It all seems clearer in hindsight

Far from the star-studded affair it is today, the Grammy Awards started out modestly 44 years ago -- with just 525 industry insiders attending a dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the only entertainment was a spoof on “South Pacific” titled “How South Was My Pacific.”

But one thing was obvious from the start: the Grammy voters’ suspicion of any artist who veered too far from the adult pop mainstream, which in 1959 meant anyone involved in rock ‘n’ roll, country and R&B.;

Nothing demonstrates the shortsightedness of the Grammy voters over the years as much as the names on the national recording academy’s own list of Lifetime Achievement Award winners. Almost two dozen of the award recipients were active in those three fields at the time of the first Grammys, but none was nominated in the best album or best single record category.

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Real and Ideal Picks for Best Record, 1958

(Eligibility period: 1958 releases)

Perry Como: “Catch a Falling Star”

Peggy Lee: “Fever”

Domenico Modugno: “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)” (the winner)

David Seville: “The Chipmunk Song”

Frank Sinatra: “Witchcraft”

If the Grammy voters had been more open to the emerging sounds in pop, the nomination list might have also included some of these 1958 releases by Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners:

Chuck Berry: “Johnny B. Goode”

Buddy Holly: “Rave On”

Jerry Lee Lewis: “Breathless”

Little Richard: “Good Golly, Miss Molly”

Elvis Presley: “One Night”

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Real and Ideal Picks for Best Record, 1966

(Eligibility period: Nov. 2, 1965 to Nov. 1, 1966):

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: “What Now My Love”

David Houston: “Almost Persuaded”

The Mamas & the Papas: “Monday, Monday”

New Vaudeville Band: “Winchester Cathedral”

Frank Sinatra: “Strangers in the Night” (the winner)

If the Grammys recognized the artistry that year that they recognized years later with Lifetime Achievement Awards, the voters would have greatly improved the quality of the 1966 best record entries:

The Beach Boys: “California Girls”

The Beatles: “Eleanor Rigby”

James Brown: “I Got You (I Feel Good)”

Bob Dylan: “Like a Rolling Stone”

Stevie Wonder: “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”

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Real and Ideal Picks for Best New Artist, 2003

Moving forward, the recording academy has made commendable progress in recognizing accomplishment by bold rock and hip-hop artists, but usually only after these artists have become bestsellers. This year’s best new artist nominees show how negligent the voters were this year in saluting some in the most vital group of rock newcomers in years.

The actual nominees:

Ashanti

Michelle Branch

Norah Jones

Avril Lavigne

John Mayer

Ten years from now, voters will be pleased with the Jones nomination and maybe Lavigne, but the odds are they will wish they had found room on the list for at least some of these other young forces:

Badly Drawn Boy

Queens of the Stone Age

The Strokes

The Vines

The White Stripes

Time will tell.