Robert Hilburn takes on the Grammy “credibility gap.”
Few artists in the history of American pop are more deserving of the Grammys’ top award than the late Ray Charles, so it was hard to feel too disappointed Sunday when his “Genius Loves Company” was named album of the year — even if the award was 40 years too late. In sports, it’s known as a makeup call.
Because the Recording Academy did such a dismal job for years in saluting talent that didn’t fit into the comfortable boundaries of mainstream pop, many of the greatest artists in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s were ignored.
An embarrassing number of artists who have won Lifetime Achievement Awards from the academy were never honored with a high-profile Grammy during their most creative years. It’s a list that stretches from Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones to, until Sunday, Ray Charles.
Makeup calls struck four times in the last seven years in the album of the year category: Bob Dylan in 1998, Carlos Santana in 2000, Steely Dan in 2001 and now Brother Ray. Only Dylan, honored for his widely heralded “Time Out of Mind” album, was a deserving choice.
Though it may seem sacrilegious to suggest it after Charles’ dominant showing Sunday, when he won a total of six awards, the academy needs to stop this cycle, even if it means something as drastic as adding a new Grammy category. They already have 107, so why not? Category 108 — best album by an artist we should have honored in the album of the year category more than 25 years ago but didn’t.