Olivia Wins Grammy Award
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, who is to sing for Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest, has become the first British performer to win a major American musical "Grammy" award. Her song, Let Me Be There, is the first British song by a British performer to win the coveted award as the best country record of 1974.
Grammy awards, announced this week, are the recording world's equivalent of a Hollywood Oscar.
Runconrn Weekly, March 28 1974, UK
Even if Australian charmer Olivia Newton-John doesn't win the Eurovision Song Contest at Brighton with "Long Live Love" (and we hope she will), she'll still have achieved the almost impossible in 1974. Olivia has won the American Grammy (Oscar) award for the Best Country Performance by a female singer, with her recording of "Let Me Be There".
Interesting thing is that the writers of the song have nothing to do with Nashville or the country scene. They are Londoners (formerly from Newcastle on Tyne) Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, of the Shadows.
Sad note is that the record was produced by John Rostill, bassist with the Shadows and later with Tom Jones, who took his life late last year, before the record was such hit.
