Culture
GREAT PERFORMANCES | October 13
< < Back toGRAMMY Salute To Music Legends 2017™ Honoring Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, And The Velvet Underground To Air On PBS’ Great Performances Friday, Oct. 13, at 9:00 P.M.
Broadcast Event Features Performances by Honorees Caesar, Pride And The Velvet Underground’s John Cale And Maureen “Moe” Tucker, As Well As Stanley Cowell, Andra Day, Kirk Franklin, Le’andria Johnson, Neal McCoy, Randy Newman, Vernon Reid, Catherine Russell, Valerie Simpson, Russell Thompkins Jr., Dionne Warwick, Charlie Wilson, and Dwight Yoakam
In collaboration with the Recording Academy™, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends 2017™, the second annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Academy’s 2017 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert feature rare performances by honorees and renditions by those they’ve inspired.
The celebration, led by GRAMMY®-winning industry icon Paul Shaffer as musical director, was recorded in July at New York’s Beacon Theatre, and will air Friday, October 13 from 9 – 11 p.m. on PBS. Historically held during GRAMMY Week, this is the second time the Recording Academy has celebrated the Special Merit Awards with a stand-alone event and musical tribute.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, and the Velvet Underground.
Additional Special Merit Awards honorees celebrated include Trustees Awards recipients: producer, arranger, and songwriter Thom Bell; record executive Mo Ostin; and recording executive, A&R man, and music publisher Ralph S. Peer; and audio inventor Alan Dower Blumlein, who is the Technical GRAMMY Award recipient. Also honored is Keith Hancock, this year’s recipient of the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum®’s Music Educator Award™.
Along with never-before-seen video packages celebrating each of the honorees’ contributions to the music industry and our cultural heritage and heartfelt testimonials from the presenters, the star-studded event features performances by Lifetime Achievement Award honorees John Cale and Maureen “Moe” Tucker of the Velvet Underground, Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Shirley Caesar, jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, past GRAMMY nominee Andra Day, 12-time GRAMMY winner Kirk Franklin, GRAMMY winner Le’Andria Johnson, past GRAMMY nominee Neal McCoy, six-time GRAMMY winner Randy Newman, GRAMMY-winning Living Colour founder and songwriter Vernon Reid, past GRAMMY nominee Catherine Russell, Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Charley Pride, past GRAMMY nominee Valerie Simpson, past GRAMMY nominee Russell Thompkins Jr. of The Stylistics, five-time GRAMMY winner Dionne Warwick, past GRAMMY nominee Charlie Wilson, and two-time GRAMMY winner Dwight Yoakam. There is also a special appearance by GRAMMY winner Whoopi Goldberg, who accepts for the late Nina Simone.
The full musical program follows (the honorees in bold type; performers in parentheses):
Thom Bell
• “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (Russell Thompkins Jr.)
• “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwick)
Nina Simone
• “Mississippi Goddam” (Andra Day)
The Velvet Underground
• “I’m Waiting for The Man”/”Sunday Morning” (John Cale Band with Maureen “Moe” Tucker)
Jimmie Rodgers
• “Hobo Bill’s Last Ride”/”Mule Skinner Blues”/”T for Texas” (Dwight Yoakam)
Ralph S. Peer
• “Crazy Blues” (Catherine Russell)
• “The Great Pretender” (Russell Thompkins Jr.)
• “Georgia on My Mind” (Andra Day)
Shirley Caesar
• Medley: “You Name It”/”It’s Alright, It’s OK”/”You’re Next in Line for a Miracle “/”Satan, We’re Going to Tear Your Kingdom Down” (Kirk Franklin with Le’Andria Johnson)
• “Caught Up”/”Jesus, I Love Calling Your Name” (Shirley Caesar)
Ahmad Jamal
• “But Not For Me”/”Ahmad’s Blues”/”Poinciana” (Stanley Cowell)
Mo Ostin
• “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country”/”I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” (Randy Newman)
Charley Pride
• “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” (Neal McCoy)
• “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” (Charley Pride)
Sly Stone
• “I Want to Take You Higher”/”Everybody is a Star”/”Sex Machine”/”Dance to the Music” (Charlie Wilson, Valerie Simpson, Vernon Reid)
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by a vote of the Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of the Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing® Advisory Council and Chapter Committees and ratified by the National Board of Trustees, and presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. Click here for a complete list of previous recipients.