1970 Grammy Award Winners

Winners Announced: March 11, 1970
Televised: “Best On Record” May 7, 1970
Held at: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville & New York
Hosts: Bill Cosby (Los Angeles), Merv Griffin (New York), Regis Philbin (Chicago), Jack Palance (Nashville), Steve Alaimo (Atlanta)
Eligibility Year: November 2, 1968 – November 1, 1969

Musical Highlights and Achievements

Blood, Sweat & Tears Triumph: The self-titled album not only won Album of the Year but also set the bar for future fusion jazz albums.
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In Shines: This 5th Dimension track took home Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus.
Joe South’s Double Play: South won Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song for his anti-war anthem Games People Play.

Trivia and Fascinating Tidbits

Multiple Cities, Multiple Hosts: For the first time, the Grammys were hosted in five different cities, each with their own unique host.
Johnny Cash’s Unique Win: Cash snagged Best Country Vocal Performance for A Boy Named Sue, a live recording from his San Quentin prison concert.
Take our 1970 Quiz!

1970 Grammy Winners

Record of the Year:
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – 5th Dimension

Album of the Year:
Blood, Sweat and Tears, Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia)

Song of the Year:
Games People Play – Joe South, songwriter

Best New Artist of 1969:
Crosby, Stills and Nash

Best Contemporary Song:
Games People Play – Joe South, songwriter

Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male:
Everybody’s Talkin’ – Harry Nilsson

Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female:
Is That All There Is – Peggy Lee

Best Contemporary Vocal Performance By a Group:
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – 5th Dimension

Best Contemporary Performance By a Chorus:
Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet – Percy Faith Orchestra and Chorus

Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance:
Variations on a Theme by Eric Satie – Blood, Sweat and Tears

Best Rhythm and Blues Song:
Color Him Father – Richard Spencer, songwriter

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male:
The Chokin’ Kind – Joe Simon

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female:
Share Your Love With Me – Aretha Franklin

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo:
It’s Your Thing – Isley Brothers

Best Rhythm and Blues Instrumental Performance:
Games People Play – King Curtis

Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Small Group or Soloist With Small Group:
Willow Weep for Me, Wes Montgomery

Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group or Soloist With Large Group:
Walking in Space – Quincy Jones

Best Country Song:
A Boy Named Sue – Shel Silverstein, songwriter

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male:
A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female:
Stand by Your Man, Tammy Wynette

Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group:
MacArthur Park – Waylon Jennings and the Kimberlys

Best Country Instrumental Performance:
The Nashville Brass Featuring Danny Davis Play More Nashville Sounds, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass

Best Gospel Performance:
In Gospel Country – Porter Wagoner and the Blackwood Brothers

Best Soul Gospel Performance:
Oh Happy Day, Edwin Hawkins Singers

Best Sacred Performance:
Ain’t That Beautiful Singing – Jake Hess

Best Folk Performance:
Clouds, Joni Mitchell

Best Instrumental Arrangement:
Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet – Henry Mancini, arranger

Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s):
Spinning Wheel – Fred Lipsius, arranger

Best Instrumental Theme:
Midnight Cowboy, John Barry, composer

Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album:
Promises, Promises, Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis, composers (Liberty)

Best Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Burt Bacharach, composer

Album of the Year, Classical:
Switched-On Bach, Walter Carlos (Columbia)

Best Classical Performance, Orchestra:
Boulez Conducts Debussy, Vol. 2 Images Pour Orchestre – Pierre Boulez conducting Cleveland Orchestra

Best Chamber Music Performance:
Gabrieli, Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli (Canzoni for Brass Choirs), the Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago Brass ensembles

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With or Without Orchestra):
Switched-On Bach, Walter Carlos

Best Opera Recording:
Wagner, Siegfried, Herbert von Karajan conducting Berlin Philharmonic; solos: Thomas, Stewart, Stolze, Dernesch, Keleman, Dominguez, Gayer and Ridderbusch (Deutsche Grammophon)

Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera):
Berio, Sinfonia, Swingle Singers; Ward Swingle, choral master; Luciano Berio conducting New York Philharmonic

Best Vocal Soloist Performance, Classical:
Barber, Two Scenes From Antony and Cleopatra ; Knoxville, Summer of 1915, Leontyne Price; Thomas Schippers conducting New Philharmonia

Best Comedy Recording:
Bill Cosby, Bill Cosby (Uni)

Best Spoken Word Recording:
We Love You, Call Collect, Art Linkletter and Diane (Word/Capitol)

Best Recording for Children:
Peter, Paul and Mommy, Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Best Album Cover:
America the Beautiful, Evelyn J. Kelbish, painting; David Stahlberg, graphics (Skye)

Best Album Notes:
Nashville Skyline, Johnny Cash, annotator (Columbia)