Jump to content

Paul Simon (album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SporkBot (talk | contribs) at 23:04, 26 June 2011 (Remove a template per TFD outcome). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Untitled

Paul Simon is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon in his guise as a solo artist. (His first solo album had been recorded in England in 1965 and remained unreleased in the U.S until 2005). It was released in January 1972, nearly two years after he split up with longtime musical partner Art Garfunkel. The album represented the definitive announcement of the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel.[1] Originally released on Columbia Records, it was then issued under the Warner Bros. label and is now back with Columbia through Sony.

History

After Simon & Garfunkel split in 1970, Simon taught songwriting classes at New York University during the summer of 1971. Among the students he taught were the Roche Sisters, Maggie and Terre, and singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester who remembers that as a teacher, Simon was nervous. He listened to the students' songs and offered suggestions and criticism, often dissecting the lyrics and drawing comparisons with his own work, while offering autobiographical insights into how his own work progressed and his sources of inspiration.[2]

Then Simon traveled to San Francisco to record some demos, and began to work with different musical styles with the purpose of releasing a solo album. Paul Simon was, musically, a direct follow-up from his work with Art Garfunkel. The song writing quality revealed on some of the tunes from the album Bridge over Troubled Water (for example, "The Only Living Boy in New York" or "Song for the Asking") was now extended and combined with a new appreciation for the album as a complete and single work of art. Part of these achievements were due to the experiments with new sounds for Simon, including latin music, jazz, blues, and also reggae, with the song "Mother and Child Reunion" (recorded in Kingston, Jamaica) becoming one of the first attempts on this genre by a white musician. Guest musicians on the record included Stephane Grappelli, Ron Carter, and Airto Moreira.

Lyrically, the album was particularly notable for its inclusion of many autobiographical elements. Several songs on the album make reference directly or indirectly to his rocky marriage to Peggy (née Harper), which ended in divorce in 1975. Troubles with the marriage figure prominently on songs such as "Run That Body Down" (in which both "Paul" and "Peg" are mentioned by name) and "Congratulations". Other themes include drugs and adolescence, especially in urban areas.

The songs "Mother and Child Reunion" and "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard", and some of the percussion by Airto Moreira and Los Incas, prefigure the fascination Simon had with world music, particularly on Graceland.

The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway, and reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums. In 1986, it was certified platinum.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Robert Christgau(A+)[4]

Track listing

All songs composed by Paul Simon except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Mother and Child Reunion" – 3:05
  2. "Duncan" – 4:39
  3. "Everything Put Together Falls Apart" – 1:59
  4. "Run that Body Down" – 3:52
  5. "Armistice Day" – 3:55

Side two

  1. "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" – 2:42
  2. "Peace Like a River" – 3:20
  3. "Papa Hobo" – 2:34
  4. "Hobo's Blues" (Simon, Stéphane Grappelli) – 1:21
  5. "Paranoia Blues" – 2:54
  6. "Congratulations" – 3:42

In July 2004, the album was re-issued on CD with three bonus tracks:

  1. "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Demo - San Francisco 2/71)" – 2:29
  2. "Duncan (Demo - San Francisco 2/71)" – 2:48
  3. "Paranoia Blues (Unreleased Version)" – 3:14

Personnel

Musicians

Production and engineering

Chart positions

Year Country Chart Position
1972 United Kingdom UK Albums Chart[5] 1
Finland Suomen virallinen lista 1
Japan Oricon Weekly LP Chart 1
Norway VG-lista 1
Holland Mega Charts 2
United States The Billboard Pop Albums 4
Australia Australian Albums Chart 7
Germany German Albums Chart 37

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Superseventies review". Superseventies. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  2. ^ "Paul Simon - The neck of my guitar". Paul-simon.info. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  3. ^ Allmusic Review
  4. ^ Robert Christgau Review
  5. ^ "Number 1 Albums – 1970s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
Preceded by
"Mizuiro no Koi"/"Namida kara Ashita e" by Mari Amachi
 Japanese Oricon LP Chart number-one album
(5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Shoshin wo Wasuremai to Chikatta Hi by Rumiko Koyanagi
Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista number-one album
17-19/1972 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Harvest by Neil Young
Preceded by
Harvest by Neil Young
 UK number-one album
March 18–24, 1972 		Succeeded by

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Simon_(album)&oldid=436411899"