Ray Charles Deserved Every Grammy Because He Died (1121 hits)
Category: Sound & MusicRating: 0.93 on 40 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (View user info) at 2005-02-14 10:01:01 EST
Fuck that shit. I wasn't even aware that he or Norah Jones had even put out an album.
I watched the Grammy Awards for a total of fifteen minutes and was disgusted by what I saw. I normally don't watch those award shows, but it was the only thing that was on when I got back from seeing my lady friend (she's not my special lady, I'm just helping her conceive). The two awards I see given out were "Record of the Year" and "Album of the Year", both of which had something in common. There were four albums and records I was quite familiar with, and one that I didn't even realize had ever come out. Of course the one I didn't recognize was the one by Ray Charles.
Sure, the guy is a music legend. I am, in no way, doubting the man's talents. But I'm sorry, the other artists in those lists, even if I hate their work, deserved those Grammys. A posthumous sympathy Grammy is such bullshit. Norah Jones' work would have been so overlooked if the man was still alive today.
So now I take a look at the entertainment news and see that Ray Charles walked away with a grand total of eight sympathy Grammy awards. Garbage. Three of those awards were in the coveted top ten, including Best Pop Vocal.
I really want to go look up figures and check to see how many copies of his album were sold compared to the other nominees, but that would take effort and I just don't have it. All I know is that I've heard that damn Green Day song and that stupid Usher song enough times to kill myself, yet I had not a clue Ray Charles even had a posthumous release. In my opinion, if your song is successful enough that I can't stand to hear it anymore, than you deserve a Grammy. If you're a legend and you die and your album only sells copies because people feel bad for not supporting you in the last two decades of your career, than you don't deserve a fucking Grammy.
Seriously, I didn't think much of the Green Day album. In fact, I haven't purchased a record by those guys since Dookie. But I can tell you one thing, from what I've heard on the radio, those guys put a lot of time and effort into producing that. Plus, I like the fact that it's a big fuck you to George Bush and the rest of our terrible government. And yes, they did win Rock Album of the Year of something, which is cool, but honestly that album was a million times better, more well known, probably sold more copies, and had a bigger impact on the country than Ray's album.
Usher is really annoying. I hate his Confessions, I hate Lil Jon screaming "Yeayuh" every five seconds. But I'll tell you something: all my little cousins and every girl I know (and a few ATTN GHEY MENZ) all have that album. I go to clubs and see people freak out when they hear that "Yeah" song. It's on the radio a million times a day across the country. Even my father knows that song better than Ray Charles' shit, and my father listens to AM talk radio all the time.
And that Kanye West album? Actually it's really not that bad. I don't own it myself but I've heard a few tracks and I was able to tolerate him. He's the only nominee that probably didn't deserve to win over Ray, but what the hell. Kanye didn't have the good fortune of kicking the bucket this year. If he had, maybe he'd have gotten that Grammy.
I don't know why I'm so worked up over this. I said it before, I normally don't watch the Grammy awards, or any award show for that matter, and what's worse is that I didn't even like Ray's competition. I guess, being a musician myself, I just get aggravated when I see a blatant injustice, one that is just not PC to talk about. I'm sure all the news channels this morning are talking about how apropos it was that Ray Charles wins all these awards and how nice it was to see his peers acknowledge and respect him. Fuck all that. All they really had to do was give him a nice slideshow and let a couple of performers cover his songs and it would have been good. The motherfucker shouldn't even have been nominated for those awards, there's a million other artists who worked so hard and had hugely successful albums that could've taken his place.
I don't give a fuck if I sound like an asshole. I just don't think that dying is a good excuse to give praise.
User Reviews
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-16 11:09:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by wardy (user info) at 2005-02-15 21:17:22 (#)
Ranking: -2
you're bugged about norah jones getting a grammy? two years ago she got like six, fuck head.
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Nah, I'm not bugged about Norah Jones getting a Grammy. It's called reading comprehension. I'm bugged about Ray Charles winning Grammys for shitty work. Norah Jones' album from 2002 was critically acclaimed, multi-platinum, and well done.
Oh, and Bush_is_God, you gave me a -1. Also, you're missing "thinks_he_" in your handle there. Bush is a terrible President. It's hard to argue with that logic unless your a narrowminded republican or you make $250,000 a year. Everybody else (including you) is getting screwed over by Bush, but you voted for him, not me...
Submitted by wardy (user info) at 2005-02-15 21:17:22 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
you're bugged about norah jones getting a grammy? two years ago she got like six, fuck head.
Submitted by screamfeeder (user info) at 2005-02-15 21:06:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Green day is not punk nor rock.
They are Pop garbage.
Someone said Circle Jerk below. That is a punk band.
Let me leave you all with some words written by a TRUE musician. While a tad dated, they still hold true for the music industry of today.
Oh and I agree with this post...heh
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Fun Fun Fun in the fluffy chair / Flame up the herb / Wolf down the beer / - (click!) -
Hi / I'm your video DJ / I always talk like I'm wigged out on Quaaludes / I wear a stained baseball jacket everywhere I go / My job is to help destroy / What's left of your imagination / By feeding you endless doses / Of sugar coated mindless garbage / So don't create / Be sedate / Be a vegetable at home / And thwack on that dial / If we have our way even you will believe / this is the future of rock and roll
How far will you go / How low will you stoop / To tranquilize our minds with your sugar coated swill / You've turned rock and roll rebellion / Into Pat Boone sedation / Making sure nothing's left of the imagination / Chorus: M.T.V. Get off the / M.T.V. Get off the / M.T.V. Get off the air / Get off the air / See the latest rejects from the muppet show / Wag their tits and their dicks / As they lip-synch on screen / There's something I don't like / About a band that always smiles / Another tax write-off / For some schmuck who doesn't care
And so it was / Our beloved corporate gods / Claimed they created rock video / Allowing it to sink as low in one year / As commercial TV has in 25 / "It's the new frontier," they say / It's wide open, anything can happen / But you've got a lot of nerve / To call yourself a pioneer / when you're too god-damned conservative / To take real chances / Tin-eared / Graph-paper brained accountants / Instead of music fans / Call all the shots at giant record companies now / The lowest common denominator rules / Forget honesty / Forget creativity / The dumbest buy the mostest / That's the name of the game / But sales are slumping / And no one will say why / Could it be they put out / One too many lousy records?!? / M.T.V. Get off the air / NOW!
Jello Biafra-Dead Kennedys
Submitted by bush_for_god (user info) at 2005-02-15 20:49:46 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
Green Day winning for a Rock albumn?? wtf? Rock? GREEN DAY IS PUNK!!! Rock = Three Days Grace, Alterbridge, definitly not Greenday.
geez
bush rocks, but i had to +1 because i agree with the sympathy awards. It's a part of hollywood, it's the cool thing to do. Hey, lets give the dead guy the award because.....he's dead.....
seriously thats the only reason i can think of. he's probably already won grammy's for those same songs too...
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:52:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ray Charles sucks and that whole Tsunami thing is getting old. Get over it already.
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:52:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by lava605 (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:34:06 (#)
Ranking: 1
he deserved them all cause he was awesome, not cause he died
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I bet you thousand bucks that you don't have the album that won the Grammy. You're just saying that to say it. Sure, he was a good musician, and you may think he's awesome, but that compilation album sucks. You know it, I know it, the American people know it, and the Grammy people know it, they're just powerless when someone dies.
Shit, I'm even willing to put down that I have more Ray Charles albums in my collection than you. Say it just to say it, you're talking out of your ass.
Submitted by lava605 (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:35:47 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
opps i ment -1 for the rating, so i will give a -2 to make up for it
Submitted by lava605 (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:34:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
he deserved them all cause he was awesome, not cause he died
Submitted by Millie_Grace (user info) at 2005-02-14 15:12:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
U2 sucks, Grammys suck...Rock on Ray and AM radio.
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:43:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by elduderino717 (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:29:12 (#)
Ranking: -2
Just because he is dead doesn't mean he doesn't deserve recognition. As i understand it his album came out within the deadline of the award so why doesn't he deserve it? Had Ray Charles been alive he would probably have gotten all those awards anyway, look how many santana got when he made a compilation cd.
So to sum up what I said: You are an ignorant retard.
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I guarantee I am smarter than you.
That being said, think about the Santana CD, your example. That shit was on the radio all the time. I heard that song he did with Michelle Branch and the one with that dude with the bad hair constantly. Your example proves no point. The Santana CD was good.
You are the ignorant retard, completely missing my point. I explaned to you the answer to your question, why he doesn't deserve the award. All talent aside, the awards are simply sympathy awards. Since Ray Charles died a legend, he HAD to win. It would've been uncharacteristic of the music industry not to. The point is, Grammys normally go to the most popular records that sold ridiculous amounts of copies and get tons of airplay. That's just not the case with Ray Charles.
How many of you bought that album, or even knew that it came out?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Yup, smarter than you.
Submitted by TheSpook (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:30:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I watched something on the Discovery Channel on the building of a destroyer ship. Much more interesting and educational than the grammys.
Submitted by elduderino717 (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:29:12 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Just because he is dead doesn't mean he doesn't deserve recognition. As i understand it his album came out within the deadline of the award so why doesn't he deserve it? Had Ray Charles been alive he would probably have gotten all those awards anyway, look how many santana got when he made a compilation cd.
So to sum up what I said: You are an ignorant retard.
Submitted by HZRD (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:26:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
ditto what apollo88 said.
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:23:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
"Let's go back to the station house, circle jerk, glaze some donuts"
- Judd Nelson
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:19:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
the grammys were last night?
oh.
afc won the probowl, and there was a moderately sweet new simpsons on. bart busted a pretty sweet freestyle on stage at a 'murder4life' concert, dissing homer and Alka-traz. i bet nancy cartwright had some trouble practicing that, but it really came off pretty good.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:14:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Grammy's are a music industry circle jerk.
most award shows are circle jerks.
Submitted by downerSTAIN (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:11:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:04:39 (#)
Ranking: 0
DownerSTAIN,
If Grammys were given based on true talent, then none of the five nominees in ANY category would deserve to be there. Everybody pretty much sucks across the whole board.
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Yeah, I should have put "In a perfect world..." before what I wrote.
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:04:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
DownerSTAIN,
If Grammys were given based on true talent, then none of the five nominees in ANY category would deserve to be there. Everybody pretty much sucks across the whole board.
I can't think of one truly good album that came out last year, except maybe Atmosphere and perhaps Coheed and Cambria (here come some insults with the word 'emo' in them)...
Ray Charles may be the most talented but honestly, who wants to listen to that shit when you're driving around on a Saturday night?
Submitted by downerSTAIN (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:02:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I'd also like to say that the Grammys are all bullshit anyway, and it doesn't really matter who wins because the nominations/awards are often just bought by the record companies.
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2005-02-14 12:01:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Grammy's are to music awards as MCSE's are to computing qualifications.
Given out to any and everybody, and mean jack shit.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:55:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
So he pulled a Johnny Cash....?
Submitted by downerSTAIN (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:55:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
First of all, let me say that I agree that Grammy's should not be given just because someone died.
With that said, I think Ray Charles deserved every Grammy he got. Not because he died, but because he was more talented than anyone else he was up against. I like Green Day, and I've found enjoyment in most of their albums, even after Dookie, but they are in no way better than Ray Charles.
Grammy's should not be given to the person that sells the most records, or gets their song played the most (though they usually are). They should be given to the person with the most talent. And none of those other artists are even in the same building as Ray Charles.
But I agree with the main point of this, and you don't write like a retard, so +1.
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:51:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
instead of flint, i use grammys when i light my camp fires.
Submitted by Vomit (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:47:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ray Charles is a nigger.
Submitted by msjz12 (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:37:21 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Bill Clinton has two Grammys. And Hillary has one.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:37:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Agreed.
Except for the fact that the Kanye West CD is fucking awesome.
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:35:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Dustbrother (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:14:08 (#)
Ranking: -2
Yeah, they need to go back to oldskool tracks like elevation, that song gave me chills
Yeah, Oldskool, OFF THEIR LAST ALBUM, that is not old U2, old U2 is when they didnt suck. For example "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or "with or without you". U2 hasnt released anything good since they release that giant pile of garbage called Discotech.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:34:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The Grammys are a joke. It's all been a farce since Milli Vanilli won Best New Artist.
Greenday was robbed.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:31:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
For telling the truth.
Green Day, gave up on them at the same point as you.
U2, from The Joshua Tree on was all downhill.
Ray Charles, don't exactly agree with your perceptions of his later stuff, but I do know that the Grammys were bullshit.
all in all solid +2.
-Dave
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:30:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Amen
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:28:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:14:47 (#)
Ranking: 2
U2 sucks. Green Day sucks. Like you, I gave them up after Dookie. Although I have to give them slight props for thier logic of, "the most 'punk' thing we could have done was sell out."
But, and I only say this as both a Grammy winner, and the host of last nights event, Ray Charles DID deserve recognition. Sure, it was probably brought on by both his death and the movie about his life, but he IS one of those legendary performers who should get props. Unfortunately, he was also one of those ones that were constantly upstaged by what's new, or what's hot. All the while, HE was consistently making GREAT music.
Also, Nora Jones may not light up the floors at the clubs you frequent, but that bitch got TALENT. She is probably the best blues singer to come around in a long, long time. Sorry you haven't heard [about] her, but she IS good. I haven't heard her collaboration with Ray Charles, but I would be willing to bet that it is amazing.
All that being said . . . Usher should die horribly, and James Brown should be banned from the Rock and Roll hall of fame for stating that Usher was the "new Godfather of Soul" last night.
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I have heard of Norah Jones before, I just wasn't aware that she and Ray had collaborated. And yes, I agree that she is talented. Personally, I think Joss Stone is better but Norah has a great voice and she supposedly writes her own shit, which is more than what most people can say.
I also think Ray Charles is amazing deserves recognition. There's plenty of Ray Charles songs that have won Grammys in the past, and they were well deserved. I'm also sure that he does have many overlooked works that didn't deserve recognition. All I'm saying is that this specific album only sold copies because it was a posthumous release, and it won so many Grammys for the same reason. I think one or two sympathy Grammys would suffice, plus all the tributes, but 8 Grammys? Seems a bit excessive to me...
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:20:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
For hating Usher. And not mentioning Jamie Foxx once.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:14:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
U2 sucks. Green Day sucks. Like you, I gave them up after Dookie. Although I have to give them slight props for thier logic of, "the most 'punk' thing we could have done was sell out."
But, and I only say this as both a Grammy winner, and the host of last nights event, Ray Charles DID deserve recognition. Sure, it was probably brought on by both his death and the movie about his life, but he IS one of those legendary performers who should get props. Unfortunately, he was also one of those ones that were constantly upstaged by what's new, or what's hot. All the while, HE was consistently making GREAT music.
Also, Nora Jones may not light up the floors at the clubs you frequent, but that bitch got TALENT. She is probably the best blues singer to come around in a long, long time. Sorry you haven't heard [about] her, but she IS good. I haven't heard her collaboration with Ray Charles, but I would be willing to bet that it is amazing.
All that being said . . . Usher should die horribly, and James Brown should be banned from the Rock and Roll hall of fame for stating that Usher was the "new Godfather of Soul" last night.
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-02-14 11:10:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for not-entirely-negative Green Day reference and for speaking some truth about the industry. When I win my Grammy, though, it will be deserved.
I don't usually watch the Grammys either, by the way.
Submitted by xenon (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:52:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
mostly agreed
Submitted by Dustbrother (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:14:08 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Yeah, they need to go back to oldskool tracks like elevation, that song gave me chills
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:11:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh yeah and while I'm at it, U2 fucking sucks ass. I completely agree with Maddox on this one. That was the worst album I've ever heard in my life. That Vertigo song was played out the first time I heard it. iPod can suck both of my testicles and choke on them.
Submitted by Dustbrother (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:05:34 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:04:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"All I know is that I've heard that damn Green Day song and that stupid Usher song enough times to kill myself, yet I had not a clue Ray Charles even had a posthumous release."
Agreed.
I don't think you sound like an asshole...I think you're just calling a spade a spade.
Submitted by Vomit (user info) at 2005-02-14 10:04:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Fucking retarded, wasn't it?