Paul Simon (album)

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Paul Simon
File:PaulSimon-Front.jpg
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released January 24, 1972
Recorded January to March 1971
Genre Folk rock
Length 34:03
Label Columbia, Warner Bros.
Producer Roy Halee, Paul Simon
Paul Simon chronology
The Paul Simon Songbook
(1965)The Paul Simon Songbook1965		 Paul Simon
(1972)		 There Goes Rhymin' Simon
(1973)There Goes Rhymin' Simon1973
Singles from Paul Simon
  1. "Mother and Child Reunion" b/w "Paranoia Blues"
    Released: February 1972
  2. "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" b/w "Congratulations"
    Released: May 1972
  3. "Duncan" b/w "Run That Body Down"
    Released: July 1972

Paul Simon is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon as a solo artist. 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. It was ranked No. 268 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. His first solo album had been recorded in England in 1965 and (except for a brief period in 1969) remained unreleased in the U.S. until 1981, when it appeared in the 5-LP Collected Works boxed set.

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 two of 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]

Simon then 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 Simon's enlistment of Airto Moreira's percussion and the Andean music group Los Incas, prefigure the fascination Simon had with world music, particularly exemplified on Graceland.

The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway, and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums. In 1986, it was certified platinum.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 5/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau (A+)[4]
Rolling Stone (favorable)[5]

Despite expressing only restrained approval of Simon and Garfunkel albums in the past, Robert Christgau gave Paul Simon an A+ rating, writing, "[T]his is the only thing in the universe to make me positively happy in the first two weeks of February 1972."[6]

Critical praise was indeed widespread for this album, though some reviewers were put off by it. Noel Coppage, in Stereo Review, called it "undistinguished" and added, "I gather...this album is merely Simon's way of keeping his hand in while Garfunkel makes movies....I'm now wondering if Garfunkel's arranging work doesn't include sending Simon back to rewrite some of his songs before recording them."[7] Despite Coppage's panning, the other Stereo Review critics went on to give the album one of its "Record Of The Year" awards.[8]

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Simon, except "Hobo's Blues" co-written by Stéphane Grappelli.

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" – 1:21
  5. "Paranoia Blues" – 2:54
  6. "Congratulations" – 3:42
Additional tracks

In July 2004, the album was re-issued on CD, which contained three included songs:

  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

Charts

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Allmusic Review
  4. ↑ Robert Christgau Review
  5. ↑ Rolling Stone Review
  6. ↑ Consumer Guide Robert Christgau Review
  7. ↑ STEREO REVIEW, July 1972, Vol. 28, #1, p. 84.
  8. ↑ Stereo Review, February 1973, Vol. 30, #2, p. 81.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.7733&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=lo0152od4caliufjkgh3mkphk6
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Allmusic – Paul Simon > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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
Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne
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