George and Paul (Simon that is!) sing Homeward Bound [SNL 1976]

Somebody played this on Flackkenahock and it is telling that I immediately wondered if it was AI [never having seen or heard this clip before] . . . . . . . I understand it is from Saturday Night Live and is genuine

It IS one thing . . . . undoubtedly lovely!

Paul Simon and George Harrison - "Homeward Bound” SNL 1976

said to be written on my hometown railway station on the banks of the Mersey River

[I wanted to get out too!]

More VH1 STORYTELLERS from ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST

The Smashing Pumpkins - VH-1 Storytellers, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, 8-24-2000

Tori Amos - VH-1 Storytellers, Metropolis Studios, New York City, 10-24-1998

Paul Simon - VH-1 Storytellers, New York City, 10-20-1997

Kings of Leon - VH-1 Storytellers, The Factory at Franklin, Franklin, TN, 4-5-2011

WE love the Kings here in the UK and arguably had more success here than at home (USofA of course)

Enjoy! there all from ATSE so you know their worth checking out

Song of The Day | Paul Simon ‘Graceland’ [Live on Letterman]

 Paul Simon - Graceland (Letterman show)

DRUMMER of The Day :: PAUL SIMON - LATE IN THE EVENING (feat. Steve Gadd)

 Paul Simon :: Late in the Evening, Tower Theatre, 1980

Facebook says

One of Steve Gadd's most famous grooves can be heard on the song Late in the Evening, first released on the Paul Simon album 'One-Trick Pony'.

Besides being the lead single for the album, Late in the Evening is among drummers best known for the Mozambique based rhythm that he plays - with two pairs of drumsticks.

In Search of Steve Gadd - Facebook

Paul Simon - Austin City Limits The Moody Theatre Austin, TEXAS 2016 | So Many Roads

 Amongst the classic artist material around this past few hours (days?) comes this beauty from Paul Simon in Texas back some seven years ago and whilst you can hear his voice has gotten weaker and he must have been thinking about retirement the set is really well recorded (from a webcast) and the band is on fire. If you are in the mood for some Live Rhyming Simon this’ll do nicely!

Paul Simon Austin TEXAS 2016 - So Many Roads

Paul Simon

2016-05-12

Austin City Limits

The Moody Theater

Austin, TX

Speedy says:

In June 2016, Paul Simon released his 13th solo studio album, entitled Stranger to Stranger.  The disc debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts Billboard, Mojo and Rolling Stone all rating it as one of the dozen best albums of the year.  Simon launched a two month US tour in May in support of the album.  This Webcast recording captures him during that run at Austin City Limits on May 12, 2016, 7 years ago today.

You Can Call Me Al! - Paul Simon Live at Austin City Limits 2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL SIMON (80)

PAUL SIMON at 80

A master of his art, Paul Simon is 80 today! Graceland introduced me to the music of the diaspora of Africa for which I shall be eternally grateful and yet also he wrote a song as a much younger man stood on Widnes railway station about being lonely in a strange place that resonated a spit from where I was born. I followed all of his work from early on with Art Garfunkel. He, like the Beatles, seemed to have written the soundtrack to many of our lives, mine included. This version of The Boxer is at once still haunting and mysterious. A work of a genius. Happy Birthday Maestro!

Paul Simon - The Boxer (Live Late Night) 1987

from the album "Bridge over Troubled Water" 

Simon & Garfunkel - 1969

PAUL SIMON

'Late In The Evening'

Bought the single when it came out but again from the ex-jukebox bargain bins around town (I'm nothing if not cheap!) but what a fine, fine song. It lifts my spirits as so often is the case with Paul's work. 

On this day in music history: July 11, 1980 - “Late In The Evening” by Paul Simon is released. Written by Paul Simon, it is the sixteenth solo single for the singer, songwriter and musician from Queens, NY. The Latin flavored “Late In The Evening”, is issued as the first single from the soundtrack to his first starring role in the film “One Trick Pony”. The plot (based on both true life experiences and dramatic fictionalization) centers around Simon, portraying a once popular musician on the down side of his career, looking to make a comeback. The song and soundtrack album features instrumental backing by the Jazz/Funk band Stuff. The film and the accompanying soundtrack album actually feature different versions of the same material. “Late In The Evening” features musicians Steve Gadd (drums), Eric Gale, Hiram Bullock (guitars), Tony Levin (bass), Richard Tee (keyboards), Ralph MacDonald (percussion), Michael Brecker, David Sanborn (saxophones), Jon Faddis (flugelhorn), Randy Brecker, Marvin Stamm (trumpets), Patti Austin and Lani Groves (background vocals). “Late In The Evening” peaks at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 27, 1980, and also receiving a Grammy Nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male in 1981.

Help support the Behind The Grooves music blog with a donation by clicking on the link at: PayPal.Me/jharris1228

FAREWELL MR RHYMIN' SIMON

Just because the sun is shining and I believe I will be received in Graceland . . . . I can't explain




not forgetting the stellar Batikhi Kumalo on bass and Biodun Kuti, on lead/rhythm guitar mourning the absence of Ray Phiri and Biodun Kuti both now lost to us from cancer and yet still with penny whistle from Barney Rachabane sends shivers down my spine

PAUL SIMON - THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON

On this day in music history: May 5, 1973 - “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon”, the third studio album by Paul Simon is released. Produced by Paul Simon, Phil Ramone, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Paul Samwell-Smith and Roy Halee, it is recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL, Malaco Recording Studios in Jackson, MS, and Morgan Studios in Willesden, UK from Mid 1972 - Early 1973. Following the success of his first post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album “Paul Simon”, the prolific singer and songwriter establishes solid and productive working relationship with producer and engineer Phil Ramone. Simon also collaborates with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as well as the legendary gospel vocal group The Dixie Hummingbirds. Even more musically diverse than his previous effort, the album also features a number of top notch musicians and studio players including Cornell Dupree (guitar), Grady Tate (drums), Paul Griffin (piano), Airto Moriera (percussion) with horn and string arrangements written by Allen Toussaint, Quincy Jones and Del Newman. Released to near universal praise and acclaim, it spins off the hit singles “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like A Rock”, both of which peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album is remastered and reissued on CD in 2011, with four additional bonus tracks added. Out of print on vinyl for over two decades, it is reissued as a 180 gram LP in a limited individually numbered edition for Record Store Day in 2013. A standard non-numbered edition is currently available. “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” peaks at number two on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in July of 1973, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Help support the Behind The Grooves music blog with a donation by clicking on the link at: PayPal.Me/jharris1228

behindthegrooves:

When I started this blog here in October of 2011, it was to indulge and share my passion for music with others. In just a few years, “Behind The Grooves” has grown from just a handful of followers to nearly 21,000 here on Tumblr alone. These posts require extensive research and many hours to write and edit, and are the product of my own personal diligence and dedication. 

Presently, I’m unemployed and struggling to keep myself afloat financially. I am making an appeal to my followers for donations. I’m also looking to publish my writing in book form, hopefully in the not too distant future. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anyone that can make a donation, can do so by clicking on the link at:PayPal.Me/jharris1228

Thank you to those who have donated already. I greatly appreciate your support, and for helping to keep me going. Every bit helps!!

Go on chuck Jeff a few quid . . . . . . you know it makes sense! 

PAUL SIMON

Final Farewell

and as if in synchronicity Big O posts the final night of Paul Simon's Final Farewell Tour to mark the end of his playing music live anymore . . . . . . it is an audience recording boot but as they go it is worth a listen for it's historic import if nothing else and the text is really worth a read also. Simon plays a bike ride away from where he used to live in NY, Flushing Meadows' Corona Park last month 

Paul Simon - Final Farewell NY 2018

GRACELAND

The making of a masterpiece

Paul Simon

There was a truly wonderful and fascinating programme on tv last night about the making of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' album in the Classic Albums series shown on BBC4 which we have discussed and mentioned before. I had many arguments about cultural appropriation that actually were a part of this album's great influence for me but this programme concentrated  on the writing and composing process and what happens when a group of people who do not know each other make some extraordinary kind of connection. . . . . . oh and yesterday was his birthday! born October 13 1941 Paul Fredric Simon in Newark, NJ. Happy 77th Birthday, Mr Simon!!

Get it while you can . . . . . 

BBC Classic Albums - GRACELAND

Auntie says: Since its release in 1986, Paul Simon's Graceland has had an enormous impact on rock music with its blend of rock and African rhythms. Simon and engineer Roy Halee demonstrate the multi-tracking and mixing of the album and reveal the inspiration behind the songs, and composer Philip Glass assesses the album's place in musical history. Featuring interviews with major artists involved in the album, including Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and guitarist Ray Phiri, who shatter the myth about their relationship with Simon

Without this album I would not have known who Ray Phiri was, or Ladysmith Black Mambazo or the extraordinary bass player Batithi Kumalo . . . . if you are going to break apartheid this is how to do it


If you wondered well this is WHY

Speaking of perfection . . . . . 

On this day in music history: February 28, 1970 - “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 weeks. Written by Paul Simon, it is the biggest hit for the Queens, NY based folk rock duo. In mid 1969 Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel begin work on what becomes their final album. While Art Garfunkel is away working on his first film “Catch 22”, Simon and his then wife Peggy are living in Los Angeles. They rent the same house where George Harrison was inspired to write the song “Blue Jay Way” two years earlier. During the time they are living there, he writes “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on guitar, later being transcribed to piano by arranger Jimmie Haskell. The song is inspired in part by gospel singer Claude Jeter’s lyric “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in me”. Paul works with a group of studio musicians in L.A. that includes keyboardist Larry Knetchel, bassist Joe Osborn, drummer Hal Blaine and percussionist Gary Coleman. Simon initially writes the song with only two verses, but adds a third at the suggestion of Garfunkel and co-producer/engineer Roy Halee. Released on January 26, 1970, the single is an immediate smash. Entering the Hot 100 at #49 on February 7, 1970, it rockets to the top of the chart only three weeks later. The single wins two Grammy Awards including Record and Song Of The Year in 1971. An iconic song of the era, “Bridge” is covered numerous times over the years, including versions by Aretha Franklin (#1 R&B in 1971), Elvis Presley, Linda Clifford, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson to name a few. In spite of its message of friendship and support in difficult times, it ironically marks beginning of the end of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s musical partnership, as the duo split in 1971. The single release is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1998. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

check out the vocals of course but pay close attention to the bass, strings and the percussion too . . . . . . 
thanks to Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves'

again a lovely set from Big O this morning from Paul Simon from last month live in Texas  . . . . . . . 

Paul Simon - Austin Texas 2017

On this day in music history: October 10, 1966 - “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme”, the third album by Simon & Garfunkel is released. Produced by Bob Johnston, it is recorded at Columbia Studios in New York City from December 1965 - August 1966. Their first full album since breaking through with the revamped and remixed version of “The Sound Of Silence” in late 1965, many of the songs are written while Paul Simon is traveling through the UK by himself in the Fall of 1965. Several are re-recorded by the duo (including “I Am A Rock” and “Patterns”, and later “Kathy’s Song”) after Simon records his solo project “The Paul Simon Songbook”, not released in the US until 1981 on the box set “Collected Works” and reissued again on CD in 2004. The album is proceeded by the single “Homeward Bound” (#5 Pop), also written during Simon’s trip to England in 1965. The full length is met with critical and commercial success upon its release, and is widely regarded as one of Simon & Garfunkel’s best albums. It yields several classics including “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (#11 Pop) (released as a single belatedly in 1968 when it is featured in “The Graduate”), “The Dangling Conversation” (#25 Pop) and “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”. The album is remastered and reissued on CD in 2001 with two bonus tracks. An exhaustive search through Sony Music’s archives is conducted for the original first generation master tapes, which had been misfiled and lost for years. The classic title is also reissued on vinyl by Sundazed Records in 2008. “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme” peaks at number four on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Agin bought this when it came out although maybe my brother and not me, I can't recall but this album had a profound affect upon me and not least when discovering later Simon had allegedly written the wonderful song 'Homeward Bound' at Widnes train station and this was an area I knew well as a youngster having been born on Merseyside . . . . . . .it was another track that really got us going and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"became an anthem at the time too

You Can Call Me Al

and finally for today in terms of sounds bought when they came out this was another from the bumper bargain bins of ex-jukebox hits and the video we loved and still do if the truth be known. The first really funny video, we could talk of nothing else, the Chevy Chase role and the deadpanning from Paul is priceless still IMHO! Those too cool to say so are lying!

On this day in music history: August 12, 1986 - “Graceland”, the seventh album by Paul Simon is released. Produced by Paul Simon, it is recorded at Ovation Studios in Johannesburg, Republic Of South Africa, The Hit Factory in New York City, Amigo Studios in Los Angeles, CA, Abbey Road Studios in London, UK and Master-Trak Enterprises, Crowley, LA from October 1985 - June 1986. Following the poorly received “Hearts And Bones” album, Paul Simon is given a cassette of Township Jive music by the South African group The Boyoyo Boys by a friend. His interest is piqued by an instrumental called “Gumboots” (which he later writes lyrics for and records). The music inspires Simon to travel to South Africa and record with a group of South African musicians (which is controversial at the time as it breaks the cultural embargo against the country that is still ruled by separatist system of Apartheid) which also includes the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The album also includes contributions and guest appearances by Los Lobos, Linda Ronstadt, and The Everly Brothers. When it is released, it is enthusiastically received, garnering great critical acclaim and commercial success, spinning off three singles including “You Can Call Me Al” (#23 Pop), “The Boy In The Bubble” (#86 Pop) and the title track (#81 Pop). The album wins two Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year in 1987, and Record Of The Year for the title track in 1988. In 2007, the album is added to the National Recording Registry by the Library Of Congress. To commemorate the albums twenty fifth anniversary, it is remastered and reissued as a two CD + DVD box set featuring previously unreleased demos, alternate versions and an interview with Paul Simon on the making of the landmark album. The DVD contains the documentary “Under African Skies” and a full live concert filmed in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1987. The box also contains a notepad, poster and 76 page booklet with photos and extensive annotation. It is also reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP the same year, with a limited edition number edition released exclusively through Boston based retailer Newbury Comics (limited to 2,000 copies) and clear vinyl LP pressing released through UK retailer HMV Music (limited to 500 copies) in 2015. “Graceland” peaks at number three on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 5x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Now this may help tickle your dancing pants at this time of day with a distinct dampness hurtling around the house here . . . . 
Now I didn't buy this when it came out but as is the case with some other singles here, I found in the bargain bins (contrary to what it must seem like that I must have bought EVERYTHING when it came out) it was an ex-jukebox single  but the music haunted me as so often was the case with Paul Simon and he still can . . . . . . . 
If this doesn't get you dancing around the living room in your pants then there is something wrong with your bones! . . . . . . . [and your pants]

On this day in music history: August 6, 1980 - “Late In The Evening” by Paul Simon is released. Written by Paul Simon, it is the sixteenth solo single for the singer, songwriter and musician from Queens, NY. The latin flavored “Late In The Evening”, is issued as the first single from the soundtrack to his first starring role in the film “One Trick Pony”. The plot (based on both true life experiences and dramatic fictionalization) centers around Simon, portraying a once popular musician on the down side of his career, looking to make a comeback. The song and soundtrack album features instrumental backing by the Jazz/Funk band Stuff. The film and the accompanying soundtrack album actually feature different versions of the same material. “Late In The Evening” features musicians Steve Gadd (drums), Eric Gale, Hiram Bullock (guitars), Tony Levin (bass), Richard Tee (keyboards), Ralph MacDonald (percussion), Michael Brecker, David Sanborn (saxophones), Jon Faddis (flugelhorn), Randy Brecker, Marvin Stamm (trumpets), Patti Austin and Lani Groves (background vocals). “Late In The Evening” peaks at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 27, 1980, and also receiving a Grammy Nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male in 1981.

Records I bought when they came out . . . . an occasional series

My brother, Steve, bought Paul Simon's 'Graceland' when it came out and it astonished me. The hit single 'You Can Call me Al' with it's humorous and clever video featuring lip-synching with Chevy Chase and all the other songs were extraordinary but more than anything else was it's use of African singers and musicians that made me sit up and take notice. I worked at the time with quite a few people from South Africa and they were the first to raise the accusation of cultural appropriation and blamed Simon for an imperialist approach. I was desperately disappointed and still hold that people like the wonderful guitarist Ray Phiri and Ladysmith Black Mambaza wouldn't have had quite the success without the success of this album. Despite my South African and Zimbabwean friends turning me on to such a range of music from the African continent and Eno too sharing High Life music on his label too, I still maintain that Graceland did far more good than harm. My observation is why did all those wonderful players, singers and musicians agree to tour with Simon around the world if they did not feel they weren't exploited and were in actuality passing on their great artistry and talent to the rest of the planet?

This is why







Turn it up! Nowhere is the INTEGRATION of these wonderful African musicians and singers better illustrated than here and in the song 'Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes'