The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the body responsible for awarding the recording industry equivalent of an Oscar, the Grammy, did not start the awards until the spring of 1959, for recordings made in 1958. Therefore, the earliest work of the early rock ‘n’ roll artists could not have featured. Elvis was no exception to that. He did, however, receive nominations in 1959 for both “A Fool Such As I” and “A Big Hunk of Love”, and then, from 1960 onwards, for recordings such as “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”. But Elvis did not win a Grammy until 1968, for the gospel album “How Great Thou Art,” which was named “Best Sacred Performance” for 1967. Elvis did not attend the ceremony.
Elvis was thrilled when NARAS awarded him the “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 1971. There had only been five previous winners at the time, the first being Bing Crosby. For a time, the award was also known as the Bing Crosby award. The others were Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Irving Berlin. All previous winners were therefore associated with jazz music. Elvis did not receive the award at the ceremony, but Bing Crosby’s nephew and two NARAS representatives presented it to him during his 1971 summer season in Las Vegas.
Elvis’s next success came in 1972, when the gospel album “He Touched Me” won the “Best Inspirational Performance” award.
In 1975, he won the same award again for the performance of “How Great Thou Art”, contained within the 1974 live album, “Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis” from a concert performed at the Mid-South Coliseum. This was just days after his second set of concerts at the Houston Astrodome.
Although early rock ‘n’ roll preceded the Grammy Awards, many of those early rock ‘n’ roll records have been honoured by NARAS in the Grammy Hall of Fame, including Elvis’ with numerous entries for the likes of “That’s All Right”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Hound Dog”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”, “Suspicious Minds”, and more.
