Tie Mark

Bee Gees Win 5 Grammys

By Robert Hilburn, Times Staff Writer

From The Times: Feb. 16, 1979

The Bee Gees won five Grammy awards Thursday night at the Shrine Auditorium but two key victories by Billy Joel kept the trio from accomplishing the biggest sweep in the 21-year history of the record industry competition.

The Bee Gees picked up two Grammys for their contributions to the high-stepping, disco-flavored "Saturday Night Fever," which was named the best album of 1978 by the 5,000 members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

The pop trio — Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb — also were honored as best producers, vocal group and vocal arrangers.

Only three other pop record makers have won five Grammys in one year. They are Henry Mancini, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, who achieved the feat three times.

The Bee Gees' hope of setting a new mark was derailed when Joel's "Just the Way You Are" was judged best single record and best song of the year.

However, an elated Barry Gibb wasn't complaining after the nationally televised ceremony.

"It's just great — unbelievable. We're the happiest three brothers in the world," he said.

The Bee Gees, the most dominant commercial force in pop music since the arrival of the Beatles in 1964, were the crowd favorites at the Shrine. Each mention of the group' s name drew whoops of delight and shrieks from those sections of the balcony set aside for the general public.

The only other spark in the otherwise sedate evening was comedian Steve Martin, who came on camera wearing only a tuxedo jacket and boxer shorts. He won the best comedy album award for the second straight year.

Noting that the LP "A Wild and Crazy Guy" had been rejected by some commercial stores because it contained four-letter-words, he quipped to reporters:

"This is the pattern of my life. To win a Grammy for an album that was banned by K-Mart."

The best album award to "Saturday Night Fever" — the best-selling album in history — set two new records. Not only was "Fever" the first film soundtrack to win a best LP, but it will cause the academy to hand out the most individual statuettes.

Under Grammy rules, statuettes are given both to the artist and producer in the best-album category. Because "Fever" was a compilation work featuring 10 different acts, statuettes will have to be given to at least 34 musicians and 16 producers.

"We may have to take up a special collection just to pay for all of them," an academy official wisecracked.

Barry Manilow was declared best male pop singer of 1978, while Anne Murray was judged top female vocalist.

Donna Summer and George Benson captured the rhythm-and-blues vocal awards, while Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton were named top country singers.

In the jazz competition, Al Jarreau was named best vocalist and Oscar Peterson best solo instrumentalist. Both awards represented victories for the second consecutive year.

The disco-soul group A Taste of Honey was named the year's best new artists.

Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" was named best spoken-word recording, edging out former President Richard Nixon, also a contender, for his television interview with David Frost.

"Ain't Misbehavin'" was honored as the best cast show album.

Carlo Maria Giulini, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Itzhak Perlman were honored for the best classical album, "Brahms: Concerto for Violin in D Major." The album was recorded with the Chicago Symphony.