A documentary called “Ladies and Gentlemen…50 Years Of SNL Music” will air in primetime on NBC tonight. It was put together by Questlove — leader of the Roots, the band on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” — who won an Oscar for his previous documentary, “Summer Of Soul” (which I named the Best Movie Of 2021).
Tonight’s show will run three hours, beginning with this remarkably edited montage of bands and musicians who have appeared on “SNL” during its half-century on the air.
There was a time when I was familiar with everyone who did that gig, including such non-mainstream performers as Gil Scott-Heron, Esther Phillips, Leon Redbone, and The Meters. But in the last thirty years, the guest list has been made up almost entirely of pop stars and rappers. Because I’m an old guy who doesn’t keep up with contemporary music, I’ve only heard of a small percentage of the musical guests — and would be hard pressed to name any of their songs.
Still, I appreciate the skill it took to coordinate this seven-and-a-half minute opening segment…