Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250256
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
SLOWHAND'S SWEET NIGHT
Eric Clapton, virtually ignored by Grammy voters for much of his career, triumphed at the 35th annual Grammy Awards with six honors Wednesday, including record and song of the year for "Tears in Heaven" and album of the year for "Unplugged."Clapton's acclaimed "Tears in Heaven," through which he dealt with the accidental death of his 4-year-old son, Conor, also won best male pop vocal performance. Conor died in a fall from a 53rd-floor apartment window in New York City in March 1991.
"I just feel incredibly guilty. I don't know why. I feel so guilty about taking so many of these," Clapton said. "I'm very moved and very shaky and very emotional.
"And I want to thank a lot of people; but the one person I want to thank is my son, for the love he gave me and the song he gave me."
Clapton shared the record of the year Grammy with "Tears" co-writer Will Jennings.
Another big winner was the music from the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast," which claimed four Grammys at the Shrine Auditorium ceremony, televised nationally by CBS.
Despite being one of rock's premier guitarists since the '60s, Clapton had only won two previous Grammys, in 1972 and 1990.
"I was convinced that this wasn't worth releasing," the typically self-effacing guitarist-singer said of "Unplugged," which was produced from a recording for the MTV acoustic performance series.
"Unplugged" also won the male rock vocal performance Grammy, while a stripped-down version of his classic "Layla" earned best rock song honors for Clapton and co-writer Jim Gordon.
"I'll go out on a limb and say if you're up against Eric Clapton in any other categories, I'd go home now," master of ceremonies Garry Shandling joked about halfway through the show. Clapton was nominated for nine awards.
James Brown, the godfather of soul, took the suspense out of Clapton's pop vocal performance victory by inadvertently ripping open the envelope and reading "Tears in Heaven" before the other nominees were announced.
The single "Beauty and the Beast" was honored as best pop vocal performance by a duo or group. The trophy went to the duet of Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson in the nontelevised part of the awards ceremony.
"It's a dream come true," said Dion.
Arrested Development won the best new artist award and best rap performance by a duo or group for the single "Tennessee."
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were awarded the best hard rock performance Grammy for "Give It Away," even though group member Flea insisted backstage that the single is not a hard rock tune.
"`Give It Away' without a doubt is a folk song," Flea said.
"Constant Craving," by k.d. lang, was the best female pop vocal performance, and "End of the Road" brought the best rhythm and blues group performance trophy to Boyz II Men.
Vince Gill won the male country vocal performance Grammy for the album "I Still Believe in You" and, with co-writer John Barlow Jarvis, received the best country song award for the album's title track. Both victories bested the wildly successful Billy Ray Cyrus hit, "Achy Breaky Heart."
Branford Marsalis claimed the jazz instrumental performance award for the album "I Heard You Twice the First Time."
In a sentimental victory, Tony Bennett won traditional pop vocal performance for the album "Perfectly Frank," his tribute to Frank Sinatra.
The Irish rock group U2 won the Grammy for vocal rock performance by a duo or group for the album "Achtung Baby."
Other rock winners were Melissa Etheridge for female rock vocal with "Ain't It Heavy" and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan for rock instrumental performance for "Little Wing." Vaughan also won the contemporary blues album trophy for "The Sky is Crying."
Mary-Chapin Carpenter won female country vocal performance for "I Feel Lucky" and Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers won country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
The top country vocal collaboration was "The Whiskey Ain't Workin"' by Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart.
Michael Jackson, recipient of a dozen Grammys during his career, was presented the special Grammy Legend award by his sister, Janet.