This pretty much sums up my appreciation (or lack thereof) for the 2014 edition of the Grammy Awards. Admittedly I lack sufficient appreciation for hip hop or rap but some of the performances just did not move me except to cringe at the vulgarity. Speaking of vulgarity. Now, I know that our values are somewhat antiquated here in the Bible Belt but I consider myself to be somewhat unencumbered by prudish sensibilities but the opening number with Beyonce and JayZ had to be regarded as nearing soft porn. Everyone seemed to be quite enthused about it but Al Roker is the only one I heard complain that it was shown before the kiddie witching hour of 9 PM.
I continue to wonder about the strange musical pairings such as Chicago and Robin Thicke. Or Metallica and that classical piano guy. What was that all about anyway? I was pleased at the win for Kasey Musgrave even if she took on topics unfamiliar to country music audiences. She was a fresh face for upcoming country artists and she may be able to take country music somewhere beyond beer, tight jeans and trucks.
Speaking of country music. I admire Blake Shelton (and I'm going to think it was his idea) to bring on the old guys (Willie, Kris and Merle) even though not a one of them can sing a lick any more. I had been of the opinion that Willie shortchanged us at the festival but now I think he probably gave us the best he's got. It was kind of embarrassing for country music fans to see such a performance for their genre even though many hold those old guys in reverence. I do want to say right here that Keith Urban and Gary Clarke, Jr. are guitar wizards.
Daft Punk seemed to be the rage but they did not do anything that would showcase their particular brand of music. I think they do some kind of electronica but who would know since their only performances were with rappers. It told me a lot when it was revealed that an ancient and dried out Paul Williams served as writer and producer on "Random Access Memories. I thought Pink's performance was pretty awesome if only for the fact that that girl has to be in tremendous shape to pull off the aerobatics she did. I couldn't do those things lying on the floor.
Then Jared Leto honored Lou Reed, who died a few months ago, by misquoting (misreading?) the lyrics from "Take a Walk on the Wild Side." Maybe should have turned down that last doobie until after his gig. Lou was a giant and deserved more than the honorable mention he got.
It was good to see Sir Paul and Ringo on the stage together and Yoko and Sean acutally showed a little emotion and boogied a bit. I don't see Daft Punk or Beyonce doing their thing at 70. I had heard of Lorde at some point but paid little attention until her performance. I began by thinking that perhaps she was epilleptic but then settled on the notion that perhaps Joe Cocker was somewhere in her ancestry. After listening to the song a few times I decided that , all in all, it is a pretty nice song. However, it is strange to me that she could take home the grammy over Sarah Bareilles. And Ms. Bareilles and Carol King did a wonderful duet featurning their own music which I did appreciate.
I agree with most critics of the show that say the best was probably saved for last with Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails and Lindsay Buckingham (yes, THAT Lindsay Buckingham. They were rocking us into the night when the credits began to roll. Over top of their performance.
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