Great list for Lifetime Achievement awards for this year’s Grammys. The BeeGees and George Harrison top the list, as well as jazz great Wayne Shorter, blues man Buddy Guy, plus Pierre Boulez, Flaco Jiménez, and the Louvin Brothers.
I’m thrilled because the Trustees Awards are going to a stellar list: producer Richard Perry, Brill Building songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and Newport Jazz Fest founder George Wein, who’s 90 years old!
Richard Perry is long overdue. He produced every major hit by Carly Simon, the Pointer Sisters, and Harry Nilsson, among others. He also invented the standards albums that brought Rod Stewart back to popularity. Richard is probably the most successful pop producer of the 70s and 80s. He’s also notable for making the only so called Beatles reunion album with “Ringo” — Paul, John and George all wrote songs and sang or played on the landmark 1972 album that featured three top 10 hits– “You’re Sixteen,” “Oh My My,” “Photograph.” They also had a number 1 hit with “The No No Song.”
Mann and Weil, of course, are featured in the Carole King musical “Beautiful.” They wrote a ton of hits including “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” They are also long in the waiting.
