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Bam Magazine's l999 California Music Awards 22nd Annual Bammies Bill Graham Civic Auditorium - March l3, l999

Newly expanded as the California Music Awards, but still called the Bammies, the rock 'n' roll gala took place Saturday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. As always an eclectic and exciting roster of participants performed at the annual celebration of California Music Awards. Metallica, Chris Isaak, Dr. Dre, Bonnie Raitt, Thomas Dolby Robertson, Tony Toni Tone, Cheech Marin, E 40, Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, The Donnas, Paul Kantner, Brian Copeland, Money B, Primus with special guests, Joan Baez, Meat Beat Manifesto, Clinton Jackson, Dave Ellis, Kelly Rutherford from "Melrose Place," Tangi Miller from "Felicity", and Catt Sadler of WB TV20 News.

......This year's Bammies spanned the generations; everyone from Joan Baez to Mix Master Mike was in the house as artists from all over the Golden State waited to see who would take home the gold microphone. Chris Isaak wore a dazzling suit of mirrors, Way-out guitarist Buckethead wore a Kentucky Fried Chicken tub. For the second year San Francisco's Third Eye Blind dominated, taking home awards for outstanding group, outstanding single (``Jumper'') and Stephan Jenkins' night- capping artist of the year honor. Another Bammie fixture, the hard rock band Metallica, won two trophies. Bonnie Raitt was honored with a public service award, and Los Angeles rappers Dr. Dre and Ice Cube shared the Bill Graham lifetime achievement award.

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.....Saturday's show attracted music fans of all shapes and sizes. Throughout the night, autograph- seeking urchins descended on the main- floor banquet tables, hoping for glimpses of Jenkins, the members of Rancid, or Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and James Hetfield of Metallica rare appearance. Joan Baez presented Raitt with the 1999 Arthur M. Sohcot award for public service. Baez sang a skyscraping snippet of ``Do Right Woman While the presenters included plenty of women, from the youthful punk group the Donnas to ``Melrose Place's'' Kelly Rutherford. The Long Beach Dub All-Stars played bloated punky reggae; Beastie Boys associate Mix Master Mike, introduced as ``the Jimi Hendrix of the turntable,'' showed off his bewildering DJ maneuvers; Grant Lee Phillips sang a lovely solo version of his band's hit ``Truly, Truly'' while wearing a goofy leopard-skin bomber hat. Primus did its spastic power-trio act, with guest guitarist Buckethead offering an added ``attraction,'' a robotic majorette routine. High-rolling rapper E-40 surrounded himself with an entourage of microphone sidekicks.

....... Some of pop's biggest female names were not present to accept their awards. Alanis Morissette, who won for outstanding female vocalist, extended her thanks in a bizarre video clip. Courtney Love, whose group Hole won outstanding album for ``Celebrity Skin,'' appeared low keyed in her acceptance video. ``This record has a lot to do with this great state we live in and were born in,'' she said,. To the Bammies' credit, most of the winners actually made it to the podium: Rancid, Cake, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, saxophonist Dave Ellis. Accepting the lifetime achievement award on behalf of co-winner Ice Cube, Dr. Dre joked, ``I didn't know you could get an award like this at the age of 18.'' (Actually, he's 34.) As usual, the night-closing jam was a peculiar mishmash. Grateful Dead fans may not have another chance to see Bob Weir searching for musical space between two hip- hop turntablists. Centered on the members of the Long Beach Dub All-Stars -- successor to the late Bradley Nowell's Sublime -- the jam segued from the Dead's ``Scarlet Begonias'' to Sublime's ``Summertime.'' For a brief moment it wavered near inspiration, then disintegrated. That's the beauty of the Bammies the talent old and new giving us the music the way it is. Stay tune for next year.

By Randy Cohen

CALIFORNIA MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS

OUTSTANDING ALBUM: ``Celebrity Skin,'' Hole OUTSTANDING SINGLE: ``Jumper,'' Third Eye Blind OUTSTANDING DEBUT ALBUM: ``Eve 6,'' Eve 6 OUTSTANDING ROCK/POP ALBUM: ``Prolonging the Magic,'' Cake OUTSTANDING HARD ROCK ALBUM: ``Re-Load,'' Metallica OUTSTANDING PUNK/SKA ALBUM: ``Life Won't Wait,'' Rancid OUTSTANDING HIP-HOP/RAP ALBUM: ``Cypress Hill IV,'' Cypress Hill OUTSTANDING R&B ALBUM: ``Never S-A-Y Never,'' Brandy OUTSTANDING SWING ALBUM: ``Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,'' Big Bad Voodoo Daddy OUTSTANDING ELECTRONIC ALBUM: ``Actual Sounds and Voices,'' Meat Beat Manifesto OUTSTANDING GROUP: Third Eye Blind OUTSTANDING BLUES ALBUM: ``Best of Friends,'' John Lee Hooker OUTSTANDING JAZZ ALBUM: ``In the Long Run,'' Dave Ellis OUTSTANDING FEMALE VOCALIST: Alanis Morissette OUTSTANDING MALE VOCALIST: Chris Isaak OUTSTANDING GUITARIST: Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine OUTSTANDING BASSIST: Les Claypool, Primus OUTSTANDING DRUMMER: Lars Ulrich, Metallica OUTSTANDING ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind

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