Playing With This Artist Was Legendary ‘SNL’ Bandleader G.E. Smith’s ‘Career Highlight’

For decades, aspiring musicians from across the country have dreamed about one day becoming so successful that they get to perform on Saturday Night Live. Meanwhile, one musician who played Studio 8H every week dreamed about another set with Al Green.

Ever since the first season of Saturday Night Live, which featured performances from such enduring legends as ABBA, Gil Scott Heron and Patti Smith, the role of musical guest on SNL has always held slightly more prestige than the average late-night spot for an up-and-coming musician. Today, it’s practically a rite of passage that the hottest pop star of the moment should perform on SNL within a couple weeks of their latest album release, but, for the Saturday Night Live Band, every week is a new challenge and a new opportunity to make Benson Boone sound like the best goddamn singer in the world.

George Edward “G.E.” Smith served as Saturday Night Live’s musical director and band leader from 1985 and 1995, and, in that time, the long-haired, slicked-back guitarist who previously served as the lead shredder of Hall & Oates played with countless music legends. But, in a recent interview with Vulture, Smith revealed that playing with the smooth-singing Reverend Green wasn’t just the peak of his time working on SNL, but a highlight of his storied career.

I imagine that watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers embarrass themselves while half-naked and strung out in 1992 was a close second.

“I got to play with so many people on SNL, but twice I got to play with Al Green, and I consider the experience to be a career highlight,” Smith said of his run-ins with the “Tired of Being Alone” and “Love and Happiness” singer who would be inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Smith’s final year on Saturday Night Live. 

“I always loved that Memphis sound. The guitar player on most of Al’s records is a man named Teenie Hodges. I studied his parts and played the songs. It was just amazing,” Smith said of his preparation for the pivotal SNL performances with Green, saying of the Southern Soul legend, “Man, it’s the sound of his voice. You know when you’re standing right next to somebody, and it’s different from hearing a recording or hearing it come through a microphone? Not with Al. When you really hear their voice right there in the room, it’s beautiful.”

While Smith didn’t divulge which artist’s performance he considered to be the lowlight of his time on SNL, there are certainly some worthy candidates — the aforementioned Red Hot Chili Peppers' attempt to get through their hit song “Under the Bridge” without passing out is up there, as is The Replacements' drunken disaster set in Smith’s first year as band leader.

If only SNL could have kept Smith around long enough for him to have some stories about Ashlee Simpson's infamous lip-syncing scandal in 2004. That one was probably even more beautiful in the room as well.