Tuesday January 4 2:00 PM ET

Veteran Rocker Santana Leads Grammy Nominations

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Virtuoso rock guitarist Carlos Santana, currently flying high with a huge comeback album, led the field of Grammy Award nominees announced on Tuesday with 10 nominations, organizers said.

Mexican-born Santana, 52, the leader of the Santana band, scored in such key categories as album and record of the year. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Santana has received just one Grammy for his solo work.

Other key contenders this year include R&B trio TLC and classical conductor/composer Pierre Boulez, with six nominations each. Veteran country group Asleep at the Wheel won five nominations, while the group's front man Ray Benson nabbed an additional solo nod, bringing his total to six.

Among those with four nominations each are pop heartthrobs Backstreet Boys, country stalwarts the Dixie Chicks and Emmylou Harris, and R&B stars Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill, last year's big winner with five Grammys.

The 42nd annual Grammy Awards, voted on by 10,000 members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, will be handed out Feb. 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The academy honors works for their artistic merits, but commercial success plays an inevitable role in voters' decisions.

In recent years, Santana's band has been more of a popular touring draw than a hit recording act. However, it scored one of the best comebacks of 1999 when it released ``Supernatural,'' the group's first album of new material in seven years. It has sold about 4.6 million copies in the United States.

``Supernatural'' is competing in the album of the year category with Backstreet Boys' ``Millennium,'' the Dixie Chicks' ''Fly,'' Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall's ``When I Look in Your Eyes,'' and TLC's ``FanMail.'' With the exception of surprise contender Krall, all the albums topped the U.S. charts last year.

In the prestigious record of the year category, Santana's No. 1 single ``Smooth,'' a collaboration with Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas, is vying with Backstreet Boys' ``I Want it That Way,'' veteran pop diva Cher's ``Believe,'' Latino singing sensation Ricky Martin's ``Livin' La Vida Loca'' and TLC's ``No Scrubs.''

Nominees for song of the year, which goes to the songwriter, are ``Smooth,'' ``I Want it That Way,'' ``Livin' La Vida Loca,'' TLC's ``Unpretty'' and Canadian country-pop singer Shania Twain's ``You've Got A Way.''

In the best new artist category, teenage pop stars Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears will battle for the award with R&B singer Macy Gray, rocker Kid Rock and dark horse contender blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi.

URL: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000104/re/leisure_grammys_3.html

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 04, 2000

Answers

sighing winds, crying beasts.....
Amigos para siempre! Pretty good with that Paul Reed Smith, ain't he?

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), January 04, 2000.

Dateline: 1972

Santana as warm-up band for bluesman Elvin Bishop
High point: Santana retakes the stage for impromptu 1 hour jam session with Bishop. To paraphrase Tom Hayden, if you remember it, you weren't there...:-)

Year 2000 Grammy awards---Good luck, Carlos! You deserve it!

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), January 04, 2000.

The new CD is GREAT! He deserves album of the year. Worth every penny...

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), January 04, 2000.