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Song of the Day #1,234: ‘Slip Slidin’ Away’ – Simon & Garfunkel

Because the Concert in Central Park was originally intended to be a Paul Simon solo gig, many of the featured songs are from Simon’s solo albums.

I imagine the setlist was changed a bit once Garfunkel’s participation was assured (‘Old Friends,’ for example, had to have been an addition meant for the duo) but many of the tracks would likely have been performed whether Garfunkel showed up or not. And that gives listeners the treat of hearing what Paul Simon’s solo records might have sounded like had he never split with Garfunkel.

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Song of the Day #1,233: ‘Old Friends/Bookends Theme’ – Simon & Garfunkel

In September of 1981, a planned Paul Simon solo concert turned into a generation-inspiring event when Simon invited Art Garfunkel to join him onstage in Central Park. Half a million people gathered on the Great Lawn to witness the historic reunion.

The resulting album is a lovely, touching document of the event and a hell of a batch of songs, too. It has a charmingly rough quality, including some flubbed verses and musical stumbles, which only serve to highlight the spontaneity of the show.

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Song of the Day #1,232: ‘The River’ – Bruce Springsteen

I have a pretty good working knowledge of all of Bruce Springsteen’s albums, even the ones I don’t own, but 1980’s The River has always been a mystery to me. And reading up on it for today’s blog entry, I’m fascinated by what I’m missing.

The River is a double album that continues the working-class blues theme of Springsteen’s earlier work but pairs it up lighter fare more in the pop vein. Musically, those styles are joined with more somber tracks that nod toward his next album, Nebraska.

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Song of the Day #1,231: ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ – Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen’s fourth album, 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town, was released three years after Born to Run, a period during which Springsteen was kept out of the studio due to a legal skirmish with his former manager.

Rather than capitalizing on his new-found fame by cutting a crowd-pleasing album, Springsteen decided to go darker (literally). Darkness on the Edge of Town follows the same sort of street smart characters as his early work but they are more often tragic than triumphant. These people might be born to run, but the circumstances of their lives have them cemented in place.

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Song of the Day #1,230: ‘Born to Run’ – Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen’s first two albums were critical smashes but they didn’t reach a mainstream audience. Even ‘Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),’ which has become a concert and classic rock radio staple, was ignored at the time.

But in 1975, all that changed with the release of Born to Run. Springsteen’s third album put him on the map, reaching #3 on the Billboard charts and quickly going Gold (it has since sold more than 6 million copies). Columbia Records promoted Springsteen and the album heavily, calling him “the future of rock-n-roll,” much to his chagrin.

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