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O.C. Smith
A lot of pretty forgettable stuff got Grammy love in the ‘60s, as the Recording Academy spent most of the decade ignoring the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and honoring artists like Herb Alpert and Andy Williams instead. But their 1969 decision to award Song of the Year to one-hit wonder O.C. Smith—for his version of a sentimental country tune called “Little Green Apples”—seemed especially egregious, given that among that year’s other nominees were Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Smith went on to…well, nothing much, really; while the song’s composer, Bobby Russell, would eventually have a more memorable hit with “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” written for his wife, Vicki Lawrence.
