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Saturday, December 15, 2007

Taylor Hicks vs The 50th Annual Grammy Awards

Taylor Hicks nor his eponymous album, Taylor Hicks, see no mention in this year's upcoming Grammy Awards. Am I shocked and surprised? No. Instead, A.I.5 fourth place finisher, Chris Daughtry, scores big with four nominations. His band, Daughtry, sold 3.2 million copies of their self-titled debut, making it the most popular album of the year according to the Billboard reports. It seems Daughtry rocked the charts over the likes of Akon, Fergie and Carrie Underwood. The Grammys air February 10th on CBS.

The entire listing of nominations can be found here, 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

It will be a telling point to see how Daughtry fares when the band is put up against the likes of U2 in the category, "Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal". Accompanying U2 and Daughtry in this competing category, Greenday, Nickelback and White Stripes. That's a huge sign of success and the indication that Chris Daughtry is in this for the long haul. It's a blazing hot honor to be included, in my humble, or sometimes not so humble opinion, in the same category of competition with these groups, but man, especially U2. Blazing. I am duly and truly impressed.
"Crashed" set to Spiderman 3:

Bruce Springsteen, politics aside, has been a favorite of mine since his E Street Band era with the great Big Man, Clarence Clemmons. He may not be up for best album, but he's received a number of nominations, including one for "Once Upon A Time In The West", a track off, "We All Love Ennio Morricone" [Sony Classical]. In that category his biggest competition most likely will be Steve Vai, "The Attitude Song", this track from,"Sound Theories Vol. I & II" [Epic/Red Ink].
"The Rising" by ZenderC (Nice rocking tune.)

A band I have followed and seen many times, Spyro Gyra, surprised me, they are nominated in the Pop Instrumental category for their "Good To Go-Go" album. Amy Winehouse and Kanye West are all over the nomination categories, with my pulling for Winehouse. She may be running down a rocky road with a big monkey on her back, sport the strangest ball of hair ever seen in our lifetime complete with alien eyeliner, but she's brilliant, I love her sound. I'm actually interested in the Grammys this year, much more so than last years' 49th show. The artists are more controversial, the works more interesting overall.

Regarding Daughtry, it will be a definitive sign of his place in the music world, how he fares in the Awards. Man, Daughtry may be the one who truly breaks free from the American Idol stigma. All of this said, this does not diminish my admiration for Taylor Hicks, better luck next album, and word, be more you. Hicks, re-open that book of Mack-Daddy powerhouse soul.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:07 PM

    good post - lots of info - thanks

    but gawd my heart breaks for Tay... *I know he doesn't care.....blah blah

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  2. I know it must be hard for him to read the many comparisons between he and Daughtry. He's an artist, his work matters to him and being an artist, of course he cares how it is viewed.

    I hope his next album will be more of the material I think he's capable of delivering. This first CD off the show isn't bad, it's just not what the man can really do. All the talk that it's because it's a recording, his forte is live music.

    While it may be true he is a talented live performer, some of his previous recordings show he has the potential to be a great recording artist as well.

    Sometimes the folks making these excuses for him wind up creating more harm than good, relegating the man to just a performer status. Just a beer room band guy. He has more potential than that.

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  3. Anonymous1:39 PM

    way WAY more...

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  4. Anonymous3:08 PM

    If Taylor would focus on the Music and less on covering his "sham of a relationship", maybe just maybe he will excel as a true recording artist and not just a bar band performer.
    His actions since May 2007 show that he is not focused on the music, IMO.

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  5. Anonymous5:03 PM

    Believe me, I have no excuses to make for Taylor because I don't think he has anything to feel bad about or to be sorry for. I never expected his first album to be exactly what he wanted, he did the best he could with the what freedom he had. And he did it without selling his soul. He did it without the pimping and promotion that others received who were willing to kiss more ass.
    If you look deeper into the numbers, he did quite well this year all things considered.
    I haven't seen the gross for the live tours yet, curious to see those. I wish I could be happier for Chris, but the mans voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me so its difficult.
    I will actually be plesantly surprised if Taylor ever wins any big awards, but who knows, things can change immensely from year to year. And one thing you can be sure of , Taylor will be doing exactly what he wants to do.

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  6. It would be good marketing for Team Hicks to put up those numbers. Utilize the Official website for more than an attractive image, put news and reviews, and yeah, numbers. Fans want to see those things, it helps motivate and incorporate moral.

    henry8 you must be one of Taylor's best cheerleaders. Always faith in the man, and always hope.

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  7. Anonymous6:03 PM

    Theres no reason not to Sunny.

    Numbers and certain people to not impress me as much as they do some.

    And anonymous up there should pick a name, they would have more credibility. There seems to be a long line of people cheering for Taylor to fall on his face, I choose not to.

    And you are right, team Hicks is lacking in some respects but you can find those numbers and you can find the positive remarks, you just need to choose to look.

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  8. Anonymous7:59 PM

    anonymous - Taylor is not covering anything up...that is just some lame-ass B.S. you choose to believe.
    AND Tay is not (any longer) "just a bar band performer" those days are long gone - he has played some awesome venues - none of which would book just a bar band. He is an exciting superb performer -maybe you should go visit a Daughtry site -
    sorry Sunny, I know it's not my place to say that. - I just got irked.

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  9. hicksfan7, man, you can speak your mind here. I love real and honest interaction. I had several posters going anonymous and I encouraged them to take a name, some have.

    Truly it is better to say who you are when you comment rather than not to...although on-line it's easy to pretend.

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  10. Anonymous1:19 PM

    Check these out:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se5uDS7V_5Y

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3wf1bik4k&eurl=http://c2what.com

    the harp duel is to die for and your comment made me think of this Clapton song.
    taylor looked great on Asian Idol.

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  11. henry8, I love "The Right Place", that's a great version of it - Taylor's in fine voice.

    I've always been a fan of Clapton, no matter what band he's a part of or if he's on his own. Genius musician.

    Thanks for the links.

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