50 Years Ago, Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ Dominated the Grammys, and She Wasn’t Even There …
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music EditorLooking back 50 years at anything that isn’t related to geology, evolution or astronomy feels like a glimpse at a long-bygone age.
That’s especially so for the 14th annual Grammy Awards, which took place on March 14, 1972 at the Felt Forum in New York’s Madison Square Garden and were broadcast on ABC.The show was hosted by virtuoso easy-listening singer Andy Williams; presenters included Ed Sullivan, the Fifth Dimension, the Carpenters and “Brady Bunch” star Florence Henderson.
Carly Simon won Best New Artist; Kris Kristofferson won Best Country & Western Song for “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (no surprise, since he held three of the five nominations in the category); and in a horrifying-in-retrospect accolade, best children’s album went to “Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs.” However, in uncharacteristically hip moves, Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” won Best Original Score for a Motion Picture; Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers and Ike & Tina Turner won R&B categories; Cheech and Chong, nominated for Best Comedy Album, flew their freak flags to the consternation of many TV viewers; the recently split Beatles were honored with the Trustees Award, of all things; and Paul McCartney won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for “Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey,” a Monty Python-esque mashup that is indisputably one of the strangest songs ever to top the Billboard Hot 100.Yet the evening’s big winner — with an unprecedented-at-the-time four Grammys — wasn’t even at the ceremony: Carole King, whose blockbuster album “Tapestry” spent 15 weeks at No.
Read more on variety.com
