The end of an era that barely got started?

Ah, the Grammys. The annual event where music business types exercise, as Stephen Colbert so aptly put it, “our right to get together and congratulate each other.”

Very few working musicians bother to watch the Grammys. For me, it’s due to a personal mythology, one that I just now exploded to smithereens. I remember watching the Grammys in 1969, as the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” lost Song of the Year honors to The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar.” I remember it well. And it turned me off to the whole Grammy thing lo these many years.

The problem is, that apparently never happened. I was reading the list of Grammy winners from 1968, 1969 and 1970, and neither “Hey Jude” nor “Sugar Sugar” was ever nominated for Grammys. So much for personal history. Like they say, if you can remember the 1960s, you weren’t really there. So I guess I was.

Nevertheless, due to illness, laziness and just wanting to hang out with the wife for a while, this year I decided to tune in. Yeesh, what a mess. Lady Gaga with Elton John right off the bat, in some strangely staged conflagration of lights and sound and special effects, and Lady G’s green thong on steroids. It just got weirder from there. The Grammys this year were mostly people doing highly staged Broadway dance numbers, with the focus on visual effects, dancing and flash. There was very little musical performance going on, at least in the sense of musicians playing together. It happened a couple of times, but not often. Even the hip-hop numbers were staged like a Broadway musical.

But one woman did get to perform with a guitar in her hand and a band behind her. And it was, according to the glitterati, this woman’s night to shine. That woman is 21-year-old singer/songwriter Taylor Swift. She’s adorable, she’s young, she’s talented, and she won America’s heart last year at the VH1 Awards when Kanye West jumped out of the audience and rudely interrupted her acceptance speech to say that Beyonce should have won Best New Artist. That move prompted a huge backlash toward Kanye (the president even said disparaging things about his behavior), and a huge surge of sympathy for Taylor, which seemed like it morphed into adoration. Really, what’s not to love? She’s adorable.

So someone decided it would be a good idea for Taylor to get up at the Grammys and perform a couple of her songs, and during her performance, perhaps bring on a “seasoned” woman singer/songwriter to pass the torch, as it were, from one generation to the next. And who should pass said torch? I wonder which names were tossed around at that meeting? Joni Mitchell? Not a chance she would do that. Carole King? Different league. So who?

Stevie Nicks. For you kids, Stevie Nicks was the late 1970s poster girl for beauty, talent and mystery. She was the woman every guy wanted, and every woman wanted to be. She was one of the lead singers in Fleetwood Mac. She wrote a couple of monster hits, and twirled around the stage in black flowing things. But that was then.

 For the Grammys, she came out still dressed in the black outfit, which now just looks silly on her. And, though her voice was distinctive, it was never great; her appearance here illustrated why she’s been out of the spotlight as of late. Her pipes these days are a little on the weak side.

 But Taylor – OMG. Taylor showed the world that she cannot, in fact, sing. The duet with Stevie only brought home just how off pitch she was without electronic help. There are devices, by the way, that correct for pitch problems, and Taylor was not using one on Sunday night. She sounded horrible. Watch the YouTube video of the performance. Watch Stevie’s horrified expression as the song wears on.

So here’s the deal — almost immediately the Internet was swarming with people proclaiming that Taylor Swift was over. That one performance, many believe, was enough to end her career, which is just getting started and looks so promising, because she can’t really sing.

I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, if you can’t sing well, then you need to bring other skills to the table to make up for it. Dylan’s songwriting has made up for his lack of vocal prowess for 40 years now. Taylor’s songs are catchy, but she’s no Dylan. She’s cute right now, but how many 19-year-old girls can’t claim to be cute? That fades pretty fast. What’s left?

 This is where I’m torn. I hope for her sake that what’s left is the ability to grow and strengthen herself as a songwriter, and a performer. I hope Taylor gets a pass on this performance and a second chance to redeem herself. She’s got gobs of talent, and deserves a break. Some will say she got her break, and blew it.

 But I hope we’re a nicer, more forgiving culture than that. I don’t think we are, but I’m still willing to hold out some hope.