COUNTRY

Voters didn’t find the right recipient in every country category, but by and large they found honorable ones.

The notable exception was the best song award to Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas’ saccharine “Butterfly Kisses,” 1997’s answer to “Old Shep.”

That schmaltz vote, however, was balanced by the best album award for Johnny Cash’s raw, soul-searching “Unchained.”

Grammy voters got the better version of “How Do I Live” in choosing Trisha Yearwood’s over LeAnn Rimes’ showier version for female vocal. It’s too bad a wry slice of life like Deana Carter’s “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” doesn’t stand a chance against a big-production ballad, no matter how much more skillful the actual singing is.

By giving ever-reliable Vince Gill his sixth male vocal Grammy of the ‘90s for “Pretty Little Adriana,” voters slighted more compelling performances by veterans Cash and Willie Nelson.

The academy’s love affair with bluegrass singer and fiddler Alison Krauss came through stronger than ever with three Grammys for her and her Union Station band: group vocal, instrumental and bluegrass album.