Three years after There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, Paul Simon released Still Crazy After All These Years. And if it weren’t for the amazing, groundbreaking work to come in the 80s, I’d be quick to call this his best album.
A quiet, intimate record, like all of his solo albums to that point, Still Crazy doesn’t have a weak song on it. That includes the title track, one of Simon’s most famous, as well as the classic ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.’
Paul Simon’s second solo album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, was released a year after his first and featured some of his most enduring songs.
Album opener ‘Kodachrome,’ for example, is a lively concert staple which opens with the memorable line, “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.” And the album’s final track, ‘Loves Me Like a Rock,’ is a bit of gospel among a bunch of mellow folk-pop.
‘St. Judy’s Comet’ is a gentle lullaby and ‘Something So Right’ is one of Simon’s finest songs, with its achingly perfect melody and bittersweet theme of romantic uncertainty.
Back in December, I did a theme week on Simon and Garfunkel, singling out five songs from their brief but storied pairing. But of course the S&G albums are but a small piece of the overall Paul Simon puzzle, so I’m now turning my attention to the man’s solo career. I’ll highlight a song from each of his solo albums over the next two weeks.
Simon and Garfunkel broke up in 1970 and two years later Simon released his first solo album. That self-titled “debut,” I’m ashamed to say, is one of two Paul Simon albums I do not own. Despite my efforts to be a completist when it comes to my favorite artists, I still do have some weird holes in my CD collection.
Here’s another entry in that Greatest Albums Ever sweepstakes, and this one might just be the easy winner. Paul Simon’s Graceland was a revelation when it was released in 1986 and it remains a revelation today. Blending African rhythms with his city-boy pop aesthetic, Simon crafted a masterpiece that artists are still drawing inspiration from 25 years later (see: Vampire Weekend).
This is an album that never gets old. Even ‘You Can Call Me Al,’ which got more than its share of airplay on radio and MTV, still sounds fresh today. It’s that potent combination of the infectious rhythm tracks and Simon’s brilliant lyrics… you can always find something new in these songs.
