5th GRAMMY Awards General Field Deep Dive — Tony Bennett Wins Record of the Year, Comedy LP The First Family Takes AOTY | GAJ HISTORY

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The 5th Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on May 15, 1963, in three cities: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Eligible recordings were those released between December 1, 1961 and November 30, 1962 (per the GRAMMY.com awards page). It was also the night Bing Crosby received the very first Lifetime Achievement Award (covered in our Top Story).

The General Field was split between a ballad about San Francisco and a comedy album about the President's family. Here is a look at Album, Record and Song of the Year and Best New Artist, winners and nominees.

Album of the Year: Vaughn Meader, The First Family

Album of the Year (Other Than Classical) went to Vaughn Meader's The First Family, a comedy album parodying daily life in the Kennedy White House. Meader also won Best Comedy Performance for it, with Bob Booker and Earle Doud credited as producers. Following Bob Newhart at the 3rd GRAMMYs, it was the second time a comedy record had won the top album prize.

The five nominees:

★ Vaughn Meader — The First Family
Tony Bennett — I Left My Heart In San Francisco
Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd — Jazz Samba
Ray Charles — Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music, Vol. I
Allan Sherman — My Son, The Folk Singer

Allan Sherman's My Son, The Folk Singer was a comedy record too, built on folk-song parodies. According to GRAMMY.com, this is the only year two comedy recordings were nominated for Album of the Year. Jazz Samba brought bossa nova into a jazz setting, and Ray Charles reworked country songs in his own voice, so both were genre-crossing records. The classical Album of the Year went to Columbia Records Presents Vladimir Horowitz.

Record of the Year: Tony Bennett, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco"

Record of the Year went to Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." Bennett also won Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male for the same song, and arranger Marty Manning won Best Background Arrangement for it. Both the voice and the arrangement were recognized.

★ Tony Bennett — "I Left My Heart In San Francisco"
Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd — "Desafinado"
Joe Harnell — "Fly Me To The Moon Bossa Nova"
Ray Charles — "I Can't Stop Loving You"
Nat "King" Cole — "Ramblin' Rose"
Sammy Davis Jr. — "What Kind Of Fool Am I"

Two of the six were bossa nova. "Desafinado" won the jazz soloist/small group award and Joe Harnell's "Fly Me To The Moon Bossa Nova" won the dance orchestra award, while Ray Charles took the R&B award for "I Can't Stop Loving You." A rhythm from Brazil had clearly made its way into American records that year.

Song of the Year: "What Kind Of Fool Am I" (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley)

The songwriters' award went to "What Kind Of Fool Am I," from the London-born musical Stop The World – I Want To Get Off, written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. GRAMMY.com credits Sammy Davis Jr. and Newley himself as performers.

★ "What Kind Of Fool Am I" — Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley
"As Long As He Needs Me" — Lionel Bart (performed by Shirley Bassey, Della Reese)
"I Left My Heart In San Francisco" — George Cory, Douglas Cross (performed by Tony Bennett)
"My Coloring Book" — Fred Ebb, John Kander (performed by Sandy Stewart)
"The Sweetest Sounds" — Richard Rodgers (performed by Peggy Lee)

"I Left My Heart In San Francisco" was nominated here too, but the writers' prize went elsewhere: the best record and the best song were different that year. Lionel Bart's "As Long As He Needs Me" also came from a London musical, Oliver!, so two of the five nominated songs were written by British songwriters.

Best New Artist: Robert Goulet

Best New Artist went to singer Robert Goulet, known from the Broadway musical Camelot.

★ Robert Goulet
New Christy Minstrels
Vaughn Meader
Peter, Paul And Mary
Allan Sherman
Four Seasons

The field mixed folk (Peter, Paul and Mary; the New Christy Minstrels), pop (the Four Seasons) and comedy (Meader and Sherman). Peter, Paul and Mary still left with two awards for "If I Had A Hammer" (vocal group and folk), and the New Christy Minstrels won the chorus award.

The GAJ view: songs and rhythms from outside the U.S.

Three takeaways for Japanese music:

Two of the six Record of the Year nominees were bossa nova. Brazil's rhythm traveled by being recorded with American jazz players. Pairing your own country's sound with musicians from the market you want to reach is still a strong way to collaborate.
Song of the Year went to a song from a London musical. A song written outside the U.S. can win the songwriters' prize; what mattered was who sang it and where people heard it.
Record and Song of the Year went to different songs. Recordings and compositions are judged separately, which is why songwriting rights and master rights each need to be in order.

A comedy album won the top album prize, while bossa nova and a London musical sat in the General Field. The 5th GRAMMYs are worth remembering as a night when recognition came from across genres and borders.