| Grammy Award for Best Album Notes | |
| Awarded For: | Quality album liner notes |
| Presenter: | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 1964 |
| Holder: | Bob Mehr – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) (2023) |
The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award recognizes albums with excellent album notes, sometimes referred to as liner notes.[1] It is presented to the album notes author or authors, not to the artists or performers on the winning work, except if the artist is also the album notes author.[2]
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.
| Year | Recipients(s) | Work | Performing artist(s) | Nominees Performers are in parentheses | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Leonard Feather and Stanley Dance | The Ellington Era | Duke Ellington | [3] | |
| 1965 | Stanton Catlin and Carleton Beals | Mexico (Legacy Collection) | Carlos Chávez | [4] | |
| 1966 | Stan Cornyn | September of My Years | Frank Sinatra | [5] | |
| 1967 | Stan Cornyn | Sinatra at the Sands | Frank Sinatra | [6] | |
| 1968 | John D. Loudermilk | Suburban Attitudes in Country Verse | John D. Loudermilk | [7] | |
| 1969 | Johnny Cash | At Folsom Prison | Johnny Cash | [8] | |
| 1970 | Johnny Cash | Nashville Skyline | Bob Dylan | [9] | |
| 1971 | Chris Albertson | The World's Greatest Blues Singer | Bessie Smith | [10] | |
| 1972 | Sam Samudio | Sam, Hard and Heavy | Sam the Sham | [11] | |
| Best Album Notes | [12] | ||||
| Tom T. Hall | Tom T. Hall's Greatest Hits | Tom T. Hall | |||
| Best Album Notes – Classical | |||||
| James Lyons | Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 ("A London Symphony") | André Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra | |||
| 1974 | |||||
| Best Album Notes | [13] | ||||
| Dan Morgenstern | God Is in the House | Art Tatum | |||
| Best Album Notes – Classical | |||||
| Glenn Gould | Hindemith: Sonatas for Piano Complete | The Villa Musica Ensemble | |||
| 1975 | |||||
| Best Album Notes | [14] | ||||
| Charles R. Townsend | For the Last Time | Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys | |||
| Dan Morgenstern | The Hawk Flies | Coleman Hawkins | |||
| Best Album Notes – Classical | |||||
| Rory Guy | The Classic Erich Wolfgang Korngold | Willy Mattes (conductor) with a solo by Ulf Hoelscher | |||
| 1976 | |||||
| Best Album Notes | [15] | ||||
| Pete Hamill | Blood on the Tracks | Bob Dylan | |||
| Best Album Notes – Classical | |||||
| Gunther Schuller | Footlifters: A Century of American Marches | Gunther Schuller conducting the All-Star Band | |||
| 1977 | Dan Morgenstern | The Changing Face of Harlem: Savoy Sessions | Various Artists | [16] | |
| 1978 | George T. Simon | Bing Crosby: A Legendary Performer | Bing Crosby | [17] | |
| 1979 | Michael Brooks | A Bing Crosby Collection, Volumes 1 and 2 | Bing Crosby | [18] | |
| 1980 | Bob Porter & James Patrick | Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy Sessions Savoy | Charlie Parker | [19] | |
| 1981 | David McClintock | Reprise | [20] | ||
| 1982 | Dan Morgenstern | Erroll Garner: Master of the Keyboard Book of the Month Records | Erroll Garner | [21] | |
| 1983 | John Chilton and Richard Sudhalter | Giants of Jazz: Bunny Berigan Time-Life | [22] | ||
| 1984 | Orrin Keepnews | The "Interplay" Sessions Milestone | [23] | ||
| 1985 | Gunther Schuller and Martin Williams | Big Band Jazz Smithsonian | Various Artists | [24] | |
| 1986 | Peter Guralnick | Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 RCA | Sam Cooke | [25] | |
| 1987 | Gary Giddins, Wilfrid Sheed, Jonathan Schwartz, Murray Kempton, Andrew Sarris, Stephen Holden, and Frank Conroy | The Voice: The Columbia Years 1943–1952 Columbia/CBS | [26] | ||
| 1988 | Orrin Keepnews | The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings Riverside | [27] | ||
| 1989 | Anthony DeCurtis | Crossroads Polydor | [28] | ||
| 1990 | Phil Schaap | Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve Verve | [29] | ||
| 1991 | Dan Morgenstern | Brownie: The Complete Emarcy Recordings of Clifford Brown EmArcy | [30] | ||
| 1992 | James Brown, Cliff White, Harry Weinger, Nelson George, and Alan M. Leeds | Star Time Polydor | [31] | ||
| 1993 | Dave Marsh, Jerry Wexler, David Ritz, Thulani Davis, Ahmet Ertegun, Tom Down, and Arif Mardin | Rhino | [32] | ||
| 1994 | Buck Clayton, Phil Schaap, and Joel E. Siegel | The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945–1959 Verve | [33] | ||
| 1995 | Dan Morgenstern and Loren Schoenberg | Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artists as a Young Man, 1923–1934 Columbia/Legacy/Smithsonian | [34] | ||
| 1996 | Rob Bowman | The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972–1975 Stax | Various Artists | [35] | |
| 1997 | George Avakian, Bob Belden, Bill Kirchner, and Phil Schaap | Columbia | [36] | ||
| 1998 | John Fahey, Luis Kemnitzer, Jon Pankake, Chuck Pirtle, Jeff Place, Neil V. Rosenberg, Lucy Sante, Peter Stampfel, and Eric Von Schmidt | Anthology of American Folk Music Smithsonian Folkways | Various Artists | [37] | |
| 1999 | Bob Belden, Todd Coolman, and Michael Cuscuna | Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968 Columbia/Legacy | [38] | ||
| 2000 | Bob Blumenthal | Impulse | [39] | ||
| 2001 | Bob Blumenthal | The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955–1961 Columbia/Legacy | [40] | ||
| 2002 | Walter Mosley | ...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968–1992) Warner Archives/Rhino | Richard Pryor | [41] | |
| Elijah Wald | Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Collection: 1960–2000 The Journey of Chris Strachwitz Arhoolie | Various Artists | |||
| 2003 | David Evans | Revenant | [42] | ||
| 2004 | Tom Piazza | Hip-O | Various Artists | [43] | |
| 2005 | Loren Schoenberg | The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman and His Orchestra & Woodchoppers (1945–1947) Mosaic | Woody Herman and His Orchestra | [44] | |
| 2006 | Alan Lomax and John Szwed | The Complete Library of Congress Recordings Rounder | [45] | ||
| 2007 | Dan Morgenstern | If You Got To Ask, You Ain't Got It! Bluebird/Legacy | [46] | ||
| 2008 | Bruce Nemerov | John Work III: Recording Black Culture Spring Fed | Various Artists | [47] | |
| 2009 | Francis Davis | Kind of Blue | [48] | ||
| 2010 | Dan Morgenstern | The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935–1946) Mosaic | [49] | ||
| 2011 | Robert Gordon | Keep an Eye on the Sky Rhino | [50] | ||
| 2012 | Adam Machado | Hear Me Howling!: Blues, Ballads & Beyond as Recorded by the San Francisco Bay by Chris Strachwitz in the 1960s Arhoolie | Various Artists | [51] | |
| 2013 | Billy Vera | Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles Concord | [52] | ||
| 2014 | Neil Tesser | Afro Blue Impressions (Remastered and Expanded) Pablo/Concord | [53] | ||
| 2015 | Ashley Kahn | Resonance/Impulse | [54] | ||
| 2016 | Joni Mitchell | Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced Rhino | Joni Mitchell | [55] | |
| 2017 | Ken Bloom & Richard Carlin | Sissle and Blake Sing Shuffle Along Harbinger/Musical Theater Project | Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle | [56] [57] | |
| 2018 | Lynell George | Live at the Whisky a Go Go: The Complete Recordings Stax | [58] | ||
| 2019 | David Evans | Dust-to-Digital | Various Artists | [59] | |
| 2020 | Steve Greenberg | Stax '68: A Memphis Story Craft Recordings/Stax/Concord | Various Artists | [60] | |
| 2021 | Bob Mehr | Dead Man's Pop Warner | [61] | ||
| 2022 | Ricky Riccardi | The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions, 1946-1966 Mosaic | Louis Armstrong | [62] | |
| 2023 | Bob Mehr | Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) Rhino | Wilco | ||