Taylor Swift Should've Had More Banjo on Saturday Night Live
How can you have a modern-day, countried-up Romeo and Juliet story without a banjo? I have come to love Taylor Swift's "Love Story" because of all the plucky banjo. But on her Saturday Night Live appearance over the weekend, her outstanding banjo player (Ben Clark) was playing acoustic guitar. And her fiddle player was barely fiddling. Just some bouncy spiccato bowing and a few seconds of barely audible playing. It was the same thing on her second song of the night, "Forever and Always." Swift herself sounded fabulous, and so did the band. But without enough fiddle and banjo, the happy little love song got a little lost behind all those guitars and all the percussion. What was missing, for me, was the country sound (albeit a pop-leaning one) I've come to expect from Swift. I just hope she won't forsake that sound for good.
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Chris N. says:
Makes a pretty swell Lil’ Orphan Annie, though.
Rick says:
Considering the SNL audience demographic, Taylor should have taken the whole “pop remix” approach to her live songs. I would have considered watching if Taylor had asked either Colbie Caillat or Katy Perry to join her for duets. Oh well…
MiaT says:
I noticed the same thing. I was kinda disappointed. But then again it is SNL. A whole difference audience. It’s still great to see her.
Swift Night Live says:
I agree. If unchanged Taylor country/pop/rock music is too country for SNL then heaven help SNL! It’s hard to believe she’s just the 4th country artist ever to perform on the show. SNL needs more country/pop/rock artists like Kellie Pickler performing at least once a month!
Big AJ fan says:
I guess she shouldn’t have been hyped as “country”.
She apparently didn’t even try to pretend.
dan says:
swift night live haha like the play on saturday night live are u new or just a new username i didnt see snl so i cant say but swift nl is proably right
Jarod says:
Why does country need to change to for it to be popular or more appealing? How about SNL or any other entities like CMT for that matter keeping country country??
Irene says:
WHO CARES?? Another change for more publicity for ts!! Thats all it was!!! And she was aweful!!!
IlikewhatIlike says:
Universal has said they want her to be a international pop star. They concider her more Mily Cyrus and Avril Lavigne. On SNL you could see that they are right and if that is who she claims to be, then she did fine because they are all about that bad. But for a country singer, it was embarrassing.
Madison says:
sadly she has gone pop. She remixes all her songs to pop and they get shipped to pop radio. Then for a slap in the face for the country industry she chooses to do the more pop arrangments of the songs during her live appearences. Not that the “country” version of love story was even COUNTRY anyway…
And how can you say she sounded fabulous? her vocal performances are always enough to make you cover your ears and run away. She has no vocal talent whatsoever.
Melissa says:
I thought she did wonderful, regardless of the missing banjo. But it definitely would’ve been nice to hear the original version of the song. I loved her performance of Forever & Always thought. It was great!
mike says:
you’re so right, Alison! Maybe you can tell her about it next time when you have an interview with her. It’s the banjo and fiddle that make her music special and appealing. Without those elements, it is just the same like any other pop stars out there. and it’s kinda ironic that she considers herself a country star but sang the pop version….
jjh says:
It is a sad day in country music when someone representing country can not sing, remixes songs routinely and plays that version when opportunity to show her country roots. This is a “pop princess” all the way and should be label as such and off my country radio. Good luck with her acting endeavor.
RedMaZ says:
Pop music is not an induvidual genre. Pop music is an industry that includes many genres. Swift is representing about 10% of todays overall music scene. It’s not that big of deal. If she was representing the other 90% of todays country music…she wouldn’t be on SNL. SNL is part of Mainstream Pop Culture, so is Swift. She may represent Pop country music, but that’s all. The days of “country is country” are over. A banjo or fiddle isn’t going to change that. The sooner you realize that, the better, and the wiser you all will be.
Steve says:
Carrie Underwood has been on SNL twice, and didn’t have to remix her songs at all.
If you have to do a pop remix to an already pop-country song, you’re in the wrong genre.
Livewire says:
I distinctly remember the Dixie Chicks performing Sin Wagon and Travelin Soldier, and they did it in orginal mix and they sounded fabulous and they did get invited by SNL, so I dont think the use of banjo’s or fiddles really matter for the audience demographic. As someone stated above. jmo
RedMaZ says:
Travelin’ Soldier is a great Bruce Robison song. Have you heard the original version by him?
Joe says:
I’ve been a defender of Taylor’s musical endeavors, particularly of her Crossroads pairing with the Def Leppard guys. I defended that because it worked well in the *context* of what Crossroads was all about - not to mention that I thought it was done quite well.
I do have to admit that Taylor’s SNL performance left me a bit disappointed however. Oh, she and her band looked great, but I have to agree, the no banjo, and downplayed fiddle pop-remix was a bit disappointing.
Still though, as Taylor said in one of the interview segments on the Crossroads showing, she was heavily influenced by Mutt Lange’s production of Shania Twain’s stuff, so it come as no surprise to me that Taylor may be borrowing a page out of Shania & Mutt’s playbook. Everyone knows Mutt did remixes of Shania’s stuff for various radio markets, some being country, others being more ‘pop’.
While I don’t particularly mind artists having a style that crosses over between musical styles/genres (Shakira is a master at this), I do think that when they do this sort of thing, its generally not a good idea to totally *gut* your material when doing this, and you really do have to be very strong *vocally* when attempting it, and frankly Taylor is not that strong (in a diverse sense) to pull off this sort of crossover.
Michael says:
Taylor Swift is going pop, what a shame, it will be her downfall in the long run. She will be popular for some time to come, but will she become a true country queen like Loretta, Dolly or Reba- I don’t see this happening at all! Little girls are buying her stuff now, just like every female pop singer goes thru. She will be hot for a little while then by her not sticking to country, she will be lost in a few more years and a new pretty face will come into the scene. Let’s face it the girl really can not sing! She is hot, but does not have the talent to stay around for years to come. NEXT PLEASE!
guess? says:
She needs to go pop. She will NEVER hold up against the female singers in country music. Like michael say the little girls will get tired of her and move on!
bkb says:
my comments are longer on this blog. what process happens when this happens? i only spoke the truth, guess the truth hurts.
Amy says:
She did a very good job on SNL. I’m sure it was the heads at SNL that didn’t allow her to be too country. She also made a fine actress. Looking forward to watching her guest on CSI.
Just My Opinion says:
Oh please Amy–The Heads at SNL did not keep her from being Country–try again.
Livewire says:
Redmaz,
No I havent heard the original version,
were can I find it? :) thanks in advance.
John C says:
It seemed painfully obvious that the SNL sound guys screwed up the mix on both songs. None of the levels were right on the bands’ instruments, so it hung Taylor out to dry–trying to whip up drama on songs with no backing. Almost like an a capella performance. This happens all the time on these shows (and on Letterman and Leno, etc.) and I can’t figure out why the guy at the mixer can’t get his act together. As to whether she’s “going pop”: this woman is clearly eager to break out of an exclusively country pigeonhole, and I say Good for her. Her talent, as a songwriter, is big enough. she might want to trim down the empty theatrics a bit, though. Falling to her knees, etc. Even Hendrix began to realize that too much of that can be a liability. But has anyone else noticed that she’s quite an attractive young lady?
jordan says:
i love love story.
Swift Night Live says:
Here’s a list of all country artists who performed on SNL:
1977 Willie Nelson
1989 Dolly Parton (hosted and performed)
1993 Willie Nelson
2002 Faith Hill
2003 Dixie Chicks
2007 Carrie Underwood
2008 Carrie Underwood
2009 Taylor Swift
So that makes Taylor just the 6th in 34 years and 649 episodes or 1 every 5.6 years! SNL is a mainstream show and country music has been mainstream for years, so it’s strange that they don’t have more country artists perform each year. Surely more than a few SNL viewers listen to country music, and more country fans would watch SNL if the show had country performers more often. I know I would and I try to catch every show with a country artist performing. When Carrie was on SNL I would not have missed it for the world and would do the same if they have Kellie Pickler perform. I can imagine the people at SNL thinking pure or traditional country artists are “too country” for SNL viewers, however there are many great country/pop/rock artists and most are better than many of the pop, rock, and rap perfomers SNL has had on. For starters, Kellie Pickler would be the best to host and perform like Dolly did and she would be hilarious in skits like the ones she did for the Tonight Show in NYC and at the MTV Movie Awards. I’m surprised SNL hasn’t already called her to host and perform.
Tenn says:
People are harsh on Taylor because it certainly is amazing that she has made it to SNL. the poor girl cannot sing, we know that - but she does write songs that alot of people really like and she’s a tall cute blonde. She has developed a huge fanbase and they support her, you have to give her credit for that. The songs were definitely popped on SNL. She is making a bid for the pop audience as her label has stated. How do you stop being country? When will they stop playing her songs on country radio? Maybe never, I guess it depends on what the radio programmers think. Yes, Alison I think the two songs on SNL needed a banjo, I agree 100% - they needed something
John C says:
It is sadly true that sometimes Taylor is wildly out of key in her singing, or way breathy, of just off–BUT, and you can jump down my throat for saying so, sometimes this seems to be part of her appeal. Sometimes virtuosity in a musician is just dull. There’s a strange fragility to her voice that I kinda think works for her. (Specially on her song “Fearless,” which, if you ask me, is her best tune.) There was this old musician, can’t remember his name, who couldn’t sing very well either…but he was cool… did pretty well. What was his name? It’s like Dibbon. Bart Dibbon? No–Bob. Bob Something. Bob Rillon? Or, like, Bylan? Bob Bylan? Anyway. He was okay.
RedMaZ says:
Hi Livewire, “Travelin’ Soldier” by singer/songwriter Bruce Robison is on his 1999 CD “Long Way Home From Anywhere” Check it out when you get a chance.
audi16 says:
Taylor’s performance and her role as Annie were the only parts of SNL that I could stand to watch. I’ve never seen the show before but I found it to be anything but funny. I personally found the show rather trashy and inappropriate. I guess it is alright for older people to watch, but I don’t know why they would have a singer who has younger fans on the show.
Irene says:
Her young fans shouldnt be watching a show like snl. She shouldnt been on it in the first place.
e8n says:
Say what you want about Taylor, she has worked very hard to get where she is (she played tons of radio station promotions, high schools and anywhere else to get her stuff out there). Her songs strike a note with a fairly large group of people (both young and old, check them out at any of the concert she plays) although her current demographic ages pretty young. We have seen her in concert and she is quite entertaining as is her band.
Is she the best singer in the world, no. She writes good songs, is a decent person and is always thinking out of the box with regards to her career. She’s also a great role model for all those kids that buy her albums (have you ever seen her in trouble of any kind?).
I’m also a bit disappointed with the pop-mix versions of her songs. While I do understand it to a point (it makes it more toward music that her peer group would listen too), I still can’t agree with it. Pick a genre’ and stick to it.
Hannah says:
Taylor Swift is straying from the country scene with “Fearless”.
She is HIGHLY overrated due to the fact that she writes songs. Her vocals are very poor and she is the furthest thing from country.
CJ says:
I know what you mean bkb my message was taken off also. All I said is Taylor can not sing. I saw her Sat night and I think she was terrible. We will see how long this one stays on.
guess? says:
They seemed to watch ts more than anybody else. My comment was erased also!! Thats ok, the truth hurts!!
Lyle says:
Everyone said that shania couldn’t sing or write too. As for taylor going pop—what about the other staes that went pop/country?
rhino says:
Before I saw this episode of snl, all I knew about taylor Swift was she was some teenage country star. I’m not a country music fan, so I had never heard her before. The two songs she played Saturday blew me away! I really like her unique voice, and I liked the songs. I kept thinking “this is country?”. so then i go to her myspace page to listen to more of her stuff…disappointing. On the show, the arrangements were more of a rock/pop setup. on the album, straight up country…complete with that dreaded twang of a steel guitar…argh! Not to dis country, but I personally feel that her real potential is in an alternative/pop band kind of like say the breeders or silver sun pickups…just my opinion…but she is an extremely talented songwriter, regardless. ….btw you can’t honestly say that “love story” sounds better on the album that the snl version, can you?
countryiscool says:
cj and guess, the cmt blog gestapo is at work deleting alot of comments- no surprise. I’m sure this one will go too.
Melissa says:
Rhino - I think it’s just a matter of opinion. I actually prefer the version of Love Story on the album over the SNL performance, but I thought Forever & Always on SNL was a more fun version than the album one, but that’s probably just because I saw her performing it and kind of acting it out.
guess who? says:
This is crazy what the hall are you guys talking about. I miss maganee so much my gosh
Weekend Update says:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! (APARODY NEWSWIRE)
A ring of banjo and fiddle thieves has been uncovered in the New York, NY area. They are suspected to have made off with Taylor Swift’s band members’ fiddles and banjos just before they performed on Saturday Night Live. One theory detectives are working is that the fearless thieves hate country music, and they appear to be targeting teen country stars. No word on if they have any suspects yet. CSI NY will be working the case next.
apache says:
Taylor is one of the most accomplished songwriters that has come down the pike for years. She is an “Old Soul”, there are not many people that can be in touch with their feelings like she is.
The way she puts her songs together is amazing.
I liked the SNL set, I am glad they left the banjo out.
I have seen her at a fair where it was all fiddle and banjo, and it was great. Without the banjo and fiddle, her music is quite pop.
I liked her best on CMT Crossroads with Def Leppard.
She rocked, and you could tell Def Leppard were having a blast, even singing her songs.
She “Fired them up” …………
emily says:
she does make a good annie! i think because it was a different version of love story, kind of more rocky, they didn’t use the fiddle so much. just a thought:)