February 28 – Dodging Art, Paul Set Tone For Future Career

The ’70s were off to quite an impressive start 54 years ago. Hitting #1 on the Billboard singles chart this day in 1970 was that year’s biggest hit… and one of the best of the era. Simon & Garfunkel hit the top for the third and final time with what would become their signature tune, “Bridge over Troubled Water.”

The single was the title track from their final studio album, and the second single off it after the solid “The Boxer”. “Bridge…” came in at just about 5 minutes, which was long for a single back then so Columbia initially balked at releasing it unedited for radio, but the pair insisted and Clive Davis of Columbia had seldom been disappointed by them, so he acquiesced. Rather a smart call as it not only quickly earned them a gold single and sat on top of the singles chart for six weeks, it also went to #1 in Canada (where it likewise was the top seller of the year) and New Zealand and came close at #2 in Britain. A year later it won the pair Grammys for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

The title was somehow symbolic of the childhood friends who were going through some troubled waters (and would part ways very soon after.) Rolling Stone which puts it among the 50 greatest songs of all-time mentioned the irony that “when Simon wrote this tribute to friendship, he and Garfunkel were fighting over everything.” It was written entirely by Simon, as was almost the entire album, while Garfunkel was turning his attention to trying to be a movie star. Garfunkel’s only notable contribution was to sing what Paul told him; which in this case was the lead on the whole song… something Simon regretted soon. He admitted to feeling jealous of it and often played it in his later solo shows saying he was “going to reclaim my lost child.”

He wrote the song quickly; in fact he remembers “it all came all of a sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments in my songwriting career. I remember thinking, ‘this is considerably better than what I usually write.’” Whether or not it was considerably better is open to debate, but it certainly is on a par with his better pieces which have come out through his five-decade career. He was vaguely inspired by a gospel song called “Mary, Don’t You Worry” which had the line “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust me.” He said he envisioned the song as rather a gospel testimony.

When it was written, the music was put down in L.A. by the Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums and Larry Knetchel on electric guitar. A string section was brought in to add to the Spector “Wall of Sound” effect. Meanwhile, Art Garfunkel finally made his way to New York where he and Simon recorded the vocals – they tried for a Righteous Brothers sound – and some limited Simon acoustic guitar work. It was all done in about a day in each city.

While it became the already-popular pair’s biggest hit, and is ubitiquous, that hasn’t stopped others from interpreting it. It was one of the most covered songs of the ’70s, with Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley being the more noteworthy artists who did so. Simon approved of Elvis recording one of his songs, but said “he sang it well but it would have been nice to have him do it gospel, because he did so many gospel albums.” But be it pop or gospel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is one fine track… and that’s the gospel truth!

January 24 – Solo Simon Started Rhymin’

The waters between Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon were rather troubled by the early-’70s. Despite, or because of, the phenomenal success of their Bridge Over Troubled Waters record, the pair had differing goals and were no longer the best of friends. The making of that record (in New York) had been placed primarily on Paul’s shoulders, while Art was off filming movies on the West Coast. Simon wrote the record and did the vast majority of the putting together of the music. Garfunkel jetted back east to add a few vocals here and there, and according to label boss Clive Davis, was paid well over one million dollars for his efforts. Little wonder Simon was ready to walk.

Walk he did, and on this day in 1972, he put out his self-titled, pseudo-debut album. While he had put out an album in 1965, he had been relatively unknown at the time, and the record tanked. The ’72 LP was the emergence of Paul Simon, the star. Simon wrote the 11 song record almost by himself, played the guitar and sang while enlisting A-list help from the Wrecking Crew (and others) to fill out the music. Among the session musicians were drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, keyboard wiz Larry Knetchel and singing backup, not Garfunkel but Whitney’s mom Cissy Houston.

While the album still sounded reminiscent of the popular duo thanks to Simon’s singing and the basic folk rock structure, it was a departure as well. Simon came to the forefront in the ’80s with his world music-inspired Graceland; the origins of that sound and interest began here. Recording the album at studios from L.A. to New York to Paris and then Kingston, Jamaica, he demonstrated a definite fascination with slightly more exotic sounds than his fans were accustomed to. Besides the usual easy-going acoustic folk-pop there were tinges of Latin American music, of Jamaican reggae, and even bluegrass fiddle music, on the instrumental “Hobo’s Blues” for instance.

From Columbia’s Davis to music critics, the consensus was that while it might not match the acme of Simon & Garfunkel, it was a pretty darn good “debut”. For example, the Village Voice review said it was the “only thing in the universe to make me particularly happy in the first two weeks of 1972.” Reviews have stayed positive through the subsequent years, with Rolling Stone and allmusic retroactively rating it a perfect 5-stars. The latter said “if any musical justification were needed for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel, it could be found on this striking collection” which showed Paul to have “a much broader range of musical interests than he had previously demonstrated.” Of course, as with a fair bit of his ’70s work, a number of the songs like “Congratulations” were inspired by his marriage to Peggy Harper, which was on the rocks and be a major source of songs from his Still Crazy After All These Years three years later.

The public concurred. Paul Simon hit #1 in Britain as well as in Scandinavia, and made the top 5 in both the U.S. and Canada. It was the first of six platinum solo albums for him at home to this point. That was largely because of the two catchy, in or Caribbean tinged singles, “Mother & Child Reunion” and “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard.” The first hit the top 5 in the States, UK and Canada while Julio went up into the Canadian top 10 and American top 30.

October 19 – Picture Having 7 Great Songs About Photography

Ringo Starr was fast out of the gates after the Beatles broke up, putting out two albums of cover songs in 1970 followed by a couple of standalone hit singles, “It Don’t Come Easy” and Back off Boogaloo.” But by 1973, he was ready to show what he was capable of with a new album with a few original songs of his. What he could also do was still get along with his ex-bandmates, more than any of them it would seem and his Ringo album contained a John Lennon song (“I’m the Greatest”), a Paul McCartney one (“Six O’clock”) , and one co-written by former Beatles road manager Mal Evans (“You and Me”). Oh, and George Harrison. Just as Lennon and both Paul and Linda McCartney appeared on some tracks of the album, so too did George, playing guitar and adding backing vocals on several songs including one which debuted in Britain 50 years ago today. “Photograph” was released in Europe this day in 1973, a week or so after its American debut and just ahead of the release of the album itself.

“Photograph” was written by George and Ringo together about two years prior, when they were vacationing in the Mediterranean on a yacht with their wives. Clearly, it was a high point on the record and just a flat-out good single. Billboard applauded its “stunning production” and predicted it would soon be a #1 song. It became his first #1 song in the U.S. (and one of three of his to go gold), Australia and New Zealand and his second #1 in Canada. Years later, allmusic applauded it as “among the very best post-Beatles songs by any of the Fab Four.”

Who doesn’t relate to the psychological impact a great photo can have on a person? Much like that of a great song. It got me thinking, there’ve been a lot of songs written about photography. Ringo’s “Photograph” has to be one of the best … and with that in mind, we present it and the other Shutter Speediest Seven! Seven great songs about photography!

“Kodachrome” Paul Simon -from the same year as Ringo’s hit, Rhymin’ Simon presented a catchy ode to nostalgia… and the most popular professional film of the day to capture the memories on. One of his best melodies as well as lyrics, happily Paul has lived on long after Kodak discontinued the slide film.

“Photograph” Def Leppard. Jumping forward about a decade, the British rockers made their presence known in North America with this rocker that expands on Ringo’s theme. They have a photograph, and that’s nice but touching a photo isn’t as satisfying as touching the person!

“Photograph” REM with Natalie Merchant. The Georgia lads and their head maniac (out of 10 000) friend were at their best in the early-’90s and recorded this great poignant one about finding an old photograph and wondering just who that faded beauty was and what her life was like. Amazingly, it was initially discarded by REM, but found its way onto a later benefit album. (Honorable Mention to their song called “Camera”).

“Kamera” Wilco. They spelled it weirdly and the song is quite different, but hey just as you have abstract pictures, you can have abstract songs… possibly about abstract pictures. Who knows? We do know it was one of the highlights on their great Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

“Girls on Film” Duran Duran. Hey, if you were about 20 years old, a sexy heartthrob singer, what would you want to document on your Kodachrome? One of their better early songs and the video that made a lot of equally young men decide all of a sudden that they too wanted their MTV!

“Gentlemen Take Polaroids” Japan. Sort of the flipside to the Duran one, classy Japan suggest you might not want to share too much with the good folks down at the One Hour Photo, because yes, they looked at your pictures rolling by in the machine. Fine, atmospheric song that either wins points or loses a few by sounding like a Roxy Music knockoff.

There you have it – the Shutter Speediest Seven, songs about photography. What do you think? Should the Verve Pipe’s “Photograph” have made the list? Jim Croce’s “Photographs and Memories”? The Cure’s “Pictures of You”? Any others I missed? Making the list turns out not to be such a “snap”!

August 15 – Thursday In The Park May Have Felt Like 4th Of July

82 degrees and sunny – a nice day to spend in the park, and thousands of New Yorkers did just that 32 years ago. What better reason to play hookie from work on a Thursday afternoon than to see a hometown hero perform. Paul Simon held his Concert in the Park on this day in 1991. The free concert was reminiscent of the one he and Art Garfunkel had played ten years earlier, to a crowd numbering in the hundreds of thousands and enthusiastic reviews.

This time though, there’d be no Garfunkel. As the snubbed singer told the New York Times “dejectedly” the day before, “he hadn’t been asked to perform,” adding “my guess is would hurt his sense of stature.” Simon wouldn’t be alone on stage of course. While he played his guitar and sang, he was joined by a talented backing band consisting mostly of World Music stars, many of whom he’d used on his Graceland album, such as South African guitarist Ray Phiri and Brazilian drummer Cyro Baptista. No small surprise, as he was finishing up his tour for 1990’s Rhythm of the Saints, a World Music-influenced effort following his massively successful, African-sounding Graceland.

Once again, Simon managed to offer the concert for free (for people there; it was broadcast live on HBO for those who couldn’t attend) and drew a happy and large crowd, although how large is a matter of great debate. Like some politicians of late, Simon might have fudged the numbers upwards and claimed 600 000 people were there. Some critical journalists said only about 50 000 people could fit into the area of the park he used. Based on aerial photos, the truth was probably somewhere in between. No matter the exact tally, it was a huge crowd and Simon didn’t disappoint.

He played for nearly two hours, running through a set combining a number of songs on his recent album with many of his older hits and finishing with some of his best-loved Simon & Garfunkel ones. Starting with the little-known “The Obvious Child” he went into Graceland‘s “The Boy in the Bubble” before hitting his gold record chest for ones like “Kodachrome,” “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard”, “Graceland”, “Late in the Evening” and “Loves Me Like A Rock” before finishing up strong with “America,” “The Boxer”, “Cecilia” and “The Sounds of Silence.” Although he did change up a tune or two (like the “Africanized version” of “Cecilia”, as allmusic describe it), the tunes were well-accepted and the crowd pleased. As the L.A. Times put it, “it was clear from the audience’s reaction to the music of Simon’s celebrated Graceland period that Ladysmith Black Mombaza would have caused a bigger stir than Simon’s old partner.”

As good as the crowd reaction was, the aftermath wasn’t the commercial success the singer had hoped for. He put it out as the double-album Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park, on LP, cassette and CD as well as a video version on VHS and laserdisc. However, unlike the concert a decade earlier which became quite a hit as an album, this one peaked at just #74 on the album chart and the single, “Still Crazy After All These Years” was ignored entirely. So poorly did it do at the checkout that the label never bothered to re-release it on DVD, although curiously PBS recently did that themselves, offering it as a “reward” for donors.

Despite its poor showing sales-wise, it was regarded as a quite good listen. Allmusic gave it 4-stars, saying it was an “enjoyable and surprisingly cohesive career summation” and Simon’s biographer Chris Charlesworth declared it was “the album to have if you want only one Paul Simon album.” Which, we guess might be one more album of his than Art Garfunkel wants!

June 11 – A Rock That Floated Them Towards The Top

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That might have been Paul Simon’s philosophy years ago as on this day in 1966 his song “I Am A Rock” was a big hit – it was sitting at #3 in the U.S., as recorded by him and his buddy Art in Simon & Garfunkel. He’d put the song out as a single himself about a year earlier to a resounding lack of interest or success.

Simon & Garfunkel had been together in the 1950s as Tom & Jerry and had some success, but under their own names seemed to be going nowhere. So when their initial release on Columbia Records basically flopped, Simon moved to England, saying “there was no place to play in New York City.” In the UK he hung out with people like Cat Stevens and recorded a solo folk album, The Paul Simon Songbook, which came out only over there. In time he was happy with that fact; eventually it was released in North America in 1981 at which time he wrote that “there are some here that I would not write today” and indicating he didn’t think the then 24 year old was yet living upto his potential. However, this song, an anthem of anti-social hurt with classic lines like “I’ve built walls, a fortress deep and mighty that none can penetrate” wasn’t one of the ones that were sub-standard. By the way, he has pointed out the song was in no ways autobiographical.

Then a funny thing happened. The Simon & Garfunkel producer, Tom Wilson, back in the States, decided to tweak one of the songs off their first album… “The Sound of Silence.” He got session musicians to fill in the sparse arrangement with more guitar, bass and drums. Suddenly it became a hit! Simon was recalled to New York to work on a new album with Garfunkel, and “I Am A Rock” was done for it in the enhanced, Wilson-style (which Simon said he didn’t like at all when he first heard it.) It was a little less spry than the original but had a fuller sound.  Paul played acoustic guitar but great L.A. session musicians were called in to add to it, although just who they are is a mystery. Most sources, and the album itself, would suggest that it was Wrecking Crew stalwards Carol Kaye on bass, Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knetchel on organ and Joe Smith on electric guitar. Clearly they worked on some of the Sounds of Silence LP, but many suggest that on this particular track, they borrowed some of Bob Dylan’s backing musicians (he was recording at the same time), notably Bobby Gregg on drums and Ralph Casale on guitars. Casale claims that, saying “”I was given a lead sheet…just chords, and asked to play the 12-string electric guitar. The producer wanted a sound similar to the Byrds.”

Whoever was playing behind Simon & Garfunkel, it worked and created a powerful folk-rock classic that was a bit of a contrast to the generally happy, breezy pop sounds that were big that year. “I Am A Rock” got to #3 at home, making it their third top 10 hit in a year, and made the top 10 in New Zealand and Canada as well. In UK, where they’d perhaps already heard the slightly different just-Paul one, it hit #17. And helped buoy them up to quickly rise to superstardom and the marquee name on Columbia for some years.

The single was mixed a little differently than the album cut, but the gem for collectors would be a radio promo copy from back then. Columbia issued one to radio stations on red vinyl with it in stereo on one side, mono the other.

May 7 – Did Rhymin’ Simon Make Art Seem Not Quite So Smart?

As the 1960s turned into the ’70s, Simon and Garfunkel were not only the hottest duo in music, but with the breakup of the Beatles, a top contender for the hottest musical act going. No wonder Clive Davis and his Columbia Records were dismayed – and irate – when they decided to go their separate ways.

As it turns out, all involved (with the possible exception of Art Garfunkel) came out alright. Paul Simon had been the main writer for S&G and had put together their epic Bridge over Troubled Waters album almost single-handedly. He made the transition to solo artist fairly easily, and the public were eager to hear what he had for them.

On this day in 1973, they got more of a taste as he put out his second post-Simon&Garfunkel album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, about 15 months after his self-titled debut*. (the * because 1972’s Paul Simon was his second album, seven years after his real debut, the Paul Simon Songbook, which had gone almost unnoticed before he and Art became a big deal.)

Simon had taken his time putting this one together. He’d recorded it over nearly a year at studios in New York, London, Mississippi and the famous Muscle Shoals in Alabama. He’d enlisted different producers in the various studios to help him (Paul co-produced) including Phil Ramone, the Muscle Shoals team and Roy Hallee, an old friend who’d worked on Bookends with Paul and Art. And while Paul wrote the songs, sang and played his acoustic guitar on them, he brought in dozens of other musicians to fill out the sound…28 or more plus a full brass band on the Dixieland-tinged “Take Me To Mardi Gras” as well as a full gospel choir, the Dixie Hummingbirds to add some backing vocals. Rick Marotta and Quincy Jones were among the better-known names who took part in the studio.

The result was typical Paul. Ten songs with interesting, at times deep lyrics and hummable melodies put together well. The highlights may well have been the first two singles off it, “Kodachrome” a song named for a film brand that invoked a lovely nostalgia , and the gospel-touched “Loves Me Like A Rock.”

Critics were impressed. The Chicago Tribune rated it a perfect 4-stars, suggesting Paul “digs even deeper ito blues and gospel whle retaining his pop sense” and Rolling Stone figured it “a rich and moving song cycle, in which every cut reflects on every other to create an ever-widening sense of refractions.” the Denver Post declared it “the finest album in three years”… in fact since Bridge over Troubled Waters.

The public weren’t missing Art G. all that much either. …Rhymin’ Simon outsold his previous one and hit #2 in the U.S., #3 in Canada and #4 in the UK. It was a #1 hit in Sweden, oddly enough. The third single, the Bach-inspired melody of “American Tune”, a song that wouldn’t have felt out-of-place in one of the latter Simon & Garfunkel records, hit #35 in the States, but it was the first pair that really got noticed. “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like A Rock” (one of the tunes he utilized the gospel Dixie Hummingbirds on) both made it to #2 in the U.S. and were top 5’s in Canada. Neither charted in the UK, although in the case of “Kodachrome” that was because Columbia never released it as a single because they knew the BBC wouldn’t play it. That was because of their strict policy on no-advertising and their belief that a song with a brand name in the title was mere advertising for the company than a work of art.

We don’t know if Kodak sales jumped in ’73 due to Rhymin’ Simon, but we do know the album, Paul without Art, was indeed a work of art.

April 22 – Swamper Guitar Carr An Unknown Star

The South had two great “rhythm sections”. Unsung heroes in the music world, session musicians and music producers who worked in the background to make other musicians work shine. While the most famous such outfit anywhere was likely L.A.’s Wrecking Crew (with the likes of Glen Campbell, Carol Kaye and Hal Blaine), in Georgia there was the fine Atlanta Rhythm Section, musical aces from a studio in Doraville who eventually put out their own hit records. Less widely known but equally talented, across the border in Alabama was Muscle Shoals. A studio used by R&B, rock and country stars through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Nicknamed “the Swampers”, they got a nice shout out in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s anthem “Sweet Home Alabama.” Today we remember one of the finest Swampers, Pete Carr. Pete was born on this day in 1950.

Carr was perhaps the guitarist in the Muscle Shoals set. Born in Florida, like so many others of his generation, he decided on a career in music after seeing and hearing the Stones and the Beatles. He began playing guitar at 13; at 15 he met the Allman Brothers at a concert. He and Duane became friends and in 1968 the two of them (as well as Gregg Allman) were in the short-lived band Hourglass together. Duane was a particularly big influence on Pete’s playing, but he admired a range of other guitarists from Clapton to Chet Atkins.

After Hourglass, he moved to Alabama to take a job at Muscle Shoals as a session musician. There was no shortage of work for him! Soon after getting there, he was playing on and producing Sailcat’s hit “Motorcycle Mama.” It was nowhere but up for him through the decade, with him playing on almost every recording done at Muscle Shoals in the ’70s (he did at least 500) including Skynyrd, Joan Baez, Cat Stevens, Paul Anka, and Mary McGregor’s one big hit, “Torn Between Two Lovers”. He played the guitar on Rod Stewart’s sexy smash “Tonight’s the Night,” but was especially close to a couple of other superstars – Bob Seger and Paul Simon. He worked on some seven Seger albums, including the standout guitar work on his hit “Main Street.” But Simon was his fave.

“I always thought Paul Simon was fantastic – in the same league as the Beatles. So when he walked in the studio, it was an awe-inspiring moment for me.” He played on several Simon records including the hit “Kodachrome” and apparently made an impact on Paul. When Simon & Garfunkel reunited in 1981 for the massive Central Park concert, they brought Carr in to play behind them.

Unlike Atlanta’s Rhythm Section, Muscle Shoals didn’t do much recording of their own, but Pete was a brief exception. He paired up with Lenny LeBlanc in 1978 for the album Midnight Light, which gave them the top 20 soft rock hit “Falling”, a song which has remained popular enough to win a BMI Award for radio airplay in 2005.

Carr’s work slowed down in the 21st Century and sadly he passed away last year at age 70 after an undisclosed but lengthy illness. Curiously, Carr wasn’t even the most famous guitarist named “Pete” born on April 22, 1950. Because, we wish a happy 73rd birthday today to Peter Frampton!

February 14 – Simon Presented Opposing Argument To The Day

For every action, there’s an inverse reaction, it’s said. So fittingly – at least to fit that rule – on this Valentine’s Day in 1976, there was sort of an “inverse” song on top. Paul Simon‘s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” was back at #1 for the second of a three week run on top. Amazingly, it’s Simon’s only solo #1 song yet in the U.S.

The timing might have been coincidental, but I imagine a lot of singles and unhappy halves in couples were feeling the song more than ever at the season of hearts and roses. It was the second single off Simon’s 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years, his first #1 album without Art Garfunkel by his side. If the song came across as a bit callous and cynical about love… well, no wonder. Simon wrote the record while going through a divorce from his first wife, Peggy.

“I woke up early one morning in my apartment on Central Park and the opening words just popped into my head,” he said, adding “it’s basically a nonsense song.” His brother says Paul developed the words to teach his three year old son how to rhyme. He wanted a sparse sounding record so he built it around the subtle and sublime drumming from Steve Gadd. Gadd was an in demand session drummer who’d just done the disco hit “The Hustle” with Van McCoy and would soon after go on to work with Steely Dan. Simon might have been losing a wife, but was never alone it would seem. He had help from much of the Big Apple’s finest studio musicians including guitarist Hugh McCracken ( a veteran of records by the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, the Left Banke and Paul McCartney) and on organ, Kenneth Ascher, a regular on John Lennon’s records of the era. To keep him, and his voice company were backing singers Valerie Simpson, Patti Austin and Phoebe Snow, with whom he’d collaborated on the album’s first single, “Gone at Last.”

We don’t know if “Stan” or “Roy” took his musical advice and went their own ways, but we do know the song started a sort of party game with people offering their own rhyming advice on how to ditch one’s partner, and was a popular hit worldwide…although nowhere more so than in his cynical or bored homeland. The song got to #7 in Canada, #2 in France and #23 in Britain. In the U.S. it scored him a gold single and ended up among the Bicentennial Year’s top 10 songs.

Valentines take heart though. While “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” was a big hit, the year’s top single was one with the opposite sentiment – “Silly Love Songs” by McCartney and Wings, which ended up being the top single of the entire year.

February 8 – Songbird Chirped About Poetry Man

Beginner’s luck perhaps, but Phoebe Snow entered the music world in a pretty big way. Her debut single, “Poetry Man” hit the U.S. top 40 on this day in 1975. It helped the then-24 year old New York singer/songwriter’s self-titled debut album go gold and earn her a nomination for Best New Artist Grammy.

Like many other female singers of the era, Phoebe began her career playing her own music with an acoustic guitar around the cafes of New York. Her songwriting abilities and four-octave voice stood out and Shelter Records – Leon Russell’s label – signed her quickly in the early-’70s. They brought in a range of talent to help her out with the first album, including Phil Ramone who co-produced.

“Poetry Man” was only the second song she’d ever written. She was of mixed emotions about it later on, saying “I was trying so hard to be this hip and groovy person. I was so stupid,” adding “I was having a relationship with somebody. From the words you can probably deduce the guy was married. It was a bad thing to do.” Many thought the married guy was Jackson Browne, a friend whom she opened for on tour but she’s always denied it. “It’s somebody you wouldn’t know.” She also thought the record (which usually grumpy Robert Christgau described as a “striking” and “langourous” ) was “more jazz-oriented” than she wanted. A bad relationship perhaps but “I got a lovely romantic sonnet out of it.” And a big hit record.

The single topped North American adult contemporary/easy listening charts and went all the way to #5 on the Billboard sales chart. Unfortunately it would be by far the biggest hit of her career. Although many consider her a “one hit wonder”, she did make the charts again in 1975 with “Gone At Last”, a duet with Paul Simon.

Things went downhill for her quickly after that. She and Shelter didn’t get along well and went to court over her contract, and it took two years for it to be resolved and her to move on to Columbia. Soon after she had a daughter who was disabled, and Phoebe put her music on the backburner through most of the ’80s to look after her. She did do quite well writing commercial jingles in that decade though. More sadly she had a stroke in 2010 and after a year spent mostly in a coma, passed away in 2011 at age 60.

October 6 – Simon’s Musical Foray Not So Crazy

About four years after splitting from his musical partner, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon was finding himself going solo in another way in 1975. He was going through a divorce with his first wife, Peggy, and that was the overall theme and background to his third solo album of the decade, Still Crazy After All These Years, released this day 45 years back. Curiously, the album brought about a reconciliation with the musical divorcee, with Simon & Garfunkel back together for one track, “My Little Town.”

Simon recorded the record in his big town (New York City) but brought in some members of the famous Alabama “group” the Muscle Shoals rhythm section as session players and got some quality help as well from the likes of Patti Austin and Phoebe Snow for backing vocals and David Sanborn on sax. Perhaps foreshadowing his embrace of world music a decade later with Graceland, he even got a famous Brazilian musician, Sivuca, to play accordion on one track, “I Do it For your Love.”

Simon wrote all the songs, including “My Little Town”. He actually wrote that specifically for Garfunkel, but they decided it would be good as a duo and a sort of career encore, so they did it together. It also came out on Garfunkel’s album, Breakaway, and the single managed to cram songs by both artists onto the b-side. Simon says it was a fictitious song, based on relatively easy-to-understand desires of a young person to get away from a boring small town, but Garfunkel figured it was written directly about him, and his need to get away from “an area where a career in music was not seen as a desirable nor exciting life.” The pair appeared together on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live around that time to perform it, and the public loved the reboot of the duo. It became a top 10 single, but that paled beside the album’s smash hit, eluding more to Simon’s own life. “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” was rhymin’ Simon’s first #1 solo hit in the U.S. after getting to the #2 spot twice before.

The wistful title track also hit the top 40, as did his duet with Phoebe Snow, “Gone at Last”, helping the album get to #1 as well both at home and in Canada.

Fans loved it, and in general critics did too even if they thought it wasn’t the height of his ability. At the time Britain’s The Guardian rated it as 4-stars (out of 5) and Rolling Stone, a perfect 5. Later on, Entertainment Weekly and allmusic each rated it just below his previous two, but better than anything he’d do again until Graceland. Entertainment Weekly graded it “B+”, calling it “droll” and a “brooding meditation on marital troubles”, while allmusic noted it’s “overall feel was of a jazzy style”, quite good but the “songs reeking of smug self-satisfaction” marred it a bit, although “at (the songs) best, such sentiments were undercut by humor”, as in “50 Ways…”, but they noted that “as out of sorts as Simon may have been, he was never more in tune with his audience.” That was eluding to both it hitting the top of the charts and that it won Simon Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Performance.