Paul Simon

Any suggestions on what I should listen for next time?

well "late in the evening" is so much better than the rest of the record that it doesn't need pointing out. but i like the title track too, and "long, long day." don't actually remember a lot else off the top of my head. i've never seen the movie, sort of curious about it.

I think She's The One is kinda underrated ... Maybe closest in tone/style to Hearts and Bones. Not Simon at his catchiest, maybe, but some good tunes/lyrics.

hmm, didn't he just do a bunch of reissues? http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/here-comes-rhymin-simon-on-a-different-label/?src=twt&twt=artsbeat

The current reissues sound amazing. I doubt there's much they could do to improve them, nor is there probably much in the vaults of note that didn't make the current batch.

This is like the Stones reissuing/remastering on a different label every few years.

i should get those reissues probably. all of my 70s-80s simon is on vinyl. bonus trax are good?

most of the bonus material I could take or leave, with the glaring exception of the alternate version of "Gone At Last" with the Jessy Dixon Singers from Still Crazy.

They run from really good to never going to play that again. But the sound on all the albums is pristine. He had the best of the best backing bands and they sound like the best - warm, clean 70s studio sound. I only have the three 70s records (I never warmed to the 80s work outside of a track here and there), but I understand the remasters are equally great if you care for the material.

xpost

I love the "Duncan" and "Take me to the Mardi Gras" demos.

This is like the Stones reissuing/remastering on a different label every few years

dunno what this means. abkco series came out 20+ years after the original cd releases. the reamaining ones came out about a year ago. it's not like Elvis Costello who's had about 4 This Years Models since 1987

xxxxpost

^^^Bowie is the other one who does this

and Zappa - all three of those guys got the "Rykodisc treatment", too, coincidentally

Stones issued Sticky Fingers on cd in 90, 94 & 09. Costello issued This Year's Model in 86, 93, 02 & 07. One more time - what a huge difference! Point is, these artists that control their catalog have huge incentive to switch labels and reissue stuff whenever they can.

Hell, I've bought the Soft Boys' Underwater Moonlight four times on cd. I'm an enabler.

i was actually thinking of the Stones' early ones, which only came out once before they were done perfectly in 2001 or whatever it was. had to take exception 'cuz there's a night and day difference between the two issues.
sorry for derailing on Paul Simon's watch

I wasn't clear to start - those abkco remaster are great. The Stones don't own those though so can't milk 'em.

A really talented guy who since the mid 80s has done the mistake of letting other people control a bit too much of his sound and songwriting style. "Hearts And Bones" is fantastic, and seems to be his peak. "Surprise" was an aptly titled Eno collaboration though, just need to relax the rhythm section even a good bit and find back to his good, old pre-"Graceland" style.

New album streaming on NPR. Sounds pretty good, glad to hear him dabbling in Afropop again, the rhythms overall are stronger than anything he's done in a long time (and I think rhythm is really key to his best songwriting).

He's touring the US and doing mid-sized halls and some club gigs (930 club and others).

this sounds good!

"dazzling blue" kinda dazzling!

Haven't kept up with his new output since Rhythm of the Saints (other than hearing the ghastly Capeman). This is nice, in a pleasantly unassuming sort of way. Nothing jumped out me after one listen but it was solid throughout.

you're the one is worth hearing.... surprise has its moments, but some of those moments are not so hot.

The coupla tracks I heard from the new one implies Simon learned a few lessons from Eno, even if that last record was a stiff.

Stuff I read about this: He samples Sonny Terry. "Amulet" was originally an instrumental he wrote for Brazilian singer Luciana Souza who added her own vocal melody overtop.

Here's part of the L. Souza with Simon duet at the Beacon in NYc awhile back doing "Amulet". The Simon album version is just an instrumental

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v517/paulfournier/Paul%20Simon%20Beacon%20NYC%202-13-09/?action=view¤t=Amulet2-13-09016.flv

He samples a bit of Reverend J.M. Gates' sermon "getting Ready for Christmas Day" in “Getting Ready For Christmas Day"

http://dust-digital.com/gates

http://www.avclub.com/articles/paul-simon,53706/

some interesting bits in this interview. He explains the "Jay-Z" lyrical reference and talks about Eno and his 18 year-old son playing James Blake for him

I listened to some of the Panda Bear (from Animal Collective) stream on NPR after this one on NPR and I think Simon, despite utilizing some of his same ol' techniques, is less monochromatic than Panda Bear who is stuck on his dreamy Brian Wilson thing. Not that either one is great, but this appears to be more listenable. Does this type of thinking mean I'm old?

the rhythms overall are stronger than anything he's done in a long time (and I think rhythm is really key to his best songwriting).

I swear I read somewhere that while Simon had done so on ocassion before Graceland, that starting with that cd he began emphasing the usage of interesting rhythms that he heard from others to get him out of a songwriting block. He uses influences from others to kickstart his writing. Now previously we have discussed how some of his collaborators (Los Lobos, Terrance Simien) have grumbled that they have not gotten any songwriting credit on songs(some defend Simon on this).

I hear the so-called "rhythmic" approach on his first solo album!

Sometimes over the years he added rhythm himself via guitar in the songwriting process and sometime in the studio via supporting musicians at various stages of the songwriting process. With some albums he notes in that AV Club interview that he started with drums first.

at the end of the day, will any bed of exotica rhythms or chance operations overcome the preciousness inherent to simon's songwriting though?

Will any message board put an end to rhetorical questions?

But, to answer it, the preciousness is his most charming feature, cuz it's so precise.

You won't find an answer to your question here bb, we've got diamonds on the soles of our shoes.

or: xp

i knew he was talking about that jay-z billboard, it was close to my house.

Interview is interesting. Funny how to him this is less of a 'drum' record, but to me it seems more rhythmically alive than the last few. I like this, because it makes sense of some things I've long thought about him, that people miss a lot of what makes him great by focusing so much on his lyrics:

I like working with sound—sound and rhythm. I like the abstract more than “What does that mean?” Nobody ever says to you, “Why did you use a harmonium?” Or “What is that ringing sound that occurs here?” The questions are always “What does that song mean?” or “What were you trying to say here?” The abstract is just more interesting because it doesn’t really have anything to say, but if it is good, it creates thoughts and feelings, and I enjoy that. For me, once the music creates those thoughts and feelings, I begin to write a song about it. But if I just left it at the instrumental track, I think people would listen to it and think up their own songs and thoughts. That would be fun, too.

Surprise isn't bad at all, I just never listen to it.

btw there's some docfilm on the way about the making of Bridge over Troubled Water

yeahhh, i think it's included w/ the new reish of that album.
preciousness, eh? i mean, maybe at times, but to me it's more clarity of intent. or something.

it's interesting to me how the real "serious" sorta folk songwriting giants of the 60s - Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Simon - who could all be comfortably resting on their laurels by now, are still cranking out records. and genuinely interesting records at that. whereas all the more rock guys are burned out and worthless (lol Rolling Stones)

probably something to do with being a band vs. a solo artist? all of the dudes you mentioned (dylan, young, simon) have been able to swtich things up in terms of collaborators and sounds over the years, whereas the stones are kinda locked in one thing.

hmm yeah that makes sense.

otoh Lou Reed, not so vital a songwriter anymore eh

yeah not really. i sort of expect lou to have one more good to great album, but maybe that is expecting too much. does he even really write songs anymore?

A Bigger Bang was better than Surprise.

harsh

A- vs B record.

playing Glastonbury if the hints are owt to go by
http://www.nme.com/news/glastonbury/55932

how come no one told me paul simon did a solo acoustic tour in 1984? just found a recording, sounds amazing. great set list, cool reworkings of the songs.

Christgau loves it – his first A for a Simon record since Graceland.

“Graceland” was one of the few CD’s my family owned when I was a kid - highly enjoyed it, but it’s also massively disappointing how much of it was stolen in some way from so many people - not just Los Lobos and Rockin' Dopsie (who weighed a lawsuit but decided it would be too costly) but above all Heidi Berg, and this is on top of the ongoing debate of cultural appropriation.

― birdistheword,

I suggest reading the Hilburn bio, which devotes a chapter to the question of sources, songwriting, publishing, local recording, and so on. At best I'll say Los Lobos didn't know what they were getting into when told they'd "jam" with Paul Simon.

It probably should be mentioned that Graceland was a real surprise blockbuster --Simon hadn't had a hit single in 5 years, and a big hit studio album in 10. Going in, few even thought this would be a course correction much less a license to print money.

that Myriam Gendron records is one of the best of this century

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, June 9, 2023 12:19 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

at any rate The Rhythm of the Saints is better.

You don't wanna know what Simon made those Brazilian drummers do to him tho.

we had a lot of fun
we had a lot of money

there's no... Proof

I suggest reading the Hilburn bio, which devotes a chapter to the question of sources, songwriting, publishing, local recording, and so on. At best I'll say Los Lobos didn't know what they were getting into when told they'd "jam" with Paul Simon.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, June 14, 2023 7:36 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

the fact that the dust jacket of the book makes it look like paul simon has hair tells me all i need to know about the trustworthiness of this bio as a source

Trust me as an expert in other people's trichotillomania.

Good seeing Seven Psalms on some year-end lists.

An inability to fall asleep in a cheap motel due to the loud sex that a couple is having next door sends Duncan off on a long reverie.

^^Underrated Gear! ILE thread title

I hope this Grammy weekend tribute to Paul Simon at the Troubadour was recorded.

Setlist:
Blind Boys of Alabama, “Loves Me Like a Rock”

Jason Isbell and Sadler Vaden, “Kodachrome”

Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor, “Mrs. Robinson”

Natalie Lafourcade, “You’re the One”

Bobby Rush, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”

Ruthie Foster, “Slip Slidin’ Away”

John Vincent III, “The Only Living Boy in New York City”

Brett Dennen, “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”

Larkin Poe, “Paranoid Blues”

Susanna Hoffs with Grace Bowers, “Hazy Shade of Winter”

Gaby Moreno, “Late in the Evening”

Silvana Estrada, “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”

Sean and Sara Watkins, “Hurricane Eye”

Madison Cunningham, “Kathy’s Song”

Andrew Bird and Alan Hampton, “American Tune”

Johnnyswim, “Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War”

Marcus King, “America”

Allison Russell, “The Sound of Silence”

Dwight Yoakam, “The Boxer”

Jackson Browne, “I Am a Rock”

Rufus Wainwright, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Rodney Crowell, “Graceland”

Finale, “You Can Call Me Al”

Part two:

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” from the @theTroubadour for @AmericanaFest’s pre-Grammy salute to “The Songs of Paul Simon” pic.twitter.com/yx9QqZiw9E

— Rufus Wainwright (@rufuswainwright) February 6, 2024

Jason Isbell and Sadler Vaden, “Kodachrome”

Fitting, as Patterson Hood's dad plays bass on the original!

That's a great lineup. Would have loved to see that last 6 song stretch in particular.

Rufus oh wow! <3

John Vincent III, “The Only Living Boy in New York City, New York, 10003, USA”

no rhythm of the saints appreciators among the bunch, apparently -- not my people!

(Yeah, I thought ‘City’ sounded odd at the end of that title, wondered if I remembered it wrong, but that’s from Variety.)

Anyone have MGM+?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/entertainment/paul-simon-restless-dreams-review/index.html

The Paul Simon doc, IN RESTLESS DREAMS, is remarkable. I remember before going to work at the mill when I was 18, putting a quarter in the juke and playing "I Am a Rock" and "April Come She Will." Made another 8-hour shift more bearable.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 29, 2024

really want to see the doc!