Latest Release
- MAY 19, 2023
- 1 Song
- There Goes Rhymin' Simon · 1973
- Graceland (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1986
- Still Crazy After All These Years · 1975
- Graceland (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1986
- Paul Simon · 1972
- The Essential Paul Simon · 2007
- Graceland (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1986
- There Goes Rhymin' Simon · 1973
- Paul Simon · 1972
- Still Crazy After All These Years · 1975
Essential Albums
- After a decade and a half of folk-rock stardom alongside Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon started the '80s working out the direction of his solo identity. And after some soul-searching, he turned the pop world on its ear—and revitalized his career in the process—with 1986’s Graceland, a synthesis of South African styles and U.S. singer/songwriter sensibilities. For the follow-up, Rhythm of the Saints, he doubled down on his then-radical investigation of world music, this time meshing his ideas with the sounds and players of Brazil. From the very first cut, "The Obvious Child," it's clear that Simon is venturing into more percussive and polyrhythmic territory than even Graceland, as Brazilian drum ensemble Olodum crashes and rumbles while Simon delivers a darting mix of impressionism and symbolism. The supple, sinuous flow of "The Cool, Cool River" empowers startlingly revelatory lyrical moments like "sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears." On the gently flowing "Spirit Voices," Simon bounces his own voice off the angelic tones of legendary Brazilian troubadour Milton Nascimento, but South African influences slip in even amid Simon’s guitar patterns. In fact, with the presence of Graceland collaborators like guitarist Ray Phiri, bassist Bakithi Khumalo, and singers Ladysmith Black Mambazo, much of the music takes on a broader Afro-Brazilian vibe. But while some lyrics echo the heady expansiveness of Graceland, others find Simon's observations more pointed than ever, as he comments on environmentalism on "Can't Run But" or middle age on the aforementioned "The Obvious Child." If Graceland served notice of Simon's eclecticism, Saints showed his continuing capacity for reinvention.
- By the mid-1980s, Paul Simon was full of uncertainty. His 1983 album Hearts and Bones had underperformed, and Simon, now in his forties, worried he was too old for the newly ascendent MTV. It was around this time that Heidi Berg, a songwriter that Simon worked with at New York’s Brill Building, played him a copy of Gumboots Accordion Jive Hits Volume II, a collection of instrumental South African accordion music. To Simon, the songs were hard-driving, hopeful, and optimistic. “It all seemed familiar to me,” he later told biographer Robert Hilburn. “[The music] had a feeling that was something like 1950s rock ’n’ roll. But the guitar lines were different from American lines.” Simon tracked down the South African musicians from that tape, the Boyoyo Boys, and met the group in Johannesburg, South Africa. He also invited a team of local pros—including bassist Bakithi Kumalo, guitarist Chikapa “Ray” Phiri, and drummer Isaac Mtshali—to improvise for days. Accordionist Forere Motloheloa said he had reservations: “I continued to ask myself, ‘Who is going to want to hear this township music in America?’” Simon returned to the US to craft those instrumentals into songs. He took one of Motloheloa’s rowdy accordion melodies and wrote “The Boy in the Bubble,” combining images of apartheid South Africa with snapshot images of frivolous American culture. He transformed the Boyoyo Boys’ wildly fun groove “Gumboots” into a blissful plea for love. And he combined his childhood love of doo-wop with the sounds of the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the tracks “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” and “Homeless.” But one especially challenging track required Simon to hit the road. While listening back to a minor progression played by guitarist Phiri, the singer began thinking of Elvis Presley’s Memphis home. So Simon rented a car and drove to Graceland for the first time. On the way, the lyrics came to him: “The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar/I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War.” As Simon later recalled: “Eventually, I understood that the song is about why we are traveling to Graceland—to find out how to get healed—and that’s why I named the album Graceland.” Released in 1986, Graceland would become the most successful solo album of Simon’s career: a culture-conquering smash that arrived (and thrived) at the dawn of the CD era. The album was also highly controversial, with some detractors accusing Simon of endorsing the oppressive South African government with the project, and others accusing him of exploiting his guest musicians (Simon pushed back, saying he paid artists triple-scale and also offered writing credits). Despite the pushback, Graceland won rave reviews, four Grammys, and sold more than 16 million copies. “There were people who said I shouldn't go,” Simon said at the time of the album's release. “South Africa is a supercharged subject surrounded with a tremendous emotional velocity. I knew I would be criticized if I went…I was following my musical instincts in wanting to work with people whose music I greatly admired.”
- A jazz-pop sheen and genuine sense of reflection cut across Simon’s 1975 album. The lush title track and scatty wordplay of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” find him documenting acute mid-life crises, while on “My Little Town” he and Art Garfunkel harmonize over a melancholy reminiscence of childhood.
- Recorded and released barely a year after his first solo album, 1973's There Goes Rhymin' Simon shows off the singer/songwriter's ability to pen lyrics that are equal parts uplifting and introspective. This duality is showcased from the get-go, with the swinging, feel-good opener, "Kodachrome," segueing into the reflective, melancholic "Tenderness." Simon's ability to switch between moods is boosted by his curiosity about other genres, exemplified here by the gospel-infused redemption of "Loves Me Like a Rock."
- After parting ways with Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon set about crafting a solo album to shuffle him beyond his folk-rock roots. Assists from jazz bassist Ron Carter and Brazilian percussion maestro Airto Moreira turn 1972's Paul Simon into a sophisticated musical melting pot. "Run That Body Down" is a bass-driven foray over to the bluesy side, while the iconic "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" is shot through with an undeniable Latin swing. As ever, Simon's lyrics stay witty and quotable.
- 2023
Artist Playlists
- He fused ‘60s angst with worldly influence to change the course of American music.
- His percussive pop and wry tales prove he's no one-trick pony.
- Modern pop mavens draw on his harmonies and global palette.
- The great American songwriter has earned himself a wide pantheon of admirers.
- The folk, pop, and Latin rhythms that made the man.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
About Paul Simon
Paul Simon is regarded as one of rock’s most sophisticated stylists and richly contemplative songwriters, with a storied career that demonstrates a remarkable breadth of vision. Born in Newark, NJ, in 1941, Simon copyrighted his first song with partner Art Garfunkel when they were in their early teens. Their formative music together mixed the mass appeal of ’50s rock ’n’ roll with the introspection of the singer-songwriter era. (Just listen to the playful poetry of 1968’s “Mrs. Robinson” or the existential ache of “The Sound of Silence”—songs you could whistle along to or subject to rigorous literary analysis.) Though he was originally associated with the folk scene, Simon became known for being a stylistic chameleon on his solo releases, drawing on gospel, jazz, Brazilian batucada, and other traditions. Made in collaboration with a collection of South African musicians, his 1986 LP Graceland stands as perhaps his defining statement, solidifying his reputation for meaningfully integrating world-music idioms into his musical vocabulary. Ambitious releases like 1990’s eclectic The Rhythm of the Saints and 2000’s acclaimed You’re the One continued this impulse. On his albums of the 2010s and 2020s, Simon explored themes of aging, separation, and loss with a muted reserve.
- HOMETOWN
- Newark, NJ, United States
- BORN
- October 13, 1941
- GENRE
- Pop