‘Unforgettable’ Best Album, Record of Year

The 34th annual Grammy Awards will certainly be an “Unforgettable” evening for Natalie Cole.

In the emotional highlight of an awards ceremony focused on old favorites, including a “Living Legends” citation to Barbra Streisand, the 42-year-old Cole was honored for best album and record of the year. Both works were titled “Unforgettable” and featured her interpretations of songs associated with her late father, Nat King Cole.

“It has been an incredible, incredible time,” Cole said, accepting the record of the year award before a standing ovation during the nationally televised ceremony from Radio City Music Hall. “I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage.”

Nat King Cole, who died of lung cancer in 1965, won only one Grammy in his career but was honored posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

A highlight of the album was a duet with her father on the song “Unforgettable,” accomplished by splicing Cole’s voice with an early ‘50s recording of the same song by her father. That track--which was re-created as part of the Grammy telecast--was named the year’s best single record and best traditional pop performance.

The “Unforgettable” project also was awarded four other Grammys: producer (David Foster), best song (Irving Gordon), instrumental arrangement (Johnny Mandel) and engineering (Al Schmitt, Woody Woodruff and Armin Steiner).

Though written in 1951 and a Top 20 hit in 1952 for Nat King Cole and in 1959 for Dinah Washington, the song was eligible under academy rules because it had not been nominated before in the category.

In accepting the award for the song, which he wrote in 1951, Irving Gordon, 77, said, “In a youth-oriented culture, it’s nice to have a middle-aged song do something . . . . It’s nice to have a song come out that doesn’t scream, yell and have a nervous breakdown while it talks about tenderness.”

Although the series of awards were cheered by the Grammy audience, they--and other choices--are bound to renew grumbling by Grammy critics who believe that the 7,000-member National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences tends to honor mainstream best sellers rather than the maverick forces that reshape pop music.

R.E.M., the Georgia rock band that was the choice of most of the nation’s pop critics, had come into the evening with seven nominations, including best album and best record, but it was limited to victories in pop group vocal, alternative music album and short-form video fields.

The repeat winners were led by Bonnie Raitt, who won four Grammys two years ago and took three more Tuesday: rock vocal, female pop vocal and rock duo/group vocal (with Delbert McClinton). Michael Bolton also picked up his second career Grammy in the male pop vocal category.

Other repeat winners included the Judds, whose “Love Can Build a Bridge” single earned the mother-daughter duo its sixth Grammy; B.B. King, who picked up his sixth Grammy with his victory in the traditional blues category, and the Manhattan Transfer, which captured its eighth Grammy for its entry in the contemporary jazz competition.

Other jazz repeat winners were Take 6, its fifth Grammy (vocal performance); the late Stan Getz, his fifth (instrumental solo); Oscar Peterson, his seventh (with his trio in the instrumental group performance category), and Dizzy Gillespie, his second (with the United Nation Orchestra for large ensemble performance).

In addition, Dave Grusin received his seventh Grammy when his work on a track from “The Gershwin Connection” was judged best arrangement on an instrumental, and Jimmy Sturr won his sixth Grammy in the polka category. Johnny Mandel captured his fourth career Grammy for his “Unforgettable” arrangement, and John Barry received his fourth when his “Dances With Wolves” was named best instrumental composition written for a movie.

In fact, only a few pop artists Tuesday received their first Grammys. Among the most notable: Marc Cohn, best new artist; Garth Brooks, male country vocal; Mary-Chapin Carpenter, female country vocal; John Prine, contemporary folk album, and LL Cool J, solo rap performance.

Luther Vandross was named best male R&B; vocalist for the second straight year. Patti LaBelle and Lisa Fischer tied in the female R&B; vocal race and Boyz II Men was named for best R&B; group vocal performance.

Other multiple winners Tuesday were Ken Burns, whose “The Civil War” project was named best spoken word album and best traditional folk album, and composer-conductor Michael Kamen, who won three awards in connection with the music for the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

In other rock categories, the groups Metallica and Van Halen were saluted for best heavy metal and hard rock performances, respectively, and Sting’s “Soul Cages” was judged best song. The winner in the Latin pop field was Vikki Carr, and Little Joe topped the Mexican/American album field.

Mighty Clouds of Joy, Sounds of Blackness, Russ Taff, the Gaither Vocal Band and BeBe & CeCe Winans won Grammys in the gospel field, and Madonna’s “Blond Ambition World Tour Live” was voted best long-form video. The original Broadway cast album of “The Will Rogers Follies” was named best musical show album.

In the classical field, the late Leonard Bernstein’s final thoughts on “Candide” took the top album award, and John Corigliano’s powerful symphonic tribute to AIDS victims--as recorded by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony--won in the composition and orchestral performance categories.

Other awards went to names long familiar on Grammy lists. Georg Solti added his 29th trophy to his Grammy-leading collection for his edition of Bach’s B-minor Mass, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. James Levine and his Met forces took the opera award, and the stellar Stern-Laredo-Ma-Ax ensemble won the chamber music prize for their recording of the Brahms Piano Quartets.

Less expected were the awards to soloist John Browning and conductor Leonard Slatkin for their St. Louis Symphony recording of the Barber Piano Concerto in two categories.

Times staff writers Jane Hall and John Henken contributed to this story.

LIST OF WINNERS: A complete list of the Grammy awards appears in today’s Calendar section.

Grammy Winners

Here are Grammy winners in some of the major categories:

RECORD OF THE YEAR: ‘Unforgettable’ / Natalie Cole

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: ‘Unforgettable’ / Natalie Cole

SONG (songwriter): ‘Unforgettable’ / Irving Gordon

NEW ARTIST: Marc Cohn

POP VOCAL, FEMALE: Bonnie Raitt

POP VOCAL, MALE: Michael Bolton

BEST ROCK SONG: ‘Soul Cages’ / Sting

POP VOCAL, DUO OR GROUP: R.E.M.