So in June 2016, Paul Simon’s new album, Stranger to Stranger, was released. I’d heard a few tracks beforehand, mostly the bonus cuts, but I hadn’t heard them in context. When I first played it, I was impressed – very impressed. Naturally, I would have liked him to have written a great MOR ballad to show he could still do it, but ‘Wristband’ is ideal for those large arena events where everybody has to wear a wristband.
You can argue incidentally that the deluxe edition is effectively the regular one. This album became the No. 1 best-seller in the week of release with most people purchasing the deluxe edition (fifty-three minutes) over the standard (thirty-seven minutes), the difference in price being £2. The standard version was at No. 3 in Amazon’s Top 100. Why didn’t Concord simply release one edition of sixteen tracks and be done with it?
That hooded man Bob Dylan was recently seen at the back of a folk club and when asked what he was doing, he said, ‘I’m learning’. Let’s hope that he adopts the same attitude towards Paul Simon’s album. It is remarkable creativity from someone who is well past retirement age. In terms of quality, I wouldn’t put this album much below Graceland, and it was released, in the UK at any rate, with a similar amount of publicity, which shows that the record company had faith in it.
Stranger to Stranger contains more surprises that the Brian Eno collaboration Surprise. The pun in the title has to be deliberate. The album is produced by ‘Paul Simon and his old partner, Roy Halee’. Halee, who was eighty-two at the time of release, was well up to the challenge, but note that odd billing – was it a snide dig at Garfunkel? There might be another dig too when he sings, ‘Could you imagine us falling in love again?’ in the title song; the phrase ‘Can you imagine us’ is in ‘Old Friends’.
Simon is in excellent voice but is favouring the conversational delivery of recent years and he is playing acoustic or electric guitar on most cuts. The album opens with an eerie sound that he created on an Indian instrument, the gopichand, to add a gothic setting for ‘The Werewolf’.
This time Simon was hooked on flamenco rhythms. He hadn’t wanted to make a flamenco album but much of the percussion is derived from that music. Its influence is especially noticeable on ‘The Riverbank’ and there is flamenco dancing itself on ‘Stranger to Stranger’.
Outside of live albums, I don’t think I have heard an album with so much hand clapping. You don’t need expensive instruments and it works especially well on ‘The Riverbank’. The percussion from Clap! Clap! is featured on ‘Wristband’ and ‘Street Angel’, and as he had been introduced to this musician via a CD enjoyed by his son, Adrian, it will be interesting to watch Adrian’s musical development. The CD booklet includes a photograph of Harry Partch’s numbered chamber bowls which are played with mallets and they add a disturbing sound to ‘Insomniac’s Lullaby’. A regular drum kit is played by Jim Obion, a long-time friend currently in his road band.
The album, even with the bonus tracks, works as a continuous whole and I love the way that thoughts and sounds weave in and out. The short instrumental pieces – ‘The Clock’, ‘In the Garden of Edie’ and ‘Guitar Piece 3’ – may not stand up on their own but they enhance the feel of the album and give us a respite from often impenetrable lyrics. There is no way that this album could be viewed as easy listening.
The little reminders of the past work so well – the nod of the head to the Impressions’ ‘Amen’ in ‘Proof of Love’; the famous opening line of ‘Stardust’, ‘Sometimes I wonder’ in ‘Horace and Pete’; the voices of the Golden Gate Quartet going backwards and forwards during ‘Insomniac’s Lullaby’. All this is brilliantly merged with contemporary sounds. Fairly recently, Paul McCartney worked with Kanye West but Macca’s contribution was imperceptible; that would never happen with Simon, whose own voice never gets lost in what he is doing.
The lyrics are similarly hyper, as though he is a child with Attention Deficit Disorder and can’t wait to get to the next thought. This has a disadvantage as Simon is not able to explore stories or characters. Although one of the bonus cuts, a concert version of ‘Duncan’, fits seamlessly into the album, it does have a character-based narrative and it makes me realise what we are missing. The same can be said of Dion’s ‘New York Is My Home’, a sentiment Simon lovingly endorses, which closes the album. Note, incidentally, Dion’s reference to insomnia – even his song addresses one of Simon’s themes.
The scattergun effect is apparent from the start. The first verse of the first song is about a wife in Milwaukee who kills her husband with a sushi knife. What’s it all about? Is this a genuine case and was Simon fascinated by the choice of murder weapon? It’s intriguing, but Simon has moved on with the brilliant line, ‘Most obits are mixed reviews’. He tells us that life is a lottery and most people lose – he has clearly won – and this is followed by an attack on the wealthy and the misuse of public funds. After all of this we are only halfway through the first track, which also tells us that the werewolf is coming.
Simon’s most memorable line is ‘Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?’ and here we have a song about a black baseball player, Cool Papa Bell of the St Louis Stars, who in the 1920s was considered the fastest man alive. A cigarette card for the centre fielder is reproduced in the CD booklet. Once again though, Simon veers from his subject matter and ends up musing on life itself.
Simon appears to have gone out of his way not to write awesome melodies on Stranger to Stranger but the rhythms are enticing and as long as you’re not expecting another Bridge Over Troubled Water, this is a very satisfying album. There is a feeling that we are privy to the inner workings of Simon’s mind, but even he is confused by his thoughts. ‘Street Angel’ harks back to his love of ‘Earth Angel’ and Simon is talking about writing his “rhymes for the universities”. Two songs later, the street angel is ‘In a Parade’ and diagnosed as a schizophrenic. These lyrics should have come with an explanatory booklet.
Since he was a child, Paul Simon has suffered from nightmares, and as their frequency increased, Edie recommended John of God, a faith healer in Brazil who had helped her. He wasn’t cured but the nightmares became less frequent. This had led to a song with a clever oxymoron in its title, ‘Insomniac’s Lullaby’.
The album is not mournful but ‘The Riverbank’ was inspired after Simon attended a meeting for wounded veterans in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland and played at the funeral of a teacher who had been killed in a school shooting in New Town, Connecticut.
The reviews for Stranger to Stranger were exceptionally good. The critics enjoyed playing with Simon’s previous song titles to come up with lines like ‘Not hazy after all these years’ and ‘Still hungry after all these years’. No one seemed to appreciate that the original title, ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, worked best. That line sums up Paul Simon, and judging by the final line of ‘Cool Papa Bell’, he is ‘never gonna stop’, but he can’t talk now, he’s in a parade.
Meanwhile, Art Garfunkel played extensive dates in 2016, coming to the UK for Hampton Court Palace and Glastonbury. He said on stage at Hampton Court, “I say some stupid things about him to the press from time-to-time but it’s like a marriage, it waxes and it wanes.” This, I suppose, gives us some insight into Mr Garfunkel’s home life. He concluded, “This is my dear, dear friend whom I have known since I was eleven. He’s enriched my life.”
So, if there’s to be a reunion, the ball is now in Simon’s court.
Bibliography
Fisher, Carrie, Wishful Drinking (Simon & Schuster, 2008).
Humphries, Patrick, The Boy in the Bubble (New English Library, 1988).
Kingston, Victoria, Simon and Garfunkel: The Definitive Biography (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1996).
Leigh, Spencer, Paul Simon – Now and Then (Raven, 1973).
Luftig, Stacey (Ed.) The Paul Simon Companion (Omnibus Press, 1997).
Ramone, Phil, Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music (Hyperion, 2007).
Simon, P
aul, Lyrics 1964–2008 (Simon & Schuster, 2008).
Zollo, Paul, Songwriters on Songwriting (Da Capo Press, 1997).
Discography
BEFORE SIMON & GARFUNKEL (1957–1963) Singles
Hey Schoolgirl / Dancin’ Wild – Tom & Jerry (US Big 613 & King 5167, 1957) (US 49)
True or False / Teenage Fool – True Taylor (Paul Simon) (US Big 614, 1958)
Our Song / Two Teenagers – Tom and Jerry (US Big 616, 1958)
That’s My Story / Don’t Say Goodbye – Tom and Jerry (US Big 618 & Hunt 319, 1958)
Baby Talk / Two Teenagers – Tom and Jerry (US Big 621, 1959)
Baby Talk – Tom and Jerry (US Bell 120, UK Gala 806, 1959) (US B-side I’m Gonna Get Married by Ronnie Lawrence: UK B-side Thank You Pretty Baby by Paul Sheldon) (Photograph of Tom and Jerry on Gala 45 is definitely not Simon and Garfunkel)
The Shape I’m In / Ya Ya – Johnny Restivo (Paul Simon, guitar) (US RCA 47-7559, UK RCA 1143, 1959) (US 80)
Lookin’ at You / I’m Lonesome – Tom and Jerry (US Ember 1094 in 1959, UK Pye International 7N 25202 in 1963) (Record Collector values this UK single at £90.)
Loneliness / Annabelle – Jerry Landis (Paul Simon) (US MGM 12822, 1959)
Just to Be with You / Ask Me Why – Jerry Landis (US Chance 102, issued on both black and blue vinyl, 1959)
Beat Love / Dream Alone – Artie Garr (Art Garfunkel) (US Warwick 515, 1960)
Shy / Just A Boy – Jerry Landis (US Warwick 552, 1960)
All Through the Night / (I Begin) To Think Again of You – Mystics (Paul Simon: second tenor and arrangement on A-side; Paul Simon, harmony singing on B-side) (US Laurie 3047, 1960)
I’d Like to Be (The Lipstick on Your Lips) / Just A Boy – Jerry Landis (Paul Simon) (US Warwick 588, 1960)
Play Me a Sad Song / It Means a Lot to Them – Jerry Landis (US Warwick 619, 1961)
I Wish I Weren’t in Love / I’m Lonely – Jerry Landis (US Canadian-American 130, 1961). (This is the rarest pre-S&G single: mint copies worth over £100.)
Motorcycle / I Don’t Believe Them – Tico & the Triumphs (Paul Simon, lead singer) (US Madison 169 & Amy 835, 1961) (US 99)
Private World / Forgive Me – Artie Garr (Art Garfunkel) (US Octavia 8002, 1962)
Wildflower / Express Train – Tico & the Triumphs (Paul Simon, lead singer) (US Amy 845, 1962)
Get Up and Do the Wobble / Cry Little Boy Cry – Tico & the Triumphs (Paul Simon, lead singer) (US Amy 860, 1962)
Tick Tock / Please Don’t Tell Her – Ritchie Cordell (Paul Simon, backing vocals) (US Rori 707, 1962)
Surrender, Please Surrender / Fightin’ Mad – Tom and Jerry (US ABC-Paramount 45-10363, 1962) (Probably a different Tom and Jerry)
The Lone Teen Ranger / Lisa – Jerry Landis (Paul Simon) (US Amy 875, 1962) (US 97)
Cards of Love / Noise – Tico & the Triumphs (Paul Simon, lead singer) (US Amy 876, 1963)
I Wrote You a Letter / Play Me a Sad Song /– Dotty Daniels (US Amy 885, 1963) (B-side written by Paul and Eddie Simon: Paul Simon arranged and produced both sides)
That’s My Story / Tijuana Blues – Tom and Jerry (US ABC-Paramount 10788, 1966: B-side not issued before)
In addition, there are around twenty demos of songs, often written by Paul Simon, which have appeared on subsequent CD releases:
Aeroplane of Silver Steel / An Angel Cries / Back Seat Driver / Bigger And Better Things / Bingo / A Charmed Life / A Different Kind of Love / Dreams Can Come True / Educated Fool / Flame / Forever and After / A Frame Without a Picture / A Good Foundation for Love / I Want You in My Stocking / Just a Kid / Let’s Make Pictures / Lighthouse Point (2 takes) / Make a Wish / North Wind / One Way Love / Rock’n’Roll Skaters’ Waltz / Simon Says / Sleepy Sleepy Baby / That Forever Kind Of Love / That’s How I Feel / Up and Down the Stairs / When You Come Back to School / Wow Cha Cha Cha
Although Simon & Garfunkel have performed ‘Hey Schoolgirl’ on stage, they have never authorised collections of these old recordings. They took legal action over Simon and Garfunkel (US Sears 435, UK Allegro 836, 1967), which led to it being withdrawn.
In 1993 two Italian CDs were released: Tom & Jerry Their Greatest Hits, Vols 1 & 2, each with twenty-two tracks. In 2012 Jasmine released Two Teenagers, a twenty-six-track CD (UK Jasmine JASCD 231) which is an exceptionally good attempt by Bob Fisher at resolving what was Simon, what was Garfunkel and what was somebody else.
Now, in 2016, all records issued prior to 1963 are out of copyright in the UK so any company can issue them.
THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL YEARS (1964–1970)
He Was My Brother / Carlos Dominguez – The Voice of Paul Kane (US) and Jerry Landis (UK) (Paul Simon) (US Tribute 128, UK Oriole CB 1930, 1964) (If you should see a copy with Paul Simon’s name on the label – beware, it’s a fake.)
Wednesday Morning 3am LP – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 9049, 1964; UK CBS 63370, 1968) (US 30, 1968: UK 24, 1968)
You Can Tell the World / Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream / Bleecker Street / Sparrow / Benedictus / The Sound of Silence / He Was My Brother/ Peggy-O / Go Tell It on the Mountain / The Sun Is Burning / The Times They Are A-Changin’ / Wednesday Morning 3am
The Paul Simon Songbook LP – Paul Simon (UK CBS 62579, 1965)
I Am a Rock / Leaves That Are Green / A Church Is Burning / April Come She Will / The Sound of Silence / Patterns / A Most Peculiar Man / He was My Brother / Kathy’s Song / The Side of a Hill / A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Lyndon Johnson’d into Submission) / Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall
I Am a Rock / Leaves That Are Green – Paul Simon (UK CBS 201797)
Wednesday Morning 3am EP – Simon & Garfunkel (UK CBS EP 6053, 1965)
Bleecker Street / Sparrow / Wednesday Morning 3am / The Sound of Silence
The Sound of Silence / We’re Got a Groovey Thing Goin’ – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 43396, UK CBS 202020, 1965) (US No. 1 for two weeks). Some US DJ copies have the electric ‘Sounds’ on one side and the acoustic on the other – a nice rarity.
Jackson C. Frank LP – Jackson C. Frank (UK Columbia 33X 1788, 1965)
Album and single (Blues Run the Game, Columbia DB 7795) produced by Simon. There have been various UK reissues, often with non-Simon related tracks but the whole of his output with Simon – fifteen tracks – is on the Castle CD CMRCD 366 issued in 2001.
I Am A Rock EP – Simon & Garfunkel (UK CBS EP 6074, 1966) (UK EP charts, No. 4)
I Am a Rock / Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall / The Sound of Silence / Blessed
Homeward Bound / Leaves That Are Green – Simon & Garfunkel US Columbia 43511, UK CBS 202045, 19665) (US No. 5, UK No. 9)
Sounds Of Silence LP – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 9269, UK CBS 62690, 1966) (US 21, UK 13)
The Sound of Silence / Leaves That Are Green / Blessed / Kathy’s Song / Somewhere They Can’t Find Me / Anji / Homeward Bound / Richard Cory / A Most Peculiar Man / April Come She Will / We’ve Got a Groovey Thing Goin’ / I Am a Rock. (The US version of this LP does not include Homeward Bound.)
I Am a Rock / Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 43617, UK CBS 202303, 1966) (US 3, UK 17)
The Dangling Conversation / The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
– Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 43728, UK CBS 202285, 1966) (US 25)
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme LP – Simon & Garfunkel (Columbia 9363, CBS 62860, 1966) (US 4, UK 13)
Scarborough Fair – Canticle / Patterns / Cloudy / The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine / The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) / The Dangling Conversation / Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall / A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d into Submission) / For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her / A Poem on the Underground Wall / Seven O’Clock News – Silent Night
A Hazy Shade of Winter / For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 43873, UK CBS 202378, 1966) (US 13)
At the Zoo / The 59th Stree
t Bridge Song – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 44046, UK CBS 202608, 1966 (US 16)
Feelin’ Groovy EP – Simon & Garfunkel (UK CBS EP 6360, 1967)
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) / The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine / Homeward Bound / A Hazy Shade of Winter
Fakin’ It / You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 44232, UK CBS 2911, 1967) (US 23)
Scarborough Fair / April Come She Will – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 44465, UK CBS 3317, 1968) (US 11)
Bookends LP – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 9529, UK CBS 63101, 1968) (US No. 1 for seven weeks, UK No. 1 for six weeks)
Bookends Theme / Save the Life of My Child / America / Overs / Voices of Old People / Old Friends / Bookends Theme / Fakin’ It / Punky’s Dilemma / Mrs Robinson / A Hazy Shade of Winter / At the Zoo (Fakin’ It is a remixed, slightly faster version of the single)
The Graduate LP – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 3180, UK CBS 70042, 1968) (US No. 1 for nine weeks, UK No. 3)
Sounds of Silence (two versions) / Mrs Robinson (two versions) / Scarborough Fair – Canticle (two versions) / April Come She Will / The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine. Neither version of Mrs Robinson is the hit version.
(Music composed and arranged by Dave Grusin) The Singleman’s Party / Sunporch Cha-Cha-Cha / On the Strip / The Folks / The Great Effect / Whew
Mrs Robinson / Old Friends – Bookends Theme – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 44511, UK CBS 3443, 1968) (US No. 1 for three weeks, UK No. 4)
Mrs Robinson EP – Simon & Garfunkel (UK CBS EP 6400, 1968) (UK singles chart No. 9) EPs were dropped from the singles charts from February 1969 and so the EP was only on the charts for five weeks.
Mrs Robinson / April Come She Will / Scarborough Fair – Canticle / Sounds of Silence
The Boxer / Baby Driver – Simon & Garfunkel (US Columbia 44785, UK CBS 4162, 1969) (US No. 7, UK No. 6)
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper 2LP (US CBS PG 6, UK CBS 66216, 1969) (US No. 18)
Simon & Garfunkel Page 24
