Chapman, McFerrin Lead Grammy Race : Recording Academy Stays on Its Progressive Path

Tracy Chapman is the odds-on favorite to sweep this year’s Grammy Awards because her socially conscious music is in perfect step with the increasingly dominant “progressive” wing of the Grammy membership.

Where Grammy voters (artists, musicians, songwriters, producers) once tended to define pop achievement in a sociological vacuum, the tendency now is to acknowledge music’s role in summarizing and, to some degree, shaping the times in which we live.

Chapman’s folk-flavored tales about the struggles of society’s underclass in her debut album lived up to that philosophy more than any other LP in this year’s eligibility period. Her “Fast Car” was an equally significant single record.

But there is strong competition in the album and single categories: Sting’s “. . . Nothing but the Sun” album and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” single.

The danger is that the progressive-wing vote will split, allowing the more traditional entries by Anita Baker, Bobby McFerrin, George Michael and Steve Winwood to emerge the winners. However, the chances of that happening appear slim.

There was a possibility of two progressive entries canceling each other out last year when U2’s inspiring “The Joshua Tree” and Prince’s equally socially minded “Sign ‘O’ the Times” were both nominated for best album. But “The Joshua Tree,” quite correctly, won over Prince and three more traditional entries.

The fact that predictions of victory for the likes of U2, the outstanding Irish rock band, and Chapman can be made with relative confidence show just how far the Grammy competition has progressed since it was started in 1959.

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the traditionalists who dominated the Grammy balloting ignored the rock revolution. While some distinguished pop talents (notably Frank Sinatraand Barbra Streisand) were saluted along the way, the judges often settled on fairly undistinguished records.

In doing so, they ignored in the key categories the artists who left the greatest stamp on popular culture. Among them: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Otis Redding, the Byrds.

As younger, more rock-oriented musicians joined the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (which sponsors the Grammys), the awards began in the ‘70s to reflect a balance between the the traditionalists (whose standards continued to swirl around studio polish, big sales and polite sounds) and the progressives (who reached out to more socially aggressive and ambitious contemporary artists).

The argument isn’t that original vision or social observation are more important than traditional craft, but that they are extra dimensions that add to the power of a record.

There’s still conservatism at work in the academy (critical favorites with radical edges, such as rap stars Public Enemy and rock mavericks Guns N’ Roses have almost no chance in the most prestigious categories), but progress is certainly being made.

By honoring Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album and U2’s “The Joshua Tree” in 1987 and 1988 respectively, the judges showed they are on a winning streak. “Tracy Chapman” should make it three in a row.

Album of the Year: The choice here is between Chapman and Sting. Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It” is a slick, but anonymous collection of largely undistinguished songs--and a victory would be a major embarrassment.

George Michael, nominated for “Faith,” is certainly a good singer, writer, producer and arranger, but he has yet to prove he is great in any of the categories. Bobby McFerrin’s “Simple Pleasures” is an extremely likable record, but its strengths (imaginative vocals and arrangements) should be saluted in other Grammy categories. The novel a capella versions of mostly familiar tunes (from the Beatles’ “Drive My Car” to Cream’s “Sunshine of My Love”) simply don’t add up to best album credentials.

Sting’s “. . . Nothing but the Sun” would be a worthy choice most years. In the double-album, Sting balances seriousness of purpose and joyful musicality. But this is the year of Chapman, a warm and inviting mix of intimate commentary and sweeping compassion.

The choice here: “Tracy Chapman.”

Record of the Year: There’s a graceful aura to Anita Baker’s “Giving You the Best That I Got,” a delightfully playful edge to McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and a seductive Motown bite to Winwood’s “Roll With It,” but none of the records stands as serious competition to two excellent categories: Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”

“Mirror,” a dramatic statement about individual responsibility from Jackson’s “Bad” album, lives up to all the tests of a great record: excellence in the areas of material (it was written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard), arrangement, musicianship and impassioned vocal.

But “Fast Car”--a magnificently detailed account of a woman, caught in a poverty cycle, struggling to take control of her own--offered an even more compelling and original vision. It’s victory should be an inspiring signal to songwriters everywhere that there is room in the pop world for artists with a strong, distinctive point of view.

The choice here: “Fast Car.”