Names and faces

Neil Young is still rockin’ in the free world. The 68-year-old musician was celebrated Tuesday night by the producers and engineers wing of the Recording Academy. Young received his award on stage during the group’s seventh annual Grammy week celebration at The Village, a historic Los Angeles recording studio that’s hosted the likes of the Beach Boys, Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Elton John.The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honored Young for his artistic creativity, philanthropic efforts and sonic integrity for a career that’s spanned more than four decades, including his time with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Young and his band Crazy Horse’s recent album Psychedelic Pill is up for best rock album at Sunday’s Grammys against Black Sabbath’s 13, David Bowie’s The Next Day, Kings of Leon’s Mechanical Bull, Led Zeppelin’s Celebration Day and Queens of The Stone Age’s … Like Clockwork. The show will be broadcast live on CBS.

Wish Bruno Mars would write you a hit song? Keep dreaming. The singer-songwriter-producer, who has penned hits like CeeLo Green’s “Forget You!” and B.o.B’s “Nothin’ on You,” says he’s not interested in churning out tracks for other artists like he’s done in the past. “There’s a piece of me that’s no longer there - which has basically let me write a song and then sell it,” Mars said in a recent interview. “That was back in the day when I was struggling and hustling to pay rent. I was selling songs for 250 bucks … but now that I’m OK, I shouldn’t treat it like a sport.” The 28-year-old, who is one-third of the production trio The Smeezingtons, has produced for Alicia Keys, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne and Flo Rida. Mars said he now wants to collaborate organically with others - much like on his latest album, Unorthodox Jukebox, which is nominated for four honors at Sunday’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. His sophomore effort, released in late 2012, features Mark Ronson, Jeff Bhasker, Diplo and Paul Epworth. The album’s lead single and No. 1 hit, “Locked Out of Heaven,” is nominated for song and record of the year. He said the upbeat jam took “months and months” to create.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 01/23/2014

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