What album won ‘Album of the Year’ at the Grammys in 1971?
1971 was a particularly peculiar year for awards ceremonies.
Coming off the back of the high of the previous decade, straight into the depths of depression with the final album from The Beatles, it was time to shine a light on other artists. But how were the Grammys meant to reflect that?
It is admittedly remiss to pretend that the Fabs were the only worthwhile artists in the aftermath of this period, because they weren’t, but they are often pinpointed as the prime example of the tectonic plates of music shifting around that time. With the 1970s, a new era had well and truly dawned – somewhat moodier, darker, and more reflective than it ever had been before then, because the statues of the sonic stalwarts had suddenly crumbled.
In this sense, the only thing the Grammys could do was honour one of these fallen friends on their last hurrah with the institution’s most coveted prize, ‘Album of the Year’. Of course, the only answer to fit that bill was Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel, the duo’s final album but equally most seismically successful, not least in terms of awards value alone.
As such, Simon and Garfunkel sailed off into the sunset, perhaps not with their creative relationship quite as intact as it once was, but nevertheless with their musical legacies forever set in stone with the power of one seismic album. The Grammys, along with the rest of the world, were perhaps attempting in vain to use the honour as leverage for the duo to put their differences behind them and continue forward together – but those fates were ultimately never meant to be.
What other Grammys did Bridge Over Troubled Water win in 1971?
Indeed, on top of the iconic album’s coveted win for ‘Album of the Year’, its creators took home no less than five awards that very same evening, including both ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’.
The pair’s near-clean sweep was also made all the more impressive by the stiff competition they beat out, including the likes of The Beatles with Let It Be, and a then little-known rising star by the name of Elton John.
That alone tells you the calibre they were having to contend with, but the fact that Simon and Garfunkel still managed to reign supreme was a testament to the sheer masterpiece of a record they had created. If something so majestic still managed to come out of a time when relations were so tense between the pair, imagine what could have happened if they had gone even further. Sure, they might have killed each other, but the music would have been good.
As much as the Grammys’ thinly-veiled attempt at buttering up folk-rock’s most famous feuding friends didn’t end up being worth the fruits of their labour, no one can deny that Bridge Over Troubled Water wasn’t the due winner, given everything it went on to cultivate as one of the most iconic records of all time. Awards may not mean much to some, but in the case of the Grammys in the heady year of 1971, it really was making a statement unlike any other.
