Way out of tune

To see how the Grammys historically award commercialism over artistic achievement, ponder these examples:

• Country icon Hank Williams won only one Grammy, for a ghastly posthumous, pieced- together single with son Hank Williams Jr. in 1989. In contrast, country-pop pin-up Shania Twain has won five.

• Jazz saxophone innovator John Coltrane also won only a single Grammy, again posthumously. Contemporary "smooth jazz" sax stylist David Sanborn has won six.

• The Rolling Stones didn't win their two Grammys until 1994. Hard-rock kingpin Metallica has chalked up seven.

• Blues-rock innovator John Mayall, the artist who introduced the world to Eric Clapton, has yet to win a Grammy. Clapton's accumulated Grammy total: 16.

• This year, three veteran acts will receive lifetime achievement Grammys for careers that have been essentially ignored by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Among them: David Bowie (one Grammy), Merle Haggard (two Grammys) and Cream (another Clapton affiliate that hasn't won any).

• Among other major artists shunned by the Academy: Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell, The Police, Grateful Dead, ZZ Top, The Pretenders, Jefferson Airplane, Wilson Pickett, Bo Diddley, The Four Tops and Jelly Roll Morton. The number of lesser-known but equally valued names is almost incalculable.

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