This Time, He’s Not Out of Mind

It helped to be named Dylan during the Grammy Awards on Wednesday.

After being ridiculed for bypassing the most celebrated songwriter of the rock era in the prestigious best album category for more than three decades, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences--with its credibility on the line--finally tried to make up for lost time.

The academy members not only voted Bob Dylan three awards, including best album, but they also made sure they weren’t ever going to be accused of overlooking a Dylan again, so they threw in two awards for Dylan’s son, Jakob.

In fact, you got the feeling that the Dylan momentum was so strong in Radio City Music Hall that if the kids who recorded “MMMBop” had been named Dylan instead of Hanson, they would have walked away with the best record victory. Instead, it went to Shawn Colvin’s creditable, but less memorable, “Sunny Came Home.”

The reassuring thing about the strong Dylan showing was that the singer-songwriter’s victory in the best album category wasn’t just a token vote. “Time Out of Mind”--whose lyrics, producer Daniel Lanois said during the telecast, “were hard, were deep, were desperate and were strong”--was the year’s most compelling album.

Part of the impact of Dylan’s album is seeing a man who was hailed as the voice of ‘60s idealism looking at life further down the line and startling listeners with the bluntness of his observations about how time strips us of options and dreams.

The awards for Jakob Dylan, including a best song victory for his “One Headlight,” were also well earned. The tune, which he recorded with his band, the Wallflowers, had much of the classic commentary and grace of his dad’s best numbers.

The fact that the music is worthy, however, was a bonus. In some ways, the academy voters had no choice but to honor Dylan.

Ever since they failed to even nominate him for such ‘60s landmarks as “Highway 61 Revisited,” Dylan has been a symbol of the worst voting tendencies of an awards process that tends to reward conservative, mainstream forces rather than the most challenging and innovative ones.

To put things in perspective, Dylan--with his three new Grammys--has only now pulled ahead of Celine Dion in career Grammys. (Dylan’s earlier Grammys were for secondary efforts, long past his most influential period.)

While trying to make up for the years of Dylan neglect, the academy members also finally got around to honoring other deserving veterans.

John Fogerty, who never won a Grammy for the marvelous music he made in the ‘60s and ‘70s with Creedence Clearwater Revival, was a popular choice for best rock album. Elton John, who has won only three Grammys, picked up a fourth for male pop vocal. Johnny Cash, who hadn’t won in the country field since 1970, won best country album. And Van Morrison picked up his second career Grammy for his pop collaboration with John Lee Hooker.

Equally important, the academy saluted some outstanding young talents, notably Erykah Badu and Fiona Apple. The disappointment was that both lost in the best new artist category to the pedestrian Paula Cole. Radiohead was a splendid choice for best alternative recording.

All in all, not a bad night for the Grammy voters.

But then again, how far wrong can you go when you’ve got the name Dylan on the ballot five times?