2nd Annual Grammy Awards explained

2nd Annual Grammy Awards
Date:	November 29, 1959
Location:	Los Angeles and New York
Host:	Meredith Willson
Network:	NBC
Previous:	1st
Main:	Grammy Awards
Next:	3rd

The 2nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on November 29, 1959, at Los Angeles and New York. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1959. Hosted by Meredith Willson, this marked the first televised Grammy Award ceremony, and it was aired in episodes as special Sunday Showcase.^[1] It was held in the same year as the first Grammy Awards in 1959, and no award ceremony was held in 1960. These awards recognized musical accomplishments by performers for that particular year. Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington each won three awards.^{[2] [3]}

Award winners

• Record of the Year
  • Bobby Darin for "Mack the Knife"
• Album of the Year
  • Frank Sinatra for Come Dance with Me!
• Song of the Year
  • Jimmy Driftwood for "The Battle of New Orleans"
• Best New Artist
  • Bobby Darin

Children's

• Best Recording for Children
  • Peter Ustinov for Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf performed by Peter Ustinov & the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Classical

• Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
  • Charles Münch (conductor) & the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Debussy: Images for Orchestra
• Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra)
  • Jussi Björling for Bjoerling in Opera
• Best Classical Performance - Opera Cast or Choral
  • Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Lisa Della Casa, Rosalind Elias, George London, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi & the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
• Best Classical Performance - Concerto or Instrumental Soloist (with full orchestral accompaniment)
  • Kiril Kondrashin (conductor), Van Cliburn & the Symphony of the Air Orchestra for Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
• Best Classical Performance - Concerto or Instrumental Soloist (other than full orchestral accompaniment)
  • Arthur Rubinstein for Beethoven: Sonatas No. 21 in C (Waldstein) and No. 18 in E Flat
• Best Classical Performance - Chamber Music (including chamber orchestra)
  • Arthur Rubinstein for Beethoven: Sonatas No. 21 in C (Waldstein) and No. 18 in E Flat

Comedy

• Best Comedy Performance - Spoken
  • Shelley Berman for Inside Shelley Berman
• Best Comedy Performance - Musical
  • Homer and Jethro for The Battle of Kookamonga

Composing and arranging

• Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 (more than 5 minutes duration)
  • Duke Ellington for Anatomy of a Murder Soundtrack
• Best Sound Track Album - Background Score from a Motion Picture or Television
  • Duke Ellington (composer) for Anatomy of a Murder
• Best Arrangement
  • Billy May (arranger) for "Come Dance with Me" performed by Frank Sinatra

Country

• Best Country & Western Performance
  • Johnny Horton for "The Battle of New Orleans"

Folk

• Best Performance - Folk
  • The Kingston Trio for The Kingston Trio at Large

Jazz

• Best Jazz Performance - Soloist
  • Ella Fitzgerald for Ella Swings Lightly
• Best Jazz Performance - Group
  • Jonah Jones for I Dig Chicks

Musical show

• Best Broadway Show Album (a tie)
  • Ethel Merman & the original cast for Gypsy
  • The original cast with Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley, Leonard Stone, Doris Rich, Cynthia Latham, Joy Nichols, Bob Dixon & Pat Ferrier for Redhead
• Best Sound Track Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television
  • André Previn, Ken Darby & the original cast for Porgy and Bess

Packaging and notes

• Best Album Cover
  • Robert M. Jones (art director) for Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 conducted by Howard Mitchell

Pop

• Best Vocal Performance, Female
  • Ella Fitzgerald for "But Not for Me"
• Best Vocal Performance, Male
  • Frank Sinatra for Come Dance with Me!
• Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus
  • Richard P. Condie (choir director) for "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir directed by Condie
• Best Performance by a Dance Band
  • Duke Ellington for Anatomy of a Murder
• Best Performance by an Orchestra
  • André Previn & David Rose for Like Young performed by Dave Rose and his Orchestra with André Previn
• Best Performance by a "Top 40" Artist
  • Nat "King" Cole for "Midnight Flyer"

Production and engineering

• Best Engineering Contribution - Other Than Classical or Novelty
  • Robert Simpson (engineer) for Belafonte at Carnegie Hall performed by Harry Belafonte
• Best Engineering Contribution - Classical Recording
  • Lewis W. Layton (engineer), Robert Russell Bennett (conductor) & the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra for Victory at Sea, Vol. I
• Best Engineering Contribution - Novelty Recording
  • Ted Keep (engineer) for "Alvin's Harmonica" performed by David Seville

R&B

• Best Rhythm & Blues Performance
  • Dinah Washington for "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"

Spoken

• Best Performance - Documentary or Spoken Word (other than comedy)
  • Carl Sandburg for A Lincoln Portrait

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grammy Awards 1959 . Grammy .
2. News: Grammy Show Best Yet, But Dull In Spots. Lowry, Cynthia. 30 November 1959. Gettysburg Times. 1 May 2011.
3. Web site: 1959 Grammy Winners. Grammy.com. 1 May 2011.