Paul Simon

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This article is about the musician; for other Paul Simons, see Paul Simon (disambiguation).

Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941 in Newark Heights, New Jersey) is a renowned Jewish American songwriter, receiving Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. He graduated Queens College and briefly attended Brooklyn Law School. Simon has been married three times; he is currently married to Edie Brickell whom he wed on May 30, 1992. He has four children, and his first son Harper Simon is a guitarist.

Contents

Early Career

Paul Simon's musical career began in high school in Queens, New York City, when he and his friend Art Garfunkel began singing together as a duo, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers, and in many ways the duo tried to imitate the Everly Brothers' style. Simon and Garfunkel fashioned themselves "Tom & Jerry," and it was under this name that the duo first tasted success. In 1957, they recorded the single "Hey, Schoolgirl," on Big Records which hit #49 on the pop charts while they were high school seniors.

After graduation, Simon went off to Queens College in Queens, New York, while Garfunkel matriculated to Columbia University in Manhattan. Though Simon earned a degree in English literature, his real passion was rock 'n roll. Between 1957 and 1964, Simon wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song," "That's My Story," and "Surrender, Please Surrender," among others.

Most of the songs Simon would record over the six years after 1957, however, would be performed either by himself or with musicians other than Garfunkel, and released on a multitude of minor record labels, such as Amy, ABC-Paramount, Big, Hunt, Ember, King, Tribute, and Madison. He used several different pseudonyms for these recordings, including Jerry Landis, Paul Kane (taken from Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane), and True Taylor. Simon enjoyed some mediocre success in recording a few singles under the pseudonym Tico as part of a group called Tico and the Triumphs. He wrote the song "Motorcycle," which was recorded by Tico and the Triumphs and reached #99 on the Billboard charts in 1962. That same year, he reached #97 on the pop charts with the hit "The Lone Teen Ranger" as Jerry Landis; both singles were released on Amy Records.

During this period Simon also met Carole King, with whom he recorded several unreleased demos as a duo called "The Cosines" to be recorded and released by other groups. In addition, Simon's experience in the studio led him to produce many singles for other acts, including The Vels, Ritchie Cordell, The Fashions, and groups with names such as "Jay Walker and the Pedestrians" and "Dougie and the Dubs." It was also at this time that he began to be attracted to the New York folk music scene, and in 1963 he produced two songs, "Carlos Dominguez," and "He Was My Brother," recorded on the Tribute label, that show his first efforts at a folk-rock musical style.

Simon & Garfunkel

In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records, whose executives were impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel," which, according to Simon, was the first time that ethnic names (both Simon and Garfunkel are of Jewish descent) were used in pop music [1].

Simon & Garfunkel's first LP, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released on 19 October 1964, consisted of a set of twelve songs in the folk vein, five of them written by Simon. The album initially flopped, but radio stations on the east coast of the USA began receiving requests for one of the songs on the LP that Simon wrote called "The Sound of Silence". Simon & Garfunkel's producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed the track with electric guitar, bass, and drums, and released it as a single that eventually went to #1 on the pop charts in the United States. Simon had gone to England after the initial failure of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and there had pursued a solo career, releasing the album The Paul Simon Song Book in the United Kingdom in 1965, but he returned to the USA to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sound of Silence" began to enjoy commercial success. Together they recorded several influential albums, including 1966's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970). Simon and Garfunkel also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of the 1967 film The Graduate (starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft). They recorded an early version of "Mrs. Robinson" specifically for the film; other songs by the duo were also used in the film.

Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their very popular album Bridge Over Troubled Water. Occasionally, he and Art Garfunkel would reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single, "My Little Town". In 1981, they reunited for the famous concert in Central Park. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

In 2003, he reunited, again, with Garfunkel when Simon and Garfunkel received Grammy's lifetime achievement award. This reunion led to the U.S. tour, the acclaimed "Old Friends" Concert series, followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Roman Coliseum. That final concert drew 600,000 people--100,000 more than attended Paul McCartney's concert at the same venue, one year earlier.

Solo career

After Simon and Garfunkel split in 1970, Paul Simon began to write and record solo material. He released Paul Simon in 1972, although this was not his first solo album. He continued to release remarkable material during the seventies, and in 1986 released the ground-breaking and immensely popular Graceland.

In 2000, Simon released an album titled "You're the One" backed up by concerts, one which was filmed in Paris, is available on DVD.

Simon has also dabbled in acting. He played music producer Tony Lacey in the 1977 Woody Allen film Annie Hall. He wrote and starred in 1980's "One-Trick Pony," playing Jonah Levin, a journeyman rock and roller.

During the mid-1960's, Paul Simon co-wrote the song "Red Rubber Ball" with Bruce Woodley of the Australian pop group The Seekers. When the American group The Cyrkle recorded a cover of the song, it reached #2 in America.

2004 reissues

In 2004, his record company announced the release of expanded editions of each of his solo albums, individually and together in a limited-edition nine-disc box set, "Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972-2000". Each of the expanded individual albums feature a total of 30 bonus tracks, including original song demos, live recordings, duets, six never-before-released songs and outtakes from each of his nine solo albums.

Among the bonus tracks included in the release are an acoustic demo of "Homeless," recorded prior to his sessions in South Africa with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from Graceland; "Shelter Of Your Arms," a previously unreleased song featuring a solo acoustic performance from the Hearts and Bones sessions; demos of "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" and "Duncan" recorded in San Francisco in 1971 by Paul Simon; the original demo of "Gone At Last," with the Jessy Dixon Singers, from Still Crazy After All These Years; "Spiral Highway" and "All Because Of You," unreleased performances from One Trick Pony (which use the same music as "How the Heart Approaches What it Yearns" and "Oh Marion," respectively); a work-in-progress called "Let Me Live In Your City," which eventually became the track "Something So Right" from There Goes Rhymin' Simon; early versions of "The Coast" and "Spirit Voices" from The Rhythm of the Saints; a duet with José Feliciano on "Born In Puerto Rico" plus outtakes from Songs From the Capeman, live cuts from the You're the One concert tour, and much more. Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, for his solo career and for the second time in his life.

Samples

Discography (as Paul Simon)

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock UK
1958 "True or False"/"Teenage Fool" [a] - - -
1959 "Anna Belle"/"Loneliness" [b] - - -
1959 "Don’t Take the Stars"/"So Tenderly" [c] - - -
1960 "Just A Boy"/"Shy" [b] - - -
1960 "Just A Boy"/"I'd Like To Be" [b] - - -
1960 "All Through The Night"/"To Think Of You Again" [c] - - -
1961 "I'm Lonely"/"I Wish I Weren't In Love" [b] - - -
1961 "Play Me A Sad Song"/"It Means A Lot To Them" [b] - - -
1961 "Motorcycle"/"I Don't Believe Them" [d] #99 - -
1962 "Wildflower"/"Express Train" [d] - - -
1962 "Cry, Little Boy, Cry"/"Get Up And Do The Wobble" [d] - - -
1962 "The Lone Teen Ranger"/"Lisa" [e] #97 - -
1962 "Cards of Love"/"Noise" [d] - - -
1962 "Tick Tock"/"Please Don't Tell Her" [f] - - -
1963 "Carlos Dominguez"/"He Was My Brother" [g] - - -
1964 "He Was My Brother"/"Carlos Dominguez" [b] [l] - - -
1965 "I Am A Rock"/"Leaves That Are Green" [h] - - - The Paul Simon Song Book
1972 "Mother And Child Reunion"/"Paranoia Blues" #4 - #5 Paul Simon
1972 "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard"/"Congratulations" #22 - #15 Paul Simon
1972 "Duncan"/"Run That Body Down" #58 - - Paul Simon
1973 "Kodachrome"/"Tenderness" #2 - - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
1973 "Loves Me Like A Rock"/"Learn How To Fall" [i] #2 - - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
1973 "American Tune"/"One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor" #35 - - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
1973 "Take Me To The Mardi Gras"/"Something So Right" - - - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
1974 "The Sound of Silence"/"Mother And Child Reunion" - - - Live Rhymin'
1975 "Gone At Last"/"Tenderness" [j] #23 - - Still Crazy After All These Years and There Goes Rhymin' Simon
1975 "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover"/"Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy" #1 - - Still Crazy After All These Years
1976 "Still Crazy After All These Years"/"I Do It For Your Love" #40 - - Still Crazy After All These Years (A-side only)
1977 "Slip Slidin' Away"/"Something So Right" [k] #5 - #36 Greatest Hits, Etc.
1977 "Stranded In A Limousine"/"Have A Good Time" [l] - - - Greatest Hits, Etc.
1980 "Late In The Evening"/"How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns" #6 - - One Trick Pony Soundtrack
1980 "One Trick Pony"/"Long, Long Day" #40 - - One Trick Pony Soundtrack
1981 "Oh, Marion"/"God Bless The Absentee" - - - One Trick Pony Soundtrack
1983 "Allergies"/"Think Too Much (b)" #44 - - Hearts and Bones
1984 "Think Too Much (a)"/"Song About The Moon" - - - Hearts and Bones (A-side); Still Crazy After All These Years (B-side)
1986 "You Can Call Me Al"/"Gumboots" #23 - #4 Graceland
1986 "Graceland"/"Hearts And Bones" - - - Graceland (A-side); Hearts and Bones (B-side)
1987 "The Boy In The Bubble"/"Crazy Love, Vol. II" #33 - - Graceland
1987 "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes"/"All Around The World, Or The Myth Of Fingerprints" #6 - - Graceland
1990 "The Obvious Child" #92 #24 - Rhythm of the Saints

[a] as True Taylor

[b] as Jerry Landis

[c] recorded on Laurie Records as a member of The Mystics

[d] recorded as Tico & The Triumphs with Mickey Borack, Marty Cooper, Gail Lynn and Howie Beck.

[e] as Jerry Landis, but recorded with the members of Tico & the Triumphs.

[f] backing vocals on this record by Ritchie Cordell

[g] as Paul Kane

[h] released only in the UK as CBS 201797

[i] A-side with The Dixie Hummingbirds

[j] A-side as a duet with Phoebe Snow

[k] A-side with The Oak Ridge Boys

[l] released only in the UK

NB: This discography does not include singles released under the pseudonym "Tom & Jerry" with Art Garfunkel or singles released by Simon & Garfunkel

References

[1] Paul Simon, Speech given upon induction to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, 2003.

Links

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