The 37th Annual Grammy Awards : Country : All It Takes Is Carpenter, Gill Entries

Why bother nominating competitors for the country Grammys? All the voters need is an entry from Mary Chapin Carpenter or Vince Gill.

Faced with something different in the country album competition, voters retreated to Grammy perennial Carpenter. But her collection of sober, well-crafted folk-rock lacks the passion that defines a great album. The class in a drab album field was Asleep at the Wheel’s ambitious tribute to Bob Wills.

Carpenter’s fourth straight female vocal winner, the lightweight “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” is the weakest entry in an interesting field: the formidable Wynonna Judd’s “Is It Over Yet,” Reba McEntire’s soap-operatic guilty-pleasure “She Thinks His Name Was John,” Martina McBride’s soaring “Independence Day” and Patty Loveless’ “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye.” If you want to reward a vocal that elevates the material, give it to Loveless.

“When Love Finds You,” winner of the male vocal award, is a routine Gill ballad. It outclasses John Berry’s “Your Love Amazes Me” and John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear,” but not David Ball’s rootsy “Thinkin’ Problem” or Dwight Yoakam’s rocking hybrid “Pocket of a Clown.”

The duo or group vocal field presented a matchup of four left-of-center acts, plus Diamond Rio. It’s hard to argue with the choice of Asleep at the Wheel and Lyle Lovett’s “Blues for Dixie,” though if you’re going to go retro, the Mavericks’ classy “What a Crying Shame” or the lively honky-tonk of the Tractors’ “Baby Likes to Rock It” would be good picks.

In the songwriters’ competition, voters found something even more familiar than the Carpenter and Gill candidates: “I Swear,” a hit in both country and R&B.; Easily the most intriguing song here is Gretchen Peters’ “Independence Day,” in which an abused wife wreaks fiery vengeance on her tormentor. Does that give you any ideas?