The 1st Grammy Awards, Revisited: Mancini's 'Peter Gunn' and an Italian 'Volare'

4 days ago

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emg_6ANjWzo

On May 4, 1959, the first Grammy Awards were handed out in the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The ceremony honored recordings released between January 1 and December 31, 1958, and it was not even televised. The General Field that later became known as the "Big Four" had only three categories that night: Best New Artist would not arrive until the 2nd Grammy Awards.

This piece looks at each of those three awards — Album, Record and Song of the Year — and the nominees around them. Knowing what the very first Grammys rewarded makes today's results easier to read.

Album of the Year: Henry Mancini, 'The Music From Peter Gunn'

The first Album of the Year went to composer Henry Mancini for 'The Music From Peter Gunn,' his score for Blake Edwards' TV detective series. The Recording Academy itself describes the title track as the first hit TV theme.

★ Henry Mancini — 'The Music From Peter Gunn'
Frank Sinatra — 'Come Fly With Me'
Frank Sinatra — 'Only The Lonely'
Ella Fitzgerald — 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book'
Van Cliburn — 'Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor, Op. 23'

Sinatra landed both of his 1958 albums in the race, and grammy.com suggests the two may have split his support. Fitzgerald was nominated for one of her songbook albums, and pianist Van Cliburn arrived fresh from winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in April 1958. From vocal jazz, classical and pop, voters picked music written for television. Mancini went on to win 20 Grammys and later reunited with Edwards on the Pink Panther films.

Record of the Year: Domenico Modugno, 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)'

Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno took the first Record of the Year. Released as a single on February 1, 1958, the song known worldwide as 'Volare' spent five straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

★ Domenico Modugno — 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)'
Perry Como — 'Catch A Falling Star'
Peggy Lee — 'Fever'
David Seville And The Chipmunks — 'The Chipmunk Song'
Frank Sinatra — 'Witchcraft'

A song sung entirely in Italian won the top recording award at an American industry prize's first ceremony. Writing in 2012, grammy.com noted it was the only foreign-language release ever to win Record of the Year.

Song of the Year: 'Volare' again (Domenico Modugno / Franco Migliacci)

Song of the Year honors the writers. 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)' won here too, for Modugno and lyricist Franco Migliacci, so the same song swept Record and Song of the Year at the very first Grammys.

★ 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)' — Domenico Modugno, Franco Migliacci
'Catch A Falling Star' — Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance
'Fever' — Eddie Cooley, John Davenport
'Gigi' — Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe
'Witchcraft' — Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh

Best New Artist: not yet created

There was no Best New Artist category in 1959. The first winner, Bobby Darin, was named at the 2nd Grammy Awards, so the full "Big Four" only took shape from the second ceremony on.

The GAJ view: language was never the barrier

A non-English song won the first Record and Song of the Year. Bad Bunny's Spanish-language Album of the Year win in 2026 sits in the same line.
The first Album of the Year was music made for television, a useful precedent for Japan, where anime and drama theme songs already travel worldwide.
The nominees crossed jazz, classical and pop. Then as now, the strongest work tends to last longer than whatever genre is in fashion.

Japan has its own chapter: in 1963 Kyu Sakamoto's 'Ue o Muite Arukō (Sukiyaki)' reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart sung in Japanese. Music in its own language has been part of the story since the first Grammy night.