Full Article Text
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
South Africa , Video , Ladysmith Black Mambazo , Paul Simon , Graceland , Paul Simon
Graceland , Entertainment News
16 17 13 9React
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyPaul Simon's Graceland Turns 25 --
Part Four: A Track by Track Review
PAUL SIMON: GRACELAND 25TH ANNIVERSARY
DELUXE BOXED SET: $119.98
CD/DVD SET: $15.98MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Was The Whole Donald
Trump Announcement A
Gigantic, Pointless Bust?
Mourdock On Abortion:FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
This Might Be The Most Important
Vote You'll Cast This YearOctober 25, 2012
Edition: U.S.
Chip Davis Tavis Smiley
James Franco Gov. Jennifer M. GranholmHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 117
Posted: 06/16/2012 7:25 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 11k
Movie Trailers Smarter Ideas iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More Log in Create Account
LP: $24.98
Paul Simon's album Graceland has turned 25 sounding better than ever. Its impact on music and culture
is vast and any list of the best albums of all time looks silly if Graceland doesn't appear on it somewhere.
The bestselling solo album for an artist who continues to produce great music, Graceland is a landmark,
but not one that has grown dusty with Importance. It's not just a "significant" work with historical
meaning; it's also an exhilarating collection of songs as timeless and current as ever. This is the fourth of
a four-part series covering the boxed set, its cultural impact, the story of the boycott and the music itself.You can buy the album in any configuration from Paul Simon's website or any major outlet.
Part One: The Boxed Set Review
Part Two: The Cultural ImpactPart Three: The BoycottPart Four: The Album, Track By TrackPART FOUR: THE ALBUM, TRACK BY TRACK
When an album becomes as popular as Graceland , when it becomes part of the musical landscape for
decades, it can be easy to take it for granted. As fans, the more we play an album, sometimes the harder
it can become to actually listen to it with fresh ears. That's why a serious sonic upgrade via remastering
is a great opportunity to sit down and really pay attention to an album we know so well. New remastering
can reveal details that weren't as prominent before, uncover sounds and instruments we barely noticedand otherwise freshen up a masterpiece.
If you listen to One Trick Pony and Hearts & Bones before diving in, the shock will be greater. Pony has
the wonderful "Late In The Evening" but it's still probably the only Simon solo album that has little to
offer. Hearts and Bones has a much stronger collection of songs, but the weakest element of both albums
is easily the melody and arrangements. Even their sound feels dated. Compared to the supremeconfidence and melodic sophistication of the Grammy winning album Still Crazy After All These Years,they clearly show an artist who is adrift. And then came Graceland .
SIDE ONE (remember those?)
"THE BOY IN THE BUBBLE"
The wheezing accordion of Forere Motloheloa (the sound from which the song sprang) is immediately
punctuated by alarming drum cracks. But before the mood gets too ominous, a jaunty bass line joins inand the rhythm becomes a matter-of-fact, daily routine sort of rhythm and Simon is delivering up casuallines that take us through whip-saw changes of emotion that capture perfectly the terrifying changes atthe turn of the 21st century. "It was a slow day," he intones casually, but before we know it we'veexperienced an act of terrorism (the bomb in the baby carriage set off around civilians). This startlingimage is superseded by the chorus that assures us "these are the days of miracles and wonders;" people
can make long distance calls, but their every movement is tracked by cameras that "follow us in slo-mo."
The rush of images continues, with Simon capturing the way our political culture seems controlled by the
wealthy with a casual rhyme that refers glancingly to "a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires."
All the terrors and promise of modernity are encapsulated in this opener, which also moves along in a
rush of music. Choral voices buried deeply in the background provide some comfort as the accordioncarries on with its melody, happily indifferent to the chaos around it. Have I mentioned how infectiousthe song is? You're singing "Medicine is magical and magical is art/ The Boy in the Bubble/ And the babywith the baboon heart" before you even think about what it means. Most remarkable of all, this song istimeless and toe-tapping. It starts the album off an exuberant note. Simon finishes it by humming alongquietly to the musical track that has rushed along in just four minutes. And yet, what are the last wordshe says to us on the first track of the most confident and exciting album of his career? "Don't cry, baby,don't cry don't cry don't cry." It's not often pop music can acknowledge the uncertainty of life withoutsuccumbing to dread or pomposity. Simon slips in the needle when we're not looking, giving us thecomfort of the music even as he details exactly how scared we truly are. Finally, Simon doesn't writeprotest songs. But with its glancing reference to acts of violence and air of unease, he paints a picture ofreality that would have been all too familiar to the people of South Africa.
"GRACELAND"
Paul Simon says "Graceland" may be the best song he's ever written. Given the number of tunes he's
crafted that are classics, that's a high compliment. And it's probably true because "Graceland" works onso many levels. So why isn't it the opening track or closing track on Side One or Side Two? It would seeman obvious scene setter: Here we are, going on a musical journey. But Simon knows after the thunderous,disconcerting opener that people need to catch their breath. The unusual musical details of "Graceland"aren't that pronounced so it feels more familiar on first listen. So here is the strongest song of Simon'scareer modestly placed as track number two. As detailed in the documentary film that comes withvarious editions of this release, Simon got the lyrics "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland/ In Memphis,
Pregnancy From Rape Is
'Something God Intended'
WATCH: Vivica A. Fox SLAMS
Stacey Dash's Romney
Endorsement
WATCH: U.N. Chief Dances
Gangnam-Style
Another Day In Polls, Still
Neck-And-Neck
Coulter Uses Slur Against
Obama
Allred Goes To Court Over
Mitt Romney Divorce
Testimony
Special Olympics Athlete
Writes Open Letter To Ann
Coulter Over 'Retard' Remark
Teen Suspect Arrested In
Killing Of Jessica Ridgeway
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Chip Davis
Halloween Is a Night Like No
Other
Tavis Smiley
The Top 20 (Cause 10 Ain’t
Enough) Reasons (Excuses) Black
Folk Will Give if Obama Loses
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2Recommend 96k
Like 1k
Recommend 1k
Like 247
Like 40k
Recommend 2k
Like 12k
Recommend 939
Kristen Stewart's Leggy Jumpsuit
Helen Hunt
Faked Kidnapping
WATCH: Vivica A. Fox
Tennessee" stuck in his head. He was sure they wouldn't last because he was inspired here by African
music, not Elvis Presley. Besides, Simon had never even been to Graceland. But unlike Paul McCartney
(who found better lyrics for a new melody than "Scrambled Eggs," the first name for "Yesterday"), Simon
couldn't shake the lines.
So he decided, hey, if he's going to write a song about Graceland he better actually go to Graceland and
headed down South. As Simon said in the film, if he hadn't made the physical journey, he would never
have seen the sun glinting off the river and come up with the lines that anchored this metaphysical tale,giving us one of the great opening lines in music: "The Mississippi Delta was shining like a Nationalguitar." I don't know about you, but for the last 25 years, when I see the sun shining on a body of water,those lines almost always pop into my mind. The next ones are just as vivid as telling: "I am following theriver/ Down the highway/ Through the cradle of the civil war." (Simon doesn't capitalize Civil War in hislyric sheet.) How deft is that? Graceland is the birthplace of rock and roll (in a symbolic sense, of course)and Simon's album is going to the heart of music in Africa, the birthplace of us all. Referring to the"cradle" of the civil war is both less pointed and more sad, in a way, and provides an important nod tothe racial injustices that are at the root of U.S. history, as well as roiling to the surface in South Africawhen the album was being recorded. But the vision of the song keeps expanding, taking in affairs of loveand finally the need for redemption and the longing for paradise. "And she said losing love/ Is like a
window in your heart/Everybody sees your blown apart/ Everybody sees the wind blow." Is there a better
description of feeling bereft after a romance is over? And it's just one passage in a song that also includes
the girl in New York City who calls herself a human trampoline (prostitute? emotional yo-yo?), the
ghosts and empties that accompany the narrator and his constant hope that Graceland will bring peace.
It's all carried home by the chiming guitar of Ray Phiri and the bass lines of Bakithi Kumalo (a constantsource of joy throughout the album). The level of detail in the soundscape (courtesy of the great producer
and engineer Roy Halee and for God's sake why doesn't everyone use him?) is astonishing. And just to
link to the past with the perfect touch, Simon is joined on the song by the Everly Brothers, his childhood
idols who chime in on the chorus. It's the very definition of a standard and one of the best covers is byWillie Nelson. Here's a live version featuring Nelson and Simon in concert.
NOTE: A reader points out that the opening of the song is a nod to the Elvis Presley classic "Mystery
Train," one of Simon's favorites. He once said he's spent his entire career simply trying to write a tune asgood as that one. (Thanks Barbara.)
"I KNOW WHAT I KNOW"
This may be the most startling album on the track, the one where Simon pulls out all the stops. It's in-
your-face with its embrace of all the elements of South African pop music that may seem the most jarringor "exotic" to Western listeners. And yet at the same time it's such a quintessential Paul Simon tunethanks to the lyrical obsessions that it feels like an old friend the instant you hear it. The merging ofSimon and South Africa is at its very peak here. It begins and I defy you not to start dancing or at leasttapping your toe and nodding your heads. The music is co-credited to General M.D. Shirinda and theeuphoric vocals are by his group the Gaza Sisters. One of them says during the documentary film thataccompanies the album that at times their vocals are discordant or off-key, but that's the way it'ssupposed to be. Like the blues, the feel is more important than technical precision. Their voices chantand sing, colliding with Simon's typically urban tale of meeting a woman at a party who was recentlygiven a Fulbright. You're listening and laughing as Simon describes this woman checking him out: "Shelooked me over/ And I guess she thought/ I was all right/ All right in a sort of a limited way/ For an offHOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Katy Perry
LA Lakers
Spirit
Barack Obama
2012
Business
Arrested
Development
San Francisco
Giants
Abortion
John McCain Buy a link here Sponsored Links
"Strange Bean Burns Fat"
Celebrity Doctor proclaims this strange bean
magic for weight loss.
www.iconsumerknowledge.org
Man Cheats Credit Score
1 simple trick & my credit score jumped 217pts. Banks scream, Oh NO!
thecreditsolutionprogram.com
Weird Loophole in New York
Long Island City - New trick helps drivers getcar insurance for as low as $9…
FinanceDigestToday.com
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
SLAMS Stacey Dash's
Romney Endorsement
Adele's 'Skyfall' Made
Daniel Craig Cry
Snoop Dogg Explains Why
He's Voting For Obama
Lindsay Lohan's
Incredible Debate Tweets
night." But you almost don't notice how remarkably vibrant and just plain unusual the backing track
truly is. Simon's lyrics often have a casual, unrehearsed feel to them, but this strength of his is at its peakon this album, the first one where he recorded the music first and worried about the lyrics later. (That'sthe pattern he would use for the next 25 years, by and large, until the very strong album So Beautiful OrSo What. ) His voice on the chorus battles with their singing, neither one giving ground as the percussion
thumps along, carrying Simon through the next verse until they challenge each other again, capped off bythe exuberant "whoop! whoop! whoops!" of the Gaza Sisters. By the finale, we're clearly not in Kansas oreven the Brill Building anymore; the song ends with an instrumental flourish that sounds like nothingelse in the West. In three songs, Simon, captures the unease of contemporary society, nods to spiritual
longing and then touches on affairs of the heart, all with tunes that provide a rush of pure pleasure and
introduce Western audiences to sounds most of them have never heard before. In the blink of an eye,
people are nodding and singing along to what is essentially Mbaqanga, the "township jive" of South
Africa. Remarkable.
"GUMBOOTS"By the time we get to the fourth track, the listener is so embedded in this new music, it doesn't sound
strange at all. This is the one that started it all, the instrumental by The Boyoyo Boys that got stuck inSimon's head and wouldn't get out. The accordion of Jonhjon Mkhalali seems like a friendly presence("Doesn't most every pop song have an accordion on it?" we might be thinking at this point) and thesaxophones have the tight, succinctness of Stax at its best. Less than three minutes long, given thejourney it sent Simon on, this may be the most important track of his career.
"DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES"
This is the first time most of us heard the a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a world class
talent that gained international stardom thanks to its appearance on this album and of course theirinnate talent and savvy professionalism. (They gained a big UK hit by licensing one of their songs for aCoke advert.) I argued that the Gaza Sisters were the most "exotic" voices on the album, the ones thatmight most surprise or challenge a Western listener when the album came out. Obviously, hearing LBMsing in their own tongue without accompaniment isn't a sound you hear on Top 40 radio every day. But acappella singing is as old as mankind and appears in every culture. And LBM draws as much inspirationfrom The Temptations and other Motown acts as it did from folk traditions. So I think their voices hereare beautiful and striking but somehow less jarring.
You immediately "get" Ladysmith Black Mambazo. And if you see them in concert, their showmanship
and the realization that the tight, synchronized singing they perform on an album is even more stunning
and powerful in concert will make you a fan for life. This song was a late addition to the album and easily
one of the most popular. It begins with that a cappella passage and would have been satisfying just on itsown. The temptation might have even been there to keep it "pure" and instrument-free. But Simon wasn't
trying to revel in exotica or make something "unusual." He wanted to craft a great song, just like he's
done all his career. So that vocal introduction segues into yet another deliriously arranged pop tune. I
wish I could do the bass lines alone the justice they deserve; follow them while you listen along and you'llrealize you're hearing some of the most melodic bass work since McCartney strapped on an instrument.I've no idea what Ladysmith Black Mambazo is singing and in one of the funniest passages of thedocumentary film Under African Skies, Simon asks some of the singers exactly what they're singing
about. One man says a passage asks its listeners, remember how in the Sixties the skirts of the girls werereally short? Wasn't that great? Simon laughs and realizes he's free to pursue his lyrical muse wherever ittakes him. This isn't some musty musicological experiment; it's rock and roll. At another point, a singersays they're talking about food: take the owl and cut off its head; then we'll bring it on the bus and peoplewill think it's a chicken. See, Simon says, laughing, just take the owl and cut off its head and people willassume it's chicken you're eating. Why not? Too often, one imagines just because a song is in anotherlanguage or feels "authentic," that it can only deal with traditional or noble sentiments. One message ofGraceland is that music is music and you should embrace inspiration wherever you find it. Another is
that people have the same desires and passions and concerns no matter where you go in the world. Thatphilosophical point probably won't cross your mind as Simon sings about young love and tosses in a doo-wop-y "woo-hoo" on the chorus and the song ends with LBM singing "ta-na-na-na" and the greatYoussou N'Dour joining in on the percussion that gives a fiery release to the surging romance. This isunquestionably one of the boldest and most complete sides of music in rock and roll. And since the CD
was making the idea of "sides" to an album a relic of the past, it may be one of the last complete "sides"
in rock to boot.
SIDE TWO
"YOU CAN CALL ME ALL"This song always seemed a little obvious to me, simply not as interesting as some of the others perhaps
because it was played on the radio and MTV incessantly (though it was far from a massive hit in the U.S.,where it had to be released and promoted twice just to break into the Top 40.) It's a companion piece to
Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark," a pop tune to draw in the masses towards a bold work of art.
But just like that song, listen closely and you'll realize how bold it truly is. Like so many of the songs on
the album, it contains often thunderous percussion. Here again there's a synthesizer, though it doesn't
sound remotely dated the way the synths do on Hearts And Bones . The lyrics capture the dislocation
Simon felt when he was recording in South Africa, a Westerner plopped into a strange environment.
Though he was only there for about 12 days (most of it spent inside a studio), Simon said the racial
tension was unpleasantly prominent. Coming from a guy who grew up in New York City, that's saying
something. "Why am I soft in the middle/ The rest of my life is so hard" may be the perfect middle-aged
complaint and the almost nonsensical chorus adds to the aura of confusion. (The Betty and Al referenceis how a confused Pierre Boulez referred to Simon and his then-wife, prompting them to adopt those asnicknames for each other. A friend of mine in college had an elaborate theory that "Al" referred toAbraham Lincoln and he tied it into the album's history of being recorded in South Africa. I raised aneyebrow but at the time couldn't prove he was wrong.) This is another chance to notice Simon's versatilebackground vocals, which color the album in subtle ways. Here he's almost grunting along with themusic, doubling his voice on key lines of the chorus (such as "If you'll be my bodyguard" and "I can callyou Betty") and so on. Session great Adrian Belew (also an artist in his own right) shines here on guitarsynthesizer, as he did on "The Boy In The Bubble" and will on "Crazy Love, Vol. II," reminding us not tooverlook the key creative talent involved in turning the jam sessions recorded in South Africa into popsongs shaped for the lyrics Simon would write.
"UNDER AFRICAN SKIES"
Again, if you listen to this album on headphones and really pay attention, certain details will jump out at
you. Many, many tracks have thunderous percussion and drumming. But how unexpected is it to hear themassive thump that begins one of the quietest tracks on the album? That percussive sound (almost likethunder) is repeated more quietly throughout the song, a tune you probably remember mostly for itsgently beautiful verses and the iconic lyric on the chorus. "These are the roots of rhythm and the roots ofrhythm remain" is as clear a calling card for the album one could ask for.
Simon duets with Linda Ronstadt and her childhood memories provided the inspiration for the lyrics of
the second verse. On tour, Simon sang the song with the great Miriam Makeba, but Ronstadt belongs onthe album. She's one of pop's great voices and as a talent is one of the most musically adventurous inrock history. As a woman (I can't think of any other reason), she hasn't received her due for how bold andexploratory she's been throughout her career. But Ronstadt embraced country and folk and pop and rock
and what would be known as Americana throughout her career, not to mention venturing successfully
into operetta with Gilbert & Sullivan. When she recorded this song with Simon, Ronstadt was deep into
her collaboration with arranger Nelson Riddle on classic standards, a genre she was first roundly mocked
for singing but which proved hugely successful. By the time her third album of standards came out the
same year as Graceland , even doubters would recognize she'd grown mightily in her chops as a torch
singer. One year later, she was belting out Mariachi music and earning the respect of traditionalists. You
can take music you find and use it as a launching pad or find inspiration by respecting its origins.Neither path is wrong and Ronstadt -- who has received more Grammys in more genres than any otherperformer in history, I think -- is a genuine trailblazer and her presence here is fitting.
But again, there's that thunderous percussion, which reasserts itself throughout this song that
encompasses perhaps the birth of Christianity and music itself. That thomp that punctuates the desire toexpress yourself artistically, the constant need for rebirth that all artists must face and which Simonsucceeded so completely at here. That unexpected thwamp, which seems so out of place in such agorgeous, almost contemplative song and yet which belongs so completely you almost don't notice it. Andthen the coda, which lets all the rest of the music drop away while the percussion by Ralph MacDonaldcontinues in its striking pattern, long after you imagine it would stop or fade out. It's those seeminglyincongruous, unexpected sonic details that keep songs like this forever fresh. And of course Ronstadt
sings the hell out of it.
"HOMELESS"
This album contains more co-writing credits (five) than any other album in his career. "Homeless," the
second track with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is the final one. "Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes" isthe pure pop collaboration that occurred when LBM came to New York City. They later performed it onSaturday Night Live long before the album came out. This song, with its imagery from nature
("Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake") and its tale of people left homeless by a storm sounds exactlylike what you'd expect from a born and bred New Yorker looking to get inspiration from the music ofSouth Africa. Eight tracks in and Simon finally does the "obvious" but he does it beautifully, collaboratingon equal terms with LBM so that the tune feels like a genuine melding of their talents rather than anartist calling them in for backup singing the way pop singers cue the choir when they want to add a littlegospel feel to their latest ballad. For a globe-trotting effort that was recorded in South Africa and on both
the east and west coasts of the U.S., this is the only track recorded at Abbey Roads studio in London. Of
course, it's also the only one recorded a cappella and is a highlight, a triumphant proof of how muchelasticity Simon had when approaching this project including the ability to step out of his comfort zone.
"CRAZY LOVE VOL. II"
"THAT WAS YOUR MOTHER""ALL AROUND THE WORLD OR THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS"
Graceland has been simply peerless for the first eight tracks. For me, it's always had a bit of a soft
landing. "Crazy Love Vol. II" seems a little less anchored lyrically, then the other tracks. Also, I
understand how the last two tracks bring the musical journey back to the U.S., both by showing how
zydeco and township jive have a lot in common and then rocking out with Los Lobos at the end. For a
long time, that seemed a little too neat and schematic to me, clarifying a point the album had already
made implicitly and with more verve. Just as Sgt. Pepper has one or two weaker tracks (though we may
disagree on which one or two) there is invariably a personal preference that creeps into consideration
when talking about a world-beating collection of tunes. And all three have elements that strike you on a
careful listen after all these years. I love how Fat Charlie the Archangel "slopes" into a room; it feels like a
word that Simon would have chosen in his collegiate days with Simon & Garfunkel and seeing him
knowingly using it here feels charming; he knows it calls attention to itself and he doesn't care.
"That Was Your Mother" I've always felt should have been the last track (with "All Around The World"
not making the cut). The music with Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters may have squared the circleof his journey too directly but gosh it's fun. And the imagery of a girl who is "pretty as a prayerbook/Sweet as an apple on Christmas Day" is just about perfect. Simon himself probably isn't too fond of "AllAround The World" due to the charge of Los Lobos that they deserved a songwriting credit for jammingwith him while the song was created. Simon says they never raised an issue till the album became a
massive success and it was just a legal thing engendered by lawyers.
It's an interesting issue since it goes to the heart of sampling, collaboration and the "colonial" usurping
of local, "authentic" music that once dogged this album and anyone who had the temerity to grabinspiration anywhere they found it. (George Harrison plays sitar on his new single? Poser!) Of course,
Van Morrison had jazz musicians jam while creating and recording Astral Weeks. The musicians deserve
all due credit but would there have been an album at all without Morrison and his vision and lyrics? If
he's the one picking and choosing, isn't it possible he's the author?
Mind you, there's an imbalance of power when you see little known studio musicians playing on an
album by a world famous artist. But at this stage in their career, Los Lobos were major critical darlingsand poised to have the biggest success of their lives with a cover of "La Bamba," itself a combination of"traditional" Latin American music with rock and roll. The more things change... Lyrically, the final trackis rather oblique. The myth of fingerprints is that we're all unique when from a certain perspective we allhave so much in common. The myth of fingerprints extends to entire races and countries and is thesource of reasons for war throughout history, hence the former army post happily "abandoned now justlike the war." In the very last line, the former talk show host says the myth of fingerprints is why we mustlearn to live alone.
So the album begins by pleading with us not to cry and ends with us needing to learn to live alone, that
is, without interfering with one another or thinking we're special and different and better than anyoneelse. The music ranges from the most elemental (human voices raised in harmony) to contemporary rockto a melding of music from around the world that makes barriers and genres seem passe. It "samples"found music, collaborates across languages and creates an album that is one of the most joyous, complexand rich in rock history.
P.S. The final track also contains these lyrics: "Well the sun gets bloody/ And the sun goes down/ Ever
since the watermelon." I haven't the foggiest idea what "ever since the watermelon" could possibly mean.Is it a reference to some folk tale or myth? Anyone with ideas of what it alludes to, raise your hand.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Part One: The Boxed Set Review
Part Two: The Cultural ImpactPart Three: The Boycott
Part Four: The Album, Track By Track
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of the deluxe boxed set with the understanding that
he would be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENT
Vivica A. Fox Rips
Stacey Dash's
Romney...
Lindsay Lohan &
The Debate:
Actress Live-
Tweets...
'Red' Sales: Taylor
Swift Could Top 1...
'Iron Man 3' Trailer:
Some Thoughts
On... Buy a link here Sponsored Links
"Strange Bean Burns Fat"
Celebrity Doctor proclaims this strange bean magic for weight loss.
www.iconsumerknowledge.org
Man Cheats Credit Score
1 simple trick & my credit score jumped 217 pts. Banks scream, Oh NO!
thecreditsolutionprogram.com
Weird Loophole in New York
Long Island City - New trick helps drivers get car insurance for as low as $9…
FinanceDigestToday.com
Frenzy Over New Diet Pill
Stores Across U.S. Sold Out of This New ’Miracle’ Weight Loss Pill.
www.HLifestyles.com
More in Entertainment...
08:27 PM on 06/26/2012
I vote for Paul Simon's GRACELAND as the best album I've ever heard. His blending of African
rhythm is witty and inventive (
Paul Simon's GRACELAND is the best album I've ever heard. His blending of African rhythms is
witty and inventive (Diamonds on the Soles of Hr Shoes). He uses mystery deftly (A Myth of
Fingerprints) and pays homage to Elvis (Graceland). He introduced Ladysmith Black Mombasa to
western audiences who immediately grabbed them as their own. Years after the album's release itstill enchants and still gives up something new after years of listening and appreciating. Simon hasevolved as an artist foe over forty years and commands the attention of many generations ofgrateful and devoted listeners. And he always comes out with something new.
02:20 PM on 06/18/2012
This album had a huge influence on integrating world music sounds into pop music.
01:12 PM on 06/18/2012
'Hearts and Bones has a much stronger collection of songs, but the weakest element of both albums
Recency | Popularity
mbhphdjd4u
Permalink | Share it
GaryCatonaVoiceBuilder
Permalink | Share it
jhNY
Mercy.Like 78k GET ALERTS
Comments 9 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
0 Fans
6 Fans
1081 Fans
is easily the melody and arrangements. Even their sound feels dated."
De gustibus notwithstanding, "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" seems
like an obvious foreshadowing of Graceland, referring to Doo Wop, much as South African music
also seemed to Simon to have absorbed some inspiration from same. But it seems to me, a fresher
and more original synthesis of disparate ideas, musical and lyrical, than nearly anything he'd done
or has done since. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is a hell of a piece if summing up of much that had
animated the nation and the young and Simon, younger. And harmonically, it goes where few rockprogressions have gone anytime, if ever. It's a gem.
These two songs are among my favorites over all his career. I do agree that the lp is uneven,
compared to Simon's unusually high standard of output, but these two, and the more conventionaltitle track, made it a good value for money when released, and make it good value today.
02:09 PM on 06/18/2012
I agree wholeheartedly and think it's been unduly shadowed by the masterpiece thatfollowed. It gets lost in the shuffle of his other numerous great works. It would certainly beon my list of the best albums of that years and those tracks you mentioned are highlights. Itis the melody and arrangements on the weaker tracks (like "Cars") that leave me
unsatisfied. And the production overall I think feels thin and of its time. But "Rene" and
"Ace" outshine the other tunes and most anything by anyone in every respect. They are
unquestionably the keepers. Thanks for commenting.
06:33 PM on 06/18/2012
That is a great album. I haven't listened to it in a while but I think I will tomight.
12:53 AM on 06/18/2012
I want to thank Michael Giltz for a thorough and astute analysis of this seminal work. The tragedy of
artists such as Simon, Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Neil Young, who have never stopped growing assongwriters, is that their time may have passed. It is the same problem Norman Mailer posited in
saying he feared the novel didn't matter anymore.
The further a songwriter gets into individuated style, and away from the "sing-along" melody line, the
greater the danger of losing the connective tissue with the listener. The work becomes "great art"and is studied - looked AT - rather than absorbed into ones life. It is a object of veneration, ratherthan something one lives with and listens to. I find "Graceland" a virtuoso tour de force, but I don't
listen to it much.
Like Paris in the 1920's, I'm afraid the golden age of the singer-songwriter has come and gone.
Times keep changing.
12:12 PM on 06/18/2012
Don't understand why it's a "tragedy" that they've already done their best work. All artistshave a period where they do their best work. Why not just celebrate that work instead ofcalling it a tragedy that they aren't working at that level anymore?
08:52 PM on 06/18/2012
Simon is one of the very few (only?) artists of his generation who kept speaking toand for his generation. Graceland was a masterpiece - and perhaps the mostPermalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cungar
Permalink | Share it
larstein
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cungar
Permalink | Share it
Phil LaPorta132 Fans
105 Fans
206 Fans
105 Fans
14 Fans
politically important albums ever made. Think of what followed, from Rhythm of the
Saints to So Beautiful or So What. Can't think of anyone else who had such a
span.
03:13 AM on 06/19/2012
My point was that the whole genre is over, not that the artists aren't still doing
good work. The genre doesn't have any wind anymore. Joni Mitchell can't get a
record contract, not because she's run out of steam, but because times have
changed. The singer songwriter genre is passé. It's gone, the past. Nobody writes
like that anymore, nobody can. It's sad that golden periods come to an end. It's atragedy that genres go out of style, but they do. What's wrong with celebratingtragedy?
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentPermalink | Share it
larstein
Permalink | Share it206 Fans
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
South Africa , Video , Ladysmith Black Mambazo , Paul Simon , Graceland , Paul Simon
Graceland , Entertainment News
16 17 13 9React
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyPaul Simon's Graceland Turns 25 --
Part Four: A Track by Track Review
PAUL SIMON: GRACELAND 25TH ANNIVERSARY
DELUXE BOXED SET: $119.98
CD/DVD SET: $15.98MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Was The Whole Donald
Trump Announcement A
Gigantic, Pointless Bust?
Mourdock On Abortion:FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
This Might Be The Most Important
Vote You'll Cast This YearOctober 25, 2012
Edition: U.S.
Chip Davis Tavis Smiley
James Franco Gov. Jennifer M. GranholmHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 117
Posted: 06/16/2012 7:25 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 11k
Movie Trailers Smarter Ideas iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More Log in Create Account
LP: $24.98
Paul Simon's album Graceland has turned 25 sounding better than ever. Its impact on music and culture
is vast and any list of the best albums of all time looks silly if Graceland doesn't appear on it somewhere.
The bestselling solo album for an artist who continues to produce great music, Graceland is a landmark,
but not one that has grown dusty with Importance. It's not just a "significant" work with historical
meaning; it's also an exhilarating collection of songs as timeless and current as ever. This is the fourth of
a four-part series covering the boxed set, its cultural impact, the story of the boycott and the music itself.You can buy the album in any configuration from Paul Simon's website or any major outlet.
Part One: The Boxed Set Review
Part Two: The Cultural ImpactPart Three: The BoycottPart Four: The Album, Track By TrackPART FOUR: THE ALBUM, TRACK BY TRACK
When an album becomes as popular as Graceland , when it becomes part of the musical landscape for
decades, it can be easy to take it for granted. As fans, the more we play an album, sometimes the harder
it can become to actually listen to it with fresh ears. That's why a serious sonic upgrade via remastering
is a great opportunity to sit down and really pay attention to an album we know so well. New remastering
can reveal details that weren't as prominent before, uncover sounds and instruments we barely noticedand otherwise freshen up a masterpiece.
If you listen to One Trick Pony and Hearts & Bones before diving in, the shock will be greater. Pony has
the wonderful "Late In The Evening" but it's still probably the only Simon solo album that has little to
offer. Hearts and Bones has a much stronger collection of songs, but the weakest element of both albums
is easily the melody and arrangements. Even their sound feels dated. Compared to the supremeconfidence and melodic sophistication of the Grammy winning album Still Crazy After All These Years,they clearly show an artist who is adrift. And then came Graceland .
SIDE ONE (remember those?)
"THE BOY IN THE BUBBLE"
The wheezing accordion of Forere Motloheloa (the sound from which the song sprang) is immediately
punctuated by alarming drum cracks. But before the mood gets too ominous, a jaunty bass line joins inand the rhythm becomes a matter-of-fact, daily routine sort of rhythm and Simon is delivering up casuallines that take us through whip-saw changes of emotion that capture perfectly the terrifying changes atthe turn of the 21st century. "It was a slow day," he intones casually, but before we know it we'veexperienced an act of terrorism (the bomb in the baby carriage set off around civilians). This startlingimage is superseded by the chorus that assures us "these are the days of miracles and wonders;" people
can make long distance calls, but their every movement is tracked by cameras that "follow us in slo-mo."
The rush of images continues, with Simon capturing the way our political culture seems controlled by the
wealthy with a casual rhyme that refers glancingly to "a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires."
All the terrors and promise of modernity are encapsulated in this opener, which also moves along in a
rush of music. Choral voices buried deeply in the background provide some comfort as the accordioncarries on with its melody, happily indifferent to the chaos around it. Have I mentioned how infectiousthe song is? You're singing "Medicine is magical and magical is art/ The Boy in the Bubble/ And the babywith the baboon heart" before you even think about what it means. Most remarkable of all, this song istimeless and toe-tapping. It starts the album off an exuberant note. Simon finishes it by humming alongquietly to the musical track that has rushed along in just four minutes. And yet, what are the last wordshe says to us on the first track of the most confident and exciting album of his career? "Don't cry, baby,don't cry don't cry don't cry." It's not often pop music can acknowledge the uncertainty of life withoutsuccumbing to dread or pomposity. Simon slips in the needle when we're not looking, giving us thecomfort of the music even as he details exactly how scared we truly are. Finally, Simon doesn't writeprotest songs. But with its glancing reference to acts of violence and air of unease, he paints a picture ofreality that would have been all too familiar to the people of South Africa.
"GRACELAND"
Paul Simon says "Graceland" may be the best song he's ever written. Given the number of tunes he's
crafted that are classics, that's a high compliment. And it's probably true because "Graceland" works onso many levels. So why isn't it the opening track or closing track on Side One or Side Two? It would seeman obvious scene setter: Here we are, going on a musical journey. But Simon knows after the thunderous,disconcerting opener that people need to catch their breath. The unusual musical details of "Graceland"aren't that pronounced so it feels more familiar on first listen. So here is the strongest song of Simon'scareer modestly placed as track number two. As detailed in the documentary film that comes withvarious editions of this release, Simon got the lyrics "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland/ In Memphis,
Pregnancy From Rape Is
'Something God Intended'
WATCH: Vivica A. Fox SLAMS
Stacey Dash's Romney
Endorsement
WATCH: U.N. Chief Dances
Gangnam-Style
Another Day In Polls, Still
Neck-And-Neck
Coulter Uses Slur Against
Obama
Allred Goes To Court Over
Mitt Romney Divorce
Testimony
Special Olympics Athlete
Writes Open Letter To Ann
Coulter Over 'Retard' Remark
Teen Suspect Arrested In
Killing Of Jessica Ridgeway
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Chip Davis
Halloween Is a Night Like No
Other
Tavis Smiley
The Top 20 (Cause 10 Ain’t
Enough) Reasons (Excuses) Black
Folk Will Give if Obama Loses
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2Recommend 96k
Like 1k
Recommend 1k
Like 247
Like 40k
Recommend 2k
Like 12k
Recommend 939
Kristen Stewart's Leggy Jumpsuit
Helen Hunt
Faked Kidnapping
WATCH: Vivica A. Fox
Tennessee" stuck in his head. He was sure they wouldn't last because he was inspired here by African
music, not Elvis Presley. Besides, Simon had never even been to Graceland. But unlike Paul McCartney
(who found better lyrics for a new melody than "Scrambled Eggs," the first name for "Yesterday"), Simon
couldn't shake the lines.
So he decided, hey, if he's going to write a song about Graceland he better actually go to Graceland and
headed down South. As Simon said in the film, if he hadn't made the physical journey, he would never
have seen the sun glinting off the river and come up with the lines that anchored this metaphysical tale,giving us one of the great opening lines in music: "The Mississippi Delta was shining like a Nationalguitar." I don't know about you, but for the last 25 years, when I see the sun shining on a body of water,those lines almost always pop into my mind. The next ones are just as vivid as telling: "I am following theriver/ Down the highway/ Through the cradle of the civil war." (Simon doesn't capitalize Civil War in hislyric sheet.) How deft is that? Graceland is the birthplace of rock and roll (in a symbolic sense, of course)and Simon's album is going to the heart of music in Africa, the birthplace of us all. Referring to the"cradle" of the civil war is both less pointed and more sad, in a way, and provides an important nod tothe racial injustices that are at the root of U.S. history, as well as roiling to the surface in South Africawhen the album was being recorded. But the vision of the song keeps expanding, taking in affairs of loveand finally the need for redemption and the longing for paradise. "And she said losing love/ Is like a
window in your heart/Everybody sees your blown apart/ Everybody sees the wind blow." Is there a better
description of feeling bereft after a romance is over? And it's just one passage in a song that also includes
the girl in New York City who calls herself a human trampoline (prostitute? emotional yo-yo?), the
ghosts and empties that accompany the narrator and his constant hope that Graceland will bring peace.
It's all carried home by the chiming guitar of Ray Phiri and the bass lines of Bakithi Kumalo (a constantsource of joy throughout the album). The level of detail in the soundscape (courtesy of the great producer
and engineer Roy Halee and for God's sake why doesn't everyone use him?) is astonishing. And just to
link to the past with the perfect touch, Simon is joined on the song by the Everly Brothers, his childhood
idols who chime in on the chorus. It's the very definition of a standard and one of the best covers is byWillie Nelson. Here's a live version featuring Nelson and Simon in concert.
NOTE: A reader points out that the opening of the song is a nod to the Elvis Presley classic "Mystery
Train," one of Simon's favorites. He once said he's spent his entire career simply trying to write a tune asgood as that one. (Thanks Barbara.)
"I KNOW WHAT I KNOW"
This may be the most startling album on the track, the one where Simon pulls out all the stops. It's in-
your-face with its embrace of all the elements of South African pop music that may seem the most jarringor "exotic" to Western listeners. And yet at the same time it's such a quintessential Paul Simon tunethanks to the lyrical obsessions that it feels like an old friend the instant you hear it. The merging ofSimon and South Africa is at its very peak here. It begins and I defy you not to start dancing or at leasttapping your toe and nodding your heads. The music is co-credited to General M.D. Shirinda and theeuphoric vocals are by his group the Gaza Sisters. One of them says during the documentary film thataccompanies the album that at times their vocals are discordant or off-key, but that's the way it'ssupposed to be. Like the blues, the feel is more important than technical precision. Their voices chantand sing, colliding with Simon's typically urban tale of meeting a woman at a party who was recentlygiven a Fulbright. You're listening and laughing as Simon describes this woman checking him out: "Shelooked me over/ And I guess she thought/ I was all right/ All right in a sort of a limited way/ For an offHOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Katy Perry
LA Lakers
Spirit
Barack Obama
2012
Business
Arrested
Development
San Francisco
Giants
Abortion
John McCain Buy a link here Sponsored Links
"Strange Bean Burns Fat"
Celebrity Doctor proclaims this strange bean
magic for weight loss.
www.iconsumerknowledge.org
Man Cheats Credit Score
1 simple trick & my credit score jumped 217pts. Banks scream, Oh NO!
thecreditsolutionprogram.com
Weird Loophole in New York
Long Island City - New trick helps drivers getcar insurance for as low as $9…
FinanceDigestToday.com
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
SLAMS Stacey Dash's
Romney Endorsement
Adele's 'Skyfall' Made
Daniel Craig Cry
Snoop Dogg Explains Why
He's Voting For Obama
Lindsay Lohan's
Incredible Debate Tweets
night." But you almost don't notice how remarkably vibrant and just plain unusual the backing track
truly is. Simon's lyrics often have a casual, unrehearsed feel to them, but this strength of his is at its peakon this album, the first one where he recorded the music first and worried about the lyrics later. (That'sthe pattern he would use for the next 25 years, by and large, until the very strong album So Beautiful OrSo What. ) His voice on the chorus battles with their singing, neither one giving ground as the percussion
thumps along, carrying Simon through the next verse until they challenge each other again, capped off bythe exuberant "whoop! whoop! whoops!" of the Gaza Sisters. By the finale, we're clearly not in Kansas oreven the Brill Building anymore; the song ends with an instrumental flourish that sounds like nothingelse in the West. In three songs, Simon, captures the unease of contemporary society, nods to spiritual
longing and then touches on affairs of the heart, all with tunes that provide a rush of pure pleasure and
introduce Western audiences to sounds most of them have never heard before. In the blink of an eye,
people are nodding and singing along to what is essentially Mbaqanga, the "township jive" of South
Africa. Remarkable.
"GUMBOOTS"By the time we get to the fourth track, the listener is so embedded in this new music, it doesn't sound
strange at all. This is the one that started it all, the instrumental by The Boyoyo Boys that got stuck inSimon's head and wouldn't get out. The accordion of Jonhjon Mkhalali seems like a friendly presence("Doesn't most every pop song have an accordion on it?" we might be thinking at this point) and thesaxophones have the tight, succinctness of Stax at its best. Less than three minutes long, given thejourney it sent Simon on, this may be the most important track of his career.
"DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES"
This is the first time most of us heard the a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a world class
talent that gained international stardom thanks to its appearance on this album and of course theirinnate talent and savvy professionalism. (They gained a big UK hit by licensing one of their songs for aCoke advert.) I argued that the Gaza Sisters were the most "exotic" voices on the album, the ones thatmight most surprise or challenge a Western listener when the album came out. Obviously, hearing LBMsing in their own tongue without accompaniment isn't a sound you hear on Top 40 radio every day. But acappella singing is as old as mankind and appears in every culture. And LBM draws as much inspirationfrom The Temptations and other Motown acts as it did from folk traditions. So I think their voices hereare beautiful and striking but somehow less jarring.
You immediately "get" Ladysmith Black Mambazo. And if you see them in concert, their showmanship
and the realization that the tight, synchronized singing they perform on an album is even more stunning
and powerful in concert will make you a fan for life. This song was a late addition to the album and easily
one of the most popular. It begins with that a cappella passage and would have been satisfying just on itsown. The temptation might have even been there to keep it "pure" and instrument-free. But Simon wasn't
trying to revel in exotica or make something "unusual." He wanted to craft a great song, just like he's
done all his career. So that vocal introduction segues into yet another deliriously arranged pop tune. I
wish I could do the bass lines alone the justice they deserve; follow them while you listen along and you'llrealize you're hearing some of the most melodic bass work since McCartney strapped on an instrument.I've no idea what Ladysmith Black Mambazo is singing and in one of the funniest passages of thedocumentary film Under African Skies, Simon asks some of the singers exactly what they're singing
about. One man says a passage asks its listeners, remember how in the Sixties the skirts of the girls werereally short? Wasn't that great? Simon laughs and realizes he's free to pursue his lyrical muse wherever ittakes him. This isn't some musty musicological experiment; it's rock and roll. At another point, a singersays they're talking about food: take the owl and cut off its head; then we'll bring it on the bus and peoplewill think it's a chicken. See, Simon says, laughing, just take the owl and cut off its head and people willassume it's chicken you're eating. Why not? Too often, one imagines just because a song is in anotherlanguage or feels "authentic," that it can only deal with traditional or noble sentiments. One message ofGraceland is that music is music and you should embrace inspiration wherever you find it. Another is
that people have the same desires and passions and concerns no matter where you go in the world. Thatphilosophical point probably won't cross your mind as Simon sings about young love and tosses in a doo-wop-y "woo-hoo" on the chorus and the song ends with LBM singing "ta-na-na-na" and the greatYoussou N'Dour joining in on the percussion that gives a fiery release to the surging romance. This isunquestionably one of the boldest and most complete sides of music in rock and roll. And since the CD
was making the idea of "sides" to an album a relic of the past, it may be one of the last complete "sides"
in rock to boot.
SIDE TWO
"YOU CAN CALL ME ALL"This song always seemed a little obvious to me, simply not as interesting as some of the others perhaps
because it was played on the radio and MTV incessantly (though it was far from a massive hit in the U.S.,where it had to be released and promoted twice just to break into the Top 40.) It's a companion piece to
Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark," a pop tune to draw in the masses towards a bold work of art.
But just like that song, listen closely and you'll realize how bold it truly is. Like so many of the songs on
the album, it contains often thunderous percussion. Here again there's a synthesizer, though it doesn't
sound remotely dated the way the synths do on Hearts And Bones . The lyrics capture the dislocation
Simon felt when he was recording in South Africa, a Westerner plopped into a strange environment.
Though he was only there for about 12 days (most of it spent inside a studio), Simon said the racial
tension was unpleasantly prominent. Coming from a guy who grew up in New York City, that's saying
something. "Why am I soft in the middle/ The rest of my life is so hard" may be the perfect middle-aged
complaint and the almost nonsensical chorus adds to the aura of confusion. (The Betty and Al referenceis how a confused Pierre Boulez referred to Simon and his then-wife, prompting them to adopt those asnicknames for each other. A friend of mine in college had an elaborate theory that "Al" referred toAbraham Lincoln and he tied it into the album's history of being recorded in South Africa. I raised aneyebrow but at the time couldn't prove he was wrong.) This is another chance to notice Simon's versatilebackground vocals, which color the album in subtle ways. Here he's almost grunting along with themusic, doubling his voice on key lines of the chorus (such as "If you'll be my bodyguard" and "I can callyou Betty") and so on. Session great Adrian Belew (also an artist in his own right) shines here on guitarsynthesizer, as he did on "The Boy In The Bubble" and will on "Crazy Love, Vol. II," reminding us not tooverlook the key creative talent involved in turning the jam sessions recorded in South Africa into popsongs shaped for the lyrics Simon would write.
"UNDER AFRICAN SKIES"
Again, if you listen to this album on headphones and really pay attention, certain details will jump out at
you. Many, many tracks have thunderous percussion and drumming. But how unexpected is it to hear themassive thump that begins one of the quietest tracks on the album? That percussive sound (almost likethunder) is repeated more quietly throughout the song, a tune you probably remember mostly for itsgently beautiful verses and the iconic lyric on the chorus. "These are the roots of rhythm and the roots ofrhythm remain" is as clear a calling card for the album one could ask for.
Simon duets with Linda Ronstadt and her childhood memories provided the inspiration for the lyrics of
the second verse. On tour, Simon sang the song with the great Miriam Makeba, but Ronstadt belongs onthe album. She's one of pop's great voices and as a talent is one of the most musically adventurous inrock history. As a woman (I can't think of any other reason), she hasn't received her due for how bold andexploratory she's been throughout her career. But Ronstadt embraced country and folk and pop and rock
and what would be known as Americana throughout her career, not to mention venturing successfully
into operetta with Gilbert & Sullivan. When she recorded this song with Simon, Ronstadt was deep into
her collaboration with arranger Nelson Riddle on classic standards, a genre she was first roundly mocked
for singing but which proved hugely successful. By the time her third album of standards came out the
same year as Graceland , even doubters would recognize she'd grown mightily in her chops as a torch
singer. One year later, she was belting out Mariachi music and earning the respect of traditionalists. You
can take music you find and use it as a launching pad or find inspiration by respecting its origins.Neither path is wrong and Ronstadt -- who has received more Grammys in more genres than any otherperformer in history, I think -- is a genuine trailblazer and her presence here is fitting.
But again, there's that thunderous percussion, which reasserts itself throughout this song that
encompasses perhaps the birth of Christianity and music itself. That thomp that punctuates the desire toexpress yourself artistically, the constant need for rebirth that all artists must face and which Simonsucceeded so completely at here. That unexpected thwamp, which seems so out of place in such agorgeous, almost contemplative song and yet which belongs so completely you almost don't notice it. Andthen the coda, which lets all the rest of the music drop away while the percussion by Ralph MacDonaldcontinues in its striking pattern, long after you imagine it would stop or fade out. It's those seeminglyincongruous, unexpected sonic details that keep songs like this forever fresh. And of course Ronstadt
sings the hell out of it.
"HOMELESS"
This album contains more co-writing credits (five) than any other album in his career. "Homeless," the
second track with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is the final one. "Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes" isthe pure pop collaboration that occurred when LBM came to New York City. They later performed it onSaturday Night Live long before the album came out. This song, with its imagery from nature
("Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake") and its tale of people left homeless by a storm sounds exactlylike what you'd expect from a born and bred New Yorker looking to get inspiration from the music ofSouth Africa. Eight tracks in and Simon finally does the "obvious" but he does it beautifully, collaboratingon equal terms with LBM so that the tune feels like a genuine melding of their talents rather than anartist calling them in for backup singing the way pop singers cue the choir when they want to add a littlegospel feel to their latest ballad. For a globe-trotting effort that was recorded in South Africa and on both
the east and west coasts of the U.S., this is the only track recorded at Abbey Roads studio in London. Of
course, it's also the only one recorded a cappella and is a highlight, a triumphant proof of how muchelasticity Simon had when approaching this project including the ability to step out of his comfort zone.
"CRAZY LOVE VOL. II"
"THAT WAS YOUR MOTHER""ALL AROUND THE WORLD OR THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS"
Graceland has been simply peerless for the first eight tracks. For me, it's always had a bit of a soft
landing. "Crazy Love Vol. II" seems a little less anchored lyrically, then the other tracks. Also, I
understand how the last two tracks bring the musical journey back to the U.S., both by showing how
zydeco and township jive have a lot in common and then rocking out with Los Lobos at the end. For a
long time, that seemed a little too neat and schematic to me, clarifying a point the album had already
made implicitly and with more verve. Just as Sgt. Pepper has one or two weaker tracks (though we may
disagree on which one or two) there is invariably a personal preference that creeps into consideration
when talking about a world-beating collection of tunes. And all three have elements that strike you on a
careful listen after all these years. I love how Fat Charlie the Archangel "slopes" into a room; it feels like a
word that Simon would have chosen in his collegiate days with Simon & Garfunkel and seeing him
knowingly using it here feels charming; he knows it calls attention to itself and he doesn't care.
"That Was Your Mother" I've always felt should have been the last track (with "All Around The World"
not making the cut). The music with Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters may have squared the circleof his journey too directly but gosh it's fun. And the imagery of a girl who is "pretty as a prayerbook/Sweet as an apple on Christmas Day" is just about perfect. Simon himself probably isn't too fond of "AllAround The World" due to the charge of Los Lobos that they deserved a songwriting credit for jammingwith him while the song was created. Simon says they never raised an issue till the album became a
massive success and it was just a legal thing engendered by lawyers.
It's an interesting issue since it goes to the heart of sampling, collaboration and the "colonial" usurping
of local, "authentic" music that once dogged this album and anyone who had the temerity to grabinspiration anywhere they found it. (George Harrison plays sitar on his new single? Poser!) Of course,
Van Morrison had jazz musicians jam while creating and recording Astral Weeks. The musicians deserve
all due credit but would there have been an album at all without Morrison and his vision and lyrics? If
he's the one picking and choosing, isn't it possible he's the author?
Mind you, there's an imbalance of power when you see little known studio musicians playing on an
album by a world famous artist. But at this stage in their career, Los Lobos were major critical darlingsand poised to have the biggest success of their lives with a cover of "La Bamba," itself a combination of"traditional" Latin American music with rock and roll. The more things change... Lyrically, the final trackis rather oblique. The myth of fingerprints is that we're all unique when from a certain perspective we allhave so much in common. The myth of fingerprints extends to entire races and countries and is thesource of reasons for war throughout history, hence the former army post happily "abandoned now justlike the war." In the very last line, the former talk show host says the myth of fingerprints is why we mustlearn to live alone.
So the album begins by pleading with us not to cry and ends with us needing to learn to live alone, that
is, without interfering with one another or thinking we're special and different and better than anyoneelse. The music ranges from the most elemental (human voices raised in harmony) to contemporary rockto a melding of music from around the world that makes barriers and genres seem passe. It "samples"found music, collaborates across languages and creates an album that is one of the most joyous, complexand rich in rock history.
P.S. The final track also contains these lyrics: "Well the sun gets bloody/ And the sun goes down/ Ever
since the watermelon." I haven't the foggiest idea what "ever since the watermelon" could possibly mean.Is it a reference to some folk tale or myth? Anyone with ideas of what it alludes to, raise your hand.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Part One: The Boxed Set Review
Part Two: The Cultural ImpactPart Three: The Boycott
Part Four: The Album, Track By Track
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of the deluxe boxed set with the understanding that
he would be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENT
Vivica A. Fox Rips
Stacey Dash's
Romney...
Lindsay Lohan &
The Debate:
Actress Live-
Tweets...
'Red' Sales: Taylor
Swift Could Top 1...
'Iron Man 3' Trailer:
Some Thoughts
On... Buy a link here Sponsored Links
"Strange Bean Burns Fat"
Celebrity Doctor proclaims this strange bean magic for weight loss.
www.iconsumerknowledge.org
Man Cheats Credit Score
1 simple trick & my credit score jumped 217 pts. Banks scream, Oh NO!
thecreditsolutionprogram.com
Weird Loophole in New York
Long Island City - New trick helps drivers get car insurance for as low as $9…
FinanceDigestToday.com
Frenzy Over New Diet Pill
Stores Across U.S. Sold Out of This New ’Miracle’ Weight Loss Pill.
www.HLifestyles.com
More in Entertainment...
08:27 PM on 06/26/2012
I vote for Paul Simon's GRACELAND as the best album I've ever heard. His blending of African
rhythm is witty and inventive (
Paul Simon's GRACELAND is the best album I've ever heard. His blending of African rhythms is
witty and inventive (Diamonds on the Soles of Hr Shoes). He uses mystery deftly (A Myth of
Fingerprints) and pays homage to Elvis (Graceland). He introduced Ladysmith Black Mombasa to
western audiences who immediately grabbed them as their own. Years after the album's release itstill enchants and still gives up something new after years of listening and appreciating. Simon hasevolved as an artist foe over forty years and commands the attention of many generations ofgrateful and devoted listeners. And he always comes out with something new.
02:20 PM on 06/18/2012
This album had a huge influence on integrating world music sounds into pop music.
01:12 PM on 06/18/2012
'Hearts and Bones has a much stronger collection of songs, but the weakest element of both albums
Recency | Popularity
mbhphdjd4u
Permalink | Share it
GaryCatonaVoiceBuilder
Permalink | Share it
jhNY
Mercy.Like 78k GET ALERTS
Comments 9 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
0 Fans
6 Fans
1081 Fans
is easily the melody and arrangements. Even their sound feels dated."
De gustibus notwithstanding, "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" seems
like an obvious foreshadowing of Graceland, referring to Doo Wop, much as South African music
also seemed to Simon to have absorbed some inspiration from same. But it seems to me, a fresher
and more original synthesis of disparate ideas, musical and lyrical, than nearly anything he'd done
or has done since. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is a hell of a piece if summing up of much that had
animated the nation and the young and Simon, younger. And harmonically, it goes where few rockprogressions have gone anytime, if ever. It's a gem.
These two songs are among my favorites over all his career. I do agree that the lp is uneven,
compared to Simon's unusually high standard of output, but these two, and the more conventionaltitle track, made it a good value for money when released, and make it good value today.
02:09 PM on 06/18/2012
I agree wholeheartedly and think it's been unduly shadowed by the masterpiece thatfollowed. It gets lost in the shuffle of his other numerous great works. It would certainly beon my list of the best albums of that years and those tracks you mentioned are highlights. Itis the melody and arrangements on the weaker tracks (like "Cars") that leave me
unsatisfied. And the production overall I think feels thin and of its time. But "Rene" and
"Ace" outshine the other tunes and most anything by anyone in every respect. They are
unquestionably the keepers. Thanks for commenting.
06:33 PM on 06/18/2012
That is a great album. I haven't listened to it in a while but I think I will tomight.
12:53 AM on 06/18/2012
I want to thank Michael Giltz for a thorough and astute analysis of this seminal work. The tragedy of
artists such as Simon, Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Neil Young, who have never stopped growing assongwriters, is that their time may have passed. It is the same problem Norman Mailer posited in
saying he feared the novel didn't matter anymore.
The further a songwriter gets into individuated style, and away from the "sing-along" melody line, the
greater the danger of losing the connective tissue with the listener. The work becomes "great art"and is studied - looked AT - rather than absorbed into ones life. It is a object of veneration, ratherthan something one lives with and listens to. I find "Graceland" a virtuoso tour de force, but I don't
listen to it much.
Like Paris in the 1920's, I'm afraid the golden age of the singer-songwriter has come and gone.
Times keep changing.
12:12 PM on 06/18/2012
Don't understand why it's a "tragedy" that they've already done their best work. All artistshave a period where they do their best work. Why not just celebrate that work instead ofcalling it a tragedy that they aren't working at that level anymore?
08:52 PM on 06/18/2012
Simon is one of the very few (only?) artists of his generation who kept speaking toand for his generation. Graceland was a masterpiece - and perhaps the mostPermalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cungar
Permalink | Share it
larstein
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cungar
Permalink | Share it
Phil LaPorta132 Fans
105 Fans
206 Fans
105 Fans
14 Fans
politically important albums ever made. Think of what followed, from Rhythm of the
Saints to So Beautiful or So What. Can't think of anyone else who had such a
span.
03:13 AM on 06/19/2012
My point was that the whole genre is over, not that the artists aren't still doing
good work. The genre doesn't have any wind anymore. Joni Mitchell can't get a
record contract, not because she's run out of steam, but because times have
changed. The singer songwriter genre is passé. It's gone, the past. Nobody writes
like that anymore, nobody can. It's sad that golden periods come to an end. It's atragedy that genres go out of style, but they do. What's wrong with celebratingtragedy?
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentPermalink | Share it
larstein
Permalink | Share it206 Fans