Graceland Saints
Why is it that I bought the Paul Simon album Graceland when it came out in 1986 and have listened to it and loved it for 25 years, but I never bought or listened to the follow-up, Rhythm of the Saints, from 1990, until last month? May be that I thought so highly of Graceland that I couldn’t imagine its successor living up to it. Not a good reason. But it probably is the reason.
So I’ve finally spent some time with Rhythm of the Saints and another Paul Simon album I hadn’t heard, Surprise, from 2006, thanks to my pal Walker’s bequeath of his CD collection to me. I’m liking them both quite a bit. My biggest criticism of all of these albums has to do with Paul Simon himself. He had the ideas, he wrote most of the songs, he did most of the arrangements. All superb contributions to American culture. It’s his voice, which nestled pretty well into the folky acoustic stuff, but sometimes on these recordings seems like the sound of the younger brother trying to run with the big dogs. Still, the songs work most of the time.
And so, a top ten Paul Simon solo list:
- “I Know What I Know” (1986) My favorite cut from Graceland, mostly because of those wild Gaza Sisters on the backup vocals. And the fretless bass of Baghiti Khumalo. General G.M. Shirinda wrote the music.
- “Graceland” (1986) The title cut from the African album is a masterpiece.
- “Duncan” (1972) The singer, in comfortable surroundings following the Simon & Garfunkel breakup, relates a “Boxer”-style saga on the first solo album.
- “Can’t Run But” (1990) My current favorite Paul Simon song is from Rhythm of the Saints and has a Steve Reich fluidity about it. Its a fidgety, insistent running song: “Can’t run but I can walk much faster than this…”
- “American Tune” (1973) This gorgeous song from There Goes Rhymin’ Simon is one I used to love to hear my buddy John Wilson sing.
- “Beautiful” (2006) Brian Eno provided the “sonic landscapes” for the songs of Surprise. It works very well, and on this one Simon’s voice fits nicely and feels at home.
- “Peace Like a River” (1972) A gem from Paul Simon, this one has some very nice acoustic guitarwork.
- “She Moves On” (1990) Another reason I regret waiting so long to listen to Rhythm of the Saints.
- “Love Me Like a Rock” (1973) Backed by the Dixie Hummingbirds, this is Paul Simon’s most fun, liberated song–and it was a monster hit.
- “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” (1986) Another group that helped Paul Simon out was Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and that group’s leader Joseph Shabalala co-wrote this mystical song.
This list leaves out Still Crazy After All These Years, Hearts and Bones, and several other solo albums. And I haven’t yet heard his latest release (still recordin’ after all these years–he just turned 70). Some songs from those albums might make a top 20 list. But the albums these ten songs are on are so full of great stuff that it’d be a fight.
Related articles
- This Week’s Interesting Music Releases – October 25th, 2011 (largeheartedboy.com)
- Progress Report: Paul Simon (stereogum.com)
