Tag Archives: Paul Simon

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Song of the Day #1,163: ‘Sparrow’ – Simon & Garfunkel

It seems appropriate a week after I named Paul Simon as my favorite songwriter to explore his work in more detail. Welcome to Paul Simon Weekends!

Over the next few months, I will explore Simon’s work both with Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist. His career has spanned 47 years and 16 studio albums, plus a soundtrack and several live records. Lots of blog fodder there. So let’s dive right in with the 1964 debut of Simon & Garfunkel.

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM is a modest little folk record, released quietly in 1964 and quickly forgotten. It features five Paul Simon originals and seven covers of classic folk songs. The duo cover ‘Peggy-O’ and ‘Go Tell It On the Mountain’ as well as a track by one of Simon’s heroes — Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.’

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Song of the Day #1,155: ‘Hearts and Bones’ – Paul Simon

Best Songwriters – #1 – Paul Simon

I flirted with putting Bob Dylan, Ben Folds and Elvis Costello in my #1 spot, but I kept coming back to Paul Simon, the most unassuming of them all. I’ll get to my reasons in a minute.

First, I’d like to reference some of the artists I left off this list, artists who made the initial cut but didn’t quite survive.

Lucinda Williams and Lyle Lovett, two southern stalwarts, are basically tied for 11th place, and either could have cracked the top ten but for my soft spot for Billy Joel. Bruce Springsteen is a legend who, like Bob Dylan, has gotten better with age. Tom Petty is considered the poor man’s Springsteen, but he’s plenty rich for me.

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Song of the Day #1,132: ‘The Afterlife’ – Paul Simon

I’ve already posted my review of Paul Simon’s So Beautiful Or So What. The album jumped right to #1 on my list of the year’s albums and has remained there ever since.

Revisiting it four months later, I wouldn’t change a word of that review. In fact, this album has grown even richer over time. A couple of tracks that I hadn’t fully grasped during my first listens have settled in and become familiar.

Musically and lyrically, this is one of Simon’s most assured works and an amazing achievement this late in his storied career.

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Song of the Day #1,029: ‘Something So Right’ – Annie Lennox

Back when Annie Lennox first reached popularity as lead singer of the Eurythmics, she was better known for her androgynous orange-haired style and her atmospheric creep-rock music than her voice. Sure, she unleashed some high-pitched wailing in ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ but for the most part her vocal performance in that song was wonderfully robotic.

But in later years, Lennox proved to have one of the richest voices in the business. It was showcased beautifully on her 1995 solo record, Medusa, an album of covers on which she performs songs by the likes of Al Green, The Clash, Neil Young and Bob Marley.

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Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What

I’ve reviewed two albums in the past week by artists on the other side of 50, ancient by rock-and-roll standards. One was Lucinda Williams’ Blessed and the other was R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now. Both represent the best work those performers have released in years.

And now I have the privilege of reviewing the latest release of another elder statesman, Paul Simon, who is less than a year away from his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, his new album So Beautiful Or So What is receiving some of the best reviews of his career.

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