A soulful foursome

By Randy Lewis

Dec. 8, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Grammy voters can’t stop loving Ray Charles or, for that matter, the R&B-rooted; music of freshman rapper Kanye West, contemporary R&B; singer Usher and neo-soul singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, a formidable foursome who among them garnered 33 of the nominations announced Tuesday.

Charles, who died in June, received seven nods for his million-plus-selling final album, “Genius Loves Company.” But West racked up the most nominations, 10, including album of the year for his critically acclaimed “The College Dropout,” one of the top five sellers of 2004. Heartthrob Usher, who earned the sales crown having sold more than 7 million copies of his “Confessions” album, snagged eight nominations.

Charles’ nominations, from record and album of the year to others in pop, R&B; and gospel categories, reflect his wide-ranging influence over a half-century career that has already earned him 12 Grammys.

“I’m very pleased and the family’s very pleased,” Charles’ manager of 45 years, Joe Adams, said Tuesday. “It’s been a long time since he’s had these awards. But he came in with a bang and he’s going out with a bang.”

West also is vying for the title of best new artist along with rock band Maroon5, Austin roots-rock group Los Lonely Boys, country singer-songwriter Gretchen Wilson and British teen soul singer Joss Stone.

“Some things can’t be topped, only paralleled,” West, 27, said Tuesday. “To get nominated in producer and artist categories is amazing.”

Usher and Keys landed eight nominations apiece. Usher is up for album of the year for “Confessions” and record of the year for his energetic single “Yeah!”

“I’m on Cloud 8 today,” said the 26-year-old, Atlanta-based singer. “When I sat down to make [‘Confessions’], I wanted to upgrade my work in every area, from the vocals to the songs, and today’s nominations are like a stamp of approval. It makes me want to work even harder on the next album. Being in the same category as Ray Charles is really something.”

Keys, who won five Grammys in the 2001 competition, is nominated again for best album with her sophomore effort, “The Diary of Alicia Keys,” and song of the year for “If I Ain’t Got You.”

Charles’ album, which he worked on until about three months before his death at age 73, paired him with nearly a dozen singers from different genres, including B.B. King, Elton John, Van Morrison and Norah Jones. His collaboration with Jones on the country song “Here We Go Again” is nominated for record of the year. California punk band Green Day received six nominations, including album of the year for “American Idiot.”

“I find it interesting that people we’re nominated with for album of the year -- Kanye West and Usher and Alicia Keys and Ray Charles -- these are R&B; and hip-hop people who are incredibly ambitious, with terrific albums,” singer Billie Joe Armstrong said Tuesday. “To be there is kind of mind-blowing.”

Armstrong said he was especially gratified that the nominations seemed to acknowledge that there was still room in pop music for “American Idiot’s” pointed political commentary. “We did talk about our politics, and if anything not only is it getting recognized but people are listening.”

Five-time Grammy winner Norah Jones was nominated five more times, as were Prince and veteran country queen Loretta Lynn. The coal miner’s daughter from Butcher Holler, who has only one Grammy, is being recognized for her edgy “Van Lear Rose” album produced by White Stripes guitarist-singer Jack White.

Lynn’s nominations represent a vindication of sorts because her collaboration with White, a longtime fan, generated no record company interest when it was first pitched, before the White Stripes gained significant critical mass last year. Grammy voters have Lynn competing against herself with two “Van Lear Rose” tracks nominated for country song of the year: “Portland Oregon” and “Miss Being Mrs.”

Right behind Lynn, one of country music’s most esteemed veterans, is newcomer Gretchen Wilson, who exhibits a similar upstart’s spirit in her breakthrough hit single “Redneck Woman” and her debut album “Here for the Party.” Wilson is nominated in four categories: new artist, female country vocal, country song (for “Redneck Woman,” written with John Rich) and country album.

Multiple winner Alison Krauss, as of last year the female musician with the most Grammy wins, at 19, is up for two more this year. A nomination certain to raise eyebrows in jazz circles is R&B-rap; singer Queen Latifah’s appearance in the jazz vocal album category competing against efforts by Al Jarreau, Jamie Cullum, Andy Bey and Nancy Wilson.

Former President Bill Clinton is in contention to win his second Grammy, picking up a nomination for his reading of his autobiography “My Life.” One noticeable absence was 14-time Grammy winner Jimmy Sturr, who was not nominated in the polka category he’d dominated since 1986.

This year, the Grammys added four new categories: surround-sound album, Hawaiian music album, electronic-dance album and gospel performance.

Winners in 107 categories of the 47th annual Grammy Awards will be determined by the 13,000 voting members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and announced Feb. 13 in a CBS telecast from Staples Center in Los Angeles. The eligibility period covers recordings released from Oct. 1, 2003, through Sept. 30, 2004.

Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn and correspondent Steve Hochman contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Record of the year

“Let’s Get It Started”

The Black Eyed Peas

“Here We Go Again”

Ray Charles & Norah Jones

“American Idiot”

Green Day

“Heaven”

Los Lonely Boys

“Yeah!”