with Le'Andria Johnson)
•"Caught Up"/"Jesus, I Love Calling Your
Name" (Shirley Caesar)
Ahmad Jamal
•"But Not For Me"/"Ahmad's
Blues"/"Poinciana" (Stanley Cowell)
Mo Ostin
•"A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"/"I
Think It's Going To Rain Today" (Randy Newman)
Charley Pride
•"Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone" (Neal McCoy)
•"Kiss an Angel Good Morning" (Charley Pride)
Sly Stone
•"I Want to Take You Higher"/"Everybody is a
Star"/"Sex Machine"/"Dance to the Music" (Charlie
Wilson, Valerie Simpson, Vernon Reid)
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have
made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of
recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas
other than performance. Both awards are determined by a vote of the Recording
Academy's National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are
determined by vote of the Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing® Advisory
Council and Chapter Committees and ratified by the National Board of Trustees,
and presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of
outstanding technical significance to the recording field. Visit
www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards for complete lists of previous
recipients.
Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC
for WNET, one of America's most prolific and respected public media providers.
Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great
Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled
showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America's
most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.
A production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends 2017™ is
written by David Wild and directed for television by David Horn, with Mitch
Owgang as producer, and Horn and Neil Portnow as executive producers. For Great
Performances, Bill O'Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive
producer.
The Great Performances presentation is funded by The Joseph
& Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen
Arts Fund, the Irene Diamond Fund, The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The
Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr Foundation, The Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Ellen
and James S. Marcus, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Thea Petschek
Iervolino Foundation, The Abra Prentice Foundation, and PBS.
About the Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees:
A deeply spiritual and affecting gospel singer, Shirley
Caesar's emotive vocal talents were discovered in a church choir when she was
10 years old. She is arguably best known for her eight-year tenure with the
Chicago-based gospel group the Caravans, whom she joined after appealing to
Albertina Walker to sing a solo with the group. Electing to pursue a solo
career in 1966 alongside her own choir, the Caesar Singers, she subsequently
carved out a profile that earned her the title of First Lady of Gospel Music.
Caesar's roll call of achievements includes 11 GRAMMY Awards®, 14 Stellar
awards, 15 Dove awards, an NAACP Image Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and two
recent 59th GRAMMY nominations.
A prodigy who began playing piano at age 3, Ahmad Jamal
started performing professionally at 14 and was signed to Okeh Records by age
21. Trained in both traditional jazz and European classical piano styles, Jamal
has been labeled as a jazz innovator who helped pioneer "cool jazz,"
which had a significant influence on Miles Davis, among others. With a catalog
spanning seven decades, he is known for wonderful renditions of pieces such as
"Poinciana" and "Dolphin Dance," original compositions such
as "Ahmad's Blues," the fantastic compilation Complete Live At The
Spotlight Club 1958, and his most well-known album, 1958's At The Pershing: But
Not For Me.
Three-time GRAMMY winner Charley Pride taught himself to
play guitar in his early teens, but he dreamed of becoming a professional
baseball player. After playing in the Negro American League, he was signed by
RCA Victor and in 1967 he became the first black singer to perform at the Grand
Ole Opry. "Just Between You And Me" launched Pride to stardom,
earning him his first GRAMMY nomination for 1966. In 1969 Pride scored his
first No. 1 country hit with "All I Have To Offer You (Is Me)." Pride is considered the first
African-American superstar in country music.
Jimmie Rodgers* is widely regarded as the Father of Country
Music. In 1961 he became one of the first three people inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1970 he was a part of the inaugural class of
songwriters voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1986, the first year of
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, he was inducted under the early
influencers category. Rodgers has three recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®
— "Blue Yodel (T For Texas)" and "In The Jailhouse Now"
(both from 1928) and "Blue Yodel #9 (Standing On The Corner)" (1930).
Dr. Nina Simone*, known as the High Priestess of Soul, was a
child prodigy whose dreams of becoming a classical musician were deferred by
the color of her skin. Her fearlessness and deep commitment to the civil rights
movement gave birth to such classics as "Mississippi Goddam,"
"Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted And Black." Her
approach to music was so versatile she labeled her style black classical. From
R&B and rock to jazz, gospel, blues, folk, and Broadway, Simone brought her
unique style to each genre. Her interpretations of "Feeling Good" and
"Sinnerman" are classics that fans around the world still enjoy. Her
version of "I Loves You, Porgy," which became a Top 20 hit in 1959,
was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2000.
Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart is an iconic
American musician, songwriter and producer most famous for his role as frontman
of Sly & The Family Stone. Classic hits penned by Stone, including
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," "Everyday
People," "Dance To The Music," and "There's A Riot Going
On," played a critical role in the development of soul, funk, rock, and
psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. Sly & The Family Stone were inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. The group has four recordings in
the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.
Despite a relatively brief lifespan and limited commercial
success, the Velvet Underground are now recognized as one of the most
influential rock bands of all time. Comprising Lou Reed*, John Cale, Sterling
Morrison*, and Maureen "Moe" Tucker, the band was, perhaps, ahead of
their time, both visually and sonically. Often dubbed the quintessential
proto-punk band, they have been continually cited as the benchmark for
countless modern-rock movements over the past 50 years. The Velvet
Underground's seminal 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, was
inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008.
About The Trustees Award Honorees:
Producer/arranger/songwriter Thom Bell was one of the
cornerstones of the Philadelphia Soul legacy. He was a prime architect in the
development of a '70s soul sound that moved beyond the grit of Southern soul
and the effervescence of Motown by building complex and sophisticated
arrangements around smooth strings, elegant horns and a driving rhythm that
anticipated the rise of disco. With the Delfonics, the Stylistics, the Spinners
and others, Bell established his trademark sound with sweet strings and muted
brass led by the French horn. Hits such as "I'll Be Around" and
"Betcha By Golly, Wow" cemented his stature as one of the all-time
great songwriter/producers, and his partnership with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff
helped create the quintessential Sound of Philadelphia.
Mo Ostin is one of the greatest record executives in music
history. While he started out at Verve, it was helming Frank Sinatra's Reprise
Records where Ostin came into his own. With Reprise Records and ultimately
Warner Bros., where he served as Chairman for 25 years, Ostin worked with the
seminal artists of the generation such as Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, Paul
Simon, Prince, and Neil Young, while also developing a staff that was legendary
in their own right. With an artist-friendly disposition, Ostin led with the
idea that great art made great business — most of the bands signed under his
watch made both critically acclaimed and profitable records. Ostin was inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and was honored with The Recording
Academy's President's Merit Award at the 2006 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons®.
Ralph S. Peer* was a successful recording executive,
archetypal A&R man and music publisher whose career spanned from 1919 to
1960. Through his work as a music executive, he continually broadened the
palate of genres that music makers and audiences embraced. He was the executive
producer of Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues," the first vocal blues
recording, James P. Johnson's "Carolina Shout," considered by
historians to be among the first jazz piano solo recordings, and Fiddlin' John
Carson's "The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane," the first country
record released. He was the producer of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, considered
the "Big Bang" of country music, where he discovered Jimmie Rodgers
and the original Carter Family. He broadened his focus by publishing Latin
music in the United States and around the globe. Fifty-nine recordings produced
or published by Ralph S. Peer have been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.
Website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf
Twitter: @GPerfPBS
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