Awards / Music

1972 Grammy Award Winners

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 53 years ago March 14, 1972

1972 Grammy Award Winners

Winners Announced: March 14, 1972
Location: Felt Forum, New York City
Host: Andy Williams
Eligibility Year: October 16, 1970 – October 15, 1971

Quick Hits

Table of Contents

Carole King’s Sweep: Carole King won multiple awards for her album “Tapestry,” including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for “You’ve Got a Friend.”
Funky Train Ride: Isaac Hayes took home the Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special for “Shaft.”
Up-and-Comers: The Carpenters won Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus for their hit “Carpenters.”

Noteworthy Tidbits

Jazz Milestone: Bill Evans’ “The Bill Evans Album” nabbed the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Soloist.
Country Roots: Jerry Reed’s “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” clinched the Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.
Harmony in R&B: Aretha Franklin continued her reign as the Queen of Soul by winning Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for “Bridge over Troubled Water.”
Try our 1972 Quiz!

1972 Grammy Winners

Record of the Year:
It’s Too Late – Carole King

Album of the Year:
Tapestry, Carole King (Ode)

Song of the Year:
You’ve Got a Friend – Carole King, songwriter

Best New Artist of the Year:
Carly Simon

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male:
You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female:
Tapestry, Carole King

Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Group:
Carpenters, Carpenters

Best Pop Instrumental Performance:
Smackwater Jack, Quincy Jones

Best Rhythm and Blues Song:
Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers, songwriter

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male:
A Natural Man – Lou Rawls

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female:
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Aretha Franklin

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Group:
Proud Mary – Ike and Tina Turner

Best Jazz Performance By a Soloist:
The Bill Evans Album, Bill Evans

Best Jazz Performance By a Group:
The Bill Evans Album, Bill Evans Trio

Best Jazz Performance By a Big Band:
New Orleans Suite – Duke Ellington

Best Country Song:
Help Me Make It Through the Night – Kris Kristofferson, songwriter

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male:
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot – Jerry Reed

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female:
Help Me Make It Through the Night – Sammi Smith

Best Country Vocal Performance By a Group:
After the Fire Is Gone – Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Best Country Instrumental Performance:
Snowbird – Chet Atkins

Best Gospel Performance (Other Than Soul Gospel):
Let Me Live – Charley Pride

Best Soul Gospel Performance:
Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man From Galilee, Shirley Caesar

Best Sacred Performance:
Did You Think to Pray, Charley Pride

Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording:
They Call Me Muddy Waters, Muddy Waters (Chess)

Best Instrumental Arrangement:
Theme From Shaft – Isaac Hayes and Johnny Allen, arrangers

Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s):
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Paul McCartney, arranger

Best Instrumental Composition:
Theme From Summer of ’42 – Michel Legrand, composer

Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album:
Godspell, Stephen Schwartz, composer and producer (Bell)

Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special:
Shaft, Isaac Hayes, composer

Album of the Year, Classical:
Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz (Columbia)

Best Classical Performance, Orchestra:
Mahler, Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Best Chamber Music Performance:
Debussy, Quartet in G Minor, Ravel, Quartet in F Major, Juilliard Quartet

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With Orchestra):
Villa-Lobos, Concerto for Guitar, Julian Bream; André Previn conducting London Symphony

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (Without Orchestra):
Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz

Best Opera Recording:
Verdi, Aïda, Erich Leinsdorf conducting London Symphony Orchestra; solos: Price, Domingo, Milnes, Bumbry and Raimondi (RCA)

Best Choral Performance, Classical (Other Than Opera):
Berlioz, Requiem, Colin Davis conducting London Symphony Orchestra; Russell Burgess conducting Wandsworth School Boys Choir; Arthur Oldham conducting London Symphony Chorus

Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance:
Leontyne Price Sings Robert Schumann, Leontyne Price

Best Comedy Recording:
This Is a Recording, Lily Tomlin (Polydor)

Best Spoken Word Recording:
Desiderata, Les Crane (Warner Bros.)

Best Recording for Children:
Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs, Bill Cosby (Uni)

Best Album Cover:
Pollution, Dean O. Torrance, album design; Gene Brownell, art director (Prophesy)

Best Album Notes:
Sam, Hard and Heavy, Sam Samudio, annotator (Atlantic)