4th GRAMMY Awards General Field Deep Dive — "Moon River" Wins Record and Song of the Year, Judy Garland Becomes the First Woman to Win AOTY | GAJ HISTORY

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The 4th Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on May 29, 1962, honoring recordings released between December 1, 1960 and November 30, 1961 (per the GRAMMY.com awards page). This was the year Album of the Year was first split into two awards: "Other Than Classical" and "Classical."

The General Field belonged to a song written for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's and a live album captured over one night at Carnegie Hall. Here is a look at Album of the Year (AOTY), Record of the Year (ROTY), Song of the Year (SOTY) and Best New Artist, through the winners and the nominees.

Album of the Year: Judy Garland, Judy At Carnegie Hall

The non-classical AOTY went to Judy Garland's live album Judy At Carnegie Hall, recorded at her 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. It was the first time a woman won Album of the Year. Garland also won the female solo vocal award for the same album, and the record picked up the album cover (Jim Silke) and engineering (Robert Arnold) awards as well: one live album, four categories.

The six nominees:

★ Judy Garland — Judy At Carnegie Hall
Henry Mancini — Breakfast At Tiffany's
Ray Charles — Genius + Soul = Jazz
Johnny Mann, Si Zentner — Great Band With Great Voices
Nat "King" Cole — The Nat "King" Cole Story
John Green — West Side Story (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Two of the six were film soundtracks. Over polished studio work and movie scores, voters chose a stage performance recorded once, in front of an audience. The Classical AOTY went to Igor Stravinsky conducting his own works on Stravinsky Conducts 1960: Le Sacre Du Printemps; Petrouchka.

Record of the Year: Henry Mancini, "Moon River"

ROTY went to Henry Mancini's "Moon River," the song written for Breakfast at Tiffany's and recorded by Mancini with his own orchestra and chorus. Mancini had already won the very first Album of the Year, and on this night he took five awards: ROTY, SOTY and Best Arrangement for "Moon River," plus two awards for the film's soundtrack.

★ Henry Mancini — "Moon River"
Jimmy Dean — "Big Bad John"
Dave Brubeck — "Take Five"
Frank Sinatra — "The Second Time Around"
Si Zentner — "Up A Lazy River"

The field included Dave Brubeck's jazz piece "Take Five," written in 5/4 time, and Jimmy Dean's spoken-style "Big Bad John," which won the country award. Out of a list spanning jazz, country and big band, the winner was an orchestral recording that arrived together with a film.

Song of the Year: "Moon River" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer)

SOTY, the award for songwriters, also went to "Moon River": Mancini for the music and Johnny Mercer for the lyrics.

★ "Moon River" — Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
"A Little Bitty Tear" — Hank Cochran (performed by Burl Ives)
"Big Bad John" — Jimmy Dean (performed by Jimmy Dean)
"Lollipops And Roses" — Tony Velona (performed by Jack Jones)
"Make Someone Happy" — Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne (performed by Perry Como)

Jack Jones, who sang "Lollipops And Roses," won the male solo vocal award that night. SOTY honors the people who wrote the song; ROTY honors the people who made the recording. By winning both, "Moon River" was recognized from the songwriting side and the recording side at once.

Best New Artist: Peter Nero

Best New Artist went to pianist Peter Nero. The nominees mixed singers, a vocal group and a comedian.

★ Peter Nero
The Lettermen
Ann-Margret
Dick Gregory
Timi Yuro

A year after comedian Bob Newhart won this award, comedian Dick Gregory was again in the running. Singers, instrumentalists and spoken-word performers were all compared in one category.

The GAJ View: Two Rights Inside One Song

Three takeaways from the 4th GRAMMY General Field for Japanese music:

Film songs won ROTY and SOTY two years in a row ("The Theme From A Summer Place" and "Theme From Exodus" at the 3rd, "Moon River" at the 4th). Songs that travel with films and series reach new listeners fast, just as anime and film theme songs carry Japanese music overseas today.
SOTY goes to the songwriters and ROTY to the recording. The rights in a composition and the rights in a recording are separate, and the same song can be judged on each. Knowing which right your work moves on is a basic step before going abroad.
AOTY went to a live recording, not a studio album. Capturing a concert itself as a finished work is a real option.

A song written for one film earned the top honors for both songwriting and recording. Writing, recording, and delivering music together with pictures: the 4th GRAMMYs show what happens when all three connect.