Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song

In 1961, Ray Charles received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song for his song Georgia on My Mind .

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song , in German "Grammy award for the best contemporary song", is a music prize that was awarded from 1960 to 1971 by the American Recording Academy in the field of pop music . The award went to the interpreter of the song.

History and background

Since 1959, the Grammy Awards are presented annually in numerous categories by the Recording Academy in the United States to recognize artistic achievement, technical competence, and overall excellence regardless of album sales or chart position.

One of these categories is the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song . The award was given from 1960 to 1971 and has had a few minor name changes since it was first presented:

• In 1960 the prize was called the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a "Top 40" Artist
• In 1961 he called himself the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Pop Single Artist
• From 1962 to 1965, he was named Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording award
• In 1966 it was called the Grammy Award for Contemporary (R&R) Single
• In 1967 the name was Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Recording
• In 1968 it was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Single
• From 1970 to 1971 the award was finally called the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song.

Winners and nominees

year	winner	nationality	song	Nominees	Picture of the winner (s)
1960	Nat King Cole	United States	Midnight Flyer	Elvis Presley - A Big Hunk o 'Love The Coasters - Charlie Brown Floyd Robinson - Makin 'Love Neil Sedaka - The Diary
1961	Ray Charles	United States	Georgia on My Mind	Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight? Frank Sinatra - Nice 'N' Easy Peggy Lee - Heart
1962	Chubby checker	United States	Let's twist again	Chris Kenner - I Like It Like That Ike & Tina Turner - It's Gonna Work Out Fine James Darren - Goodbye Cruel World The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
1963	Bent fabric	Denmark	Alley Cat	Mary Wells - You Beat Me to the Punch Neil Sedaka - Breaking Up Is Hard to Do Sam Cooke - Twistin 'the Night Away The Drifters - Up on the Roof The Four Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry
1964	April Stevens and Nino Tempo	United States	Deep Purple	Chet Atkins - Teen Scene Lesley Gore - It's My Party Peggy March - I Will Follow Him Ruby & the Romantics - Our Day Will Come
1965	Petula Clark	United Kingdom	Downtown	Bobby Vinton - Mr. Lonely Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin'
1966	Roger Miller	United States	King of the Road	Glenn Yarbrough - Baby the Rain Must Fall Jackie DeShannon - What the World Needs Now Is Love The Beatles - Yesterday Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
1967	New Vaudeville Band	United Kingdom	Winchester Cathedral	The Association - Cherish The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby The Mamas & the Papas - Monday, Monday The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville
1968	The 5th dimension	United States	Up, up and away	Bobbie Gentry and Kelly Gordon (producers) - Ode to Billie Joe Glen Campbell and Al De Lory (Producers) - By the Time I Get to Phoenix Petula Clark and Tony Hatch (producers) - Don't Sleep in the Subway Ray Charles and Joe Adams (producers) - Yesterday
1969	No presentation of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song this year
1970	Joe South	United States	Games People Play	David Clayton-Thomas - Spinning Wheel ( Blood, Sweat & Tears ) Hal David and Burt Bacharach - Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head ( BJ Thomas ) Mac Davis - In the Ghetto ( Elvis Presley ) Rod McKuen - Jean ( Oliver )
1971	Simon & Garfunkel	United States	Bridge over Troubled Water	James Taylor - Fire and Rain John Lennon and Paul McCartney - Let It Be ( The Beatles ) Paul Williams and Roger Nichols - We've Only Just Begun ( The Carpenters ) Ray Stevens - Everything Is Beautiful

Web links

• Official website of the Grammy Awards - Recording Academy, Los Angeles (English)
• Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song at grammy.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Grammy Awards. Retrieved May 2, 2019 . 
2. ^ The Official Site of the Grammy Awards - Overview. Retrieved May 2, 2019 . 
3. ^ Winners Other Pop / Rock & Roll / Contemporary Awards or Instrumental. Retrieved May 2, 2019 .