Entertainment For Lively Minds
There Goes Rhymin Simon...
Every now and then David Hepworth throws a curveball and recommends something that comes as close to being a life changing experience as an art form can.
He did it with The Wire and then again with On Chesil Beach – and now he has pointed me in the direction of one of the most consistent albums ever made, Paul Simon’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon
Had this been recorded with Art Garfunkel, then it would surely have been regarded as the best S&G album. Okay it doesn’t quite have anything as good as America or Only Living Boy in New York, but American Tune is not far off. Elsewhere the standards are consistently high, which is not something that can be said of Bookends or Bridge Over Troubled Water. As well as some great songs, the arrangements are among Simon’s finest, with help from Quincy Jones, The Dixie Hummingbirds and some New Orleans style horns courtesy from Allen Toussaint. I’m at an age now where there seem to be fewer and fewer albums that I enjoy listening to from end to end – so it was a true pleasure to discover this (I’m not quite putting it up there with Hissing of Summer Lawns but it comes pretty close in terms of the quality of the songs and the arrangements. Though Simon will never quite match Joni for sheer gravitas)
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If we're in Hepworth thanking mode,
can I throw in a mention of his review of the Traffic album, John Barleycorn Must Die that's in the current issue? I love this album, and have done for, oh, 40 years or so. DH has absolutely nailed it in his review; I nodded along sentence by sentence, grinning quietly, until something caught in my eye and I had to stop, compose myself, go to the shelf and put the darn thing on again. When you've read the review, if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and buy the record.
Barleycorn...
...always an intriguing album.
Which makes me think - there's nothing better than two sides of vinyl with three great tracks on each side (Spirit of Eden and Station To Station being the other examples).
It's the only album you need..
..if you're in the mood for that folk/soul/jazz/rock crossover thing.
(Unless you've also got the brilliant "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" which pips it slightly, 'cause the rhythm section is better)
And while we're at it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chateau-Revenge-Silver-Seas/dp/B003WLLPHQ/ref=sr...
"Chateau Revenge" by Silver Seas. It's wonderful. Go on. Try it.
Oh God yes,
I forgot that recommendation. I bought both Chateau Revenge and High Society as a result of David's remarks, and neither has left the 10 disc changer in the car since. And that's over 6 months ago. SUPERB albums.
Is that the band Danny Baker played a lot
at the end of last year? They was great
Oh and Joni Mitchell ain't fit to polish Paul Simons' shoes and that's a fact, Jack.
And thanks Mr H for recommending I watch the heartrending 'Zachary' film in your post about not recommending things.
While Simon and Mitchell...
..have some similarities, at the end of the day Simon is a Brill Building type songsmith with artistic pretensions (Don't get me wrong, I don't see that as particularly bad) whereas Mitchell is a true musical seeker.
She may not have always hit the mark, but when she did (Blue, Court and Spark, Summer Lawns) she left Simon (and everyone else) at singer-songwriter pre-school.
I love "Rhyming Simon", by the way
American Tune
is I feel the greatest song Paul Simon ever wrote and there have been a few.At the risk of incurring slapped knuckles there is a very good interview with Paul Simon in this months Uncut and from the only track I have yet heard it sounds like his new album will be pretty good and definitely something to look forward to. If you are new to There goes Rhymin Simon you may not be familiar with Still Crazy after all these years which I would most likely have as one of my Desert Island disc choices.
One Trick Pony
is often overlooked. It's one of my absolute favourites of his.
Another of Mr Hep's recommendations from a year or two ago
was Henry Purcell's incredible 40-part motet "Spem in Alium". An absolute humdinger from 1570, pop-pickers. Top stuff. I've played it often, and have the estimable Heppo to thank for the tip.
Respectfully
may I suggest that the Spem in alium 40-part motet you refer to is by Thomas Tallis, some 100 years before Purcell, who may also have written a Spem in alium, but if he did, it's not in 40 parts (it would be famous if it was).
My favourite Paul Simon album is Hearts and Bones, with There Goes ... a close second. Last summer I had a brief visit to Muscle Shoals, where he recorded some of Rhymin', to see the famous studios (only from the outside) - if Rich Hall hadn't been there in a documentary the previous week, I would never have known that building was the one - despite it being a national monument now, there's no signage to that effect.
And for maximum cheesiness, what do you think we played on the five-minute journey from our Memphis hotel to Elvis's house?
Embarrassment for duco01
Yes, of course Spem in Alium was Tallis, not Purcell. Egg on face for duco. That'll teach me to go for a fifth glass of Austrian Riesling and then go wandering around the Word site making schoolboy errors.
Mind you, having said that, I do like a bit of Purcell as well. The stuff he wrote for Queen Mary's funeral is very fine. And I'm rather partial to his Fantasias, too.
Paul Simon is the finest lyricist of his generation
And possibly any other so far.
Top 10 favourite Paul Simon albums
Sorry, I feel a list coming on ...
1. Hearts and Bones
2. The Rhythm of the Saints
3. "Paul Simon"
4. Songs from 'The Capeman' (unfairly maligned, I think)
5. There Goes Rhymin' Simon
6. Still Crazy After All These Years
7. Graceland
8. Surprise
9. You're the One
10. Live Rhymin'