Homeward Bound
Page 49
22 ■ PHANTOM FIGURES IN THE DUST
“We can show the kids the tape”: Colleen Long, “Edie Brickell Releases Her First New Album in a Decade,” Associated Press, December 29, 2003.
“recapturing as purely”: Sheila Rule, “The Pop Life,” New York Times, June 16, 1993.
“I felt a lot of affection”: Greg Kot, “Still Crazy After All These Years; Paul Simon Looks Back—and Ahead—After 3 Musical Decades,” Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1993.
“It is sophomoric, inflated talk”: “Talk of the Town: (Still) Looking for America,” New Yorker, October 11, 1993.
Then it was happening again: Author interview with Chris Botti, November 19, 2013; author interviews with Jerry Garfunkel, April 23–24, 2013.
“Neither could speak the next morning”: Author interview with Chris Botti.
“There were gangs in Queens”: David Hinckley, “Homeward Bound—In ‘The Capeman’ Paul Simon Returns to the NY of His Youth,” New York Daily News, November 16, 1997.
“I was in a couple of fights”: Larry McShane, “Paul Simon’s Controversial ‘Capeman’ Hits Broadway,” Associated Press, December 12, 1997.
the sound of his youth: Timothy White, “The Secret History of Simon’s ‘Capeman,’” Billboard, November 3, 1997.
In late 1967 he had signed up: Sam Zolotow, “Dustin Hoffman to Try Broadway; Star of ‘The Graduate’ Cast in a Schisgal Musical,” New York Times, May 20, 1968.
he could never get past the artifice: Author interview with Jeffrey Sweet, September 28, 2014.
“If I ever write a musical”: Ibid.
“I might do that”: Ibid.
“That’s because the best writers”: Paul Simon interview with Jerry Gilbert, “Paul Simon,” Sounds, May 19, 1973.
“I have absolutely no plans”: Paul Simon interview with Timothy White, Crawdaddy, February 1976.
By 1980 he put writing a musical: Jim Jerome, “Music Keeps Coming,” People, November 3, 1980.
Paul took his script-in-progress: E. L. Doctorow story as told by friend Eric Alterman to author.
“The whole project’s on a razor’s edge”: Author interviews with Mike Tannen, 2013–2016.
Well, he was finished with being a pop star: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
“You’re telling me I don’t know”: Ibid.
“I will see you again”: Author interview with Susana Tubert, January 18, 2016.
He talked at length: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
“I just spent a year”: Author interview with Susana Tubert.
Paul sent Tubert: Ibid.
Let’s get rid of the business guys: Ibid.
“What made you think?”: Ibid.
Everything seemed normal: Ibid.
Born at the Right Time … got to Chicago: Author interview with Stephen Eich, September 10, 2014.
Paul hired him to take her place: Author interviews with Eric Simonson, 2014–2016.
Everything was complicated: Ibid.
“Stop! Stop!” Ibid.; Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
Paul halted a full-cast rehearsal: Ibid.
Paul’s word superseded: Author interviews with Eric Simonson, 2014–2016
“He really gets to the core”: Ibid.
When the day finally: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
Simonson was gone: Author interview with Eric Simonson, 2014–2016.
The show’s budget swelled: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
What else could go wrong?: Patricia O’Haire, “‘Capeman’: Sounds of Violence Paul Simon Musical Looks at Gang Leader’s Life in Disgrace-land,” New York Daily News, June 11, 1997.
In September, Newsday: Patrick Pacheco, “Play by Play/A Neophyte Capeman/Simon Musical Relying on Untested Talent,” Newsday, September 4, 1997.
“Why would anyone want to write a show”: Michael Riedel, “Teen Slay Caper Nearing Stage,” New York Daily News, September 7, 1997.
“He represents the commercialization”: “Rob’t Dominguez, Rival Play Raps Simon-ized ‘Capeman,’” New York Daily News, September 19, 1997.
“If you’re asking me”: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
“I couldn’t care less”: Bob Ickes, “The Capeman Cometh,” Vogue, January 1998.
“almost intolerable”: Ward Morehouse III, “Is Nichols Tailor-Made for ‘Capeman’ Alterations?” New York Post, December 11, 1997.
“You are the best of the best!”: Author interview with Jerry Zaks, April 28, 2015.
“I was very sick at the time”: Ibid.
23 ■ THE TEACHER
“We’re ready to”: Greg Evans, “Gang of Crix Knife ‘Capeman,’” Variety, February 2, 1998.
“If this is a failure”: Tara George and Dave Goldiner, “Simon ‘Cape’ Crusader at Closing,” New York Daily News, March 29, 1998.
“I’m thinking”: Dubner, “The Pop Perfectionist.”
“Since I met Paul”: Alec Wilkinson, “The Gift,” New Yorker, November 25, 2002.
“On a scale of”: Author interview with Chris Botti, 2013.
“Like Rainbow Brite”: Harper Simon interview with Sabine Heller, “Harper Simon: Singer and Songwriter,” Purple, 2012.
“I hope that one day”: Neil Strauss, “In Jam-Filled Ceremony, an Eclectic Mix Joins the RRHoF,” New York Times, March 20, 2001.
“I really became”: Author interview with Martin Carthy, February 2014.
“trudging the grudge”: Ibid.
“I never said any”: Ingham, “Paul Simon: Still Crazy?.”
“Okay, maybe it didn’t”: Ibid.
“I made a lot”: Letta Tayler, “He’s the One,” Newsday, December 3, 2000.
“It’s over. Long over”: Letta Tayler, “He’s the One,” Newsday, December 3, 2000.
“New outfits for a new”: Note from Paul Simon to Art Garfunkel, 1990, located in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s library.
“There’s one person I can’t”: Author interview with Martin Carthy, February 2014.
“I think this is more”: David Bauder, “Simon & Garfunkel Heading Out on the Road Again,” Associated Press, June 7, 2004.
“He called me a few”: “Who Am I If I Can’t Sing? It’s My Identity,” Daily Telegraph, October 18, 2012.
“It’s a very complicated relationship”: Paul Simon interview with Craig Inciardi, located in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s library.
“We are currently in”: Scott Freeman, “Review: At Emory, Paul Simon Lectures on Songwriting and Performs an Unforgettable Concert,” ArtsATL, September 26, 2013, http://www.artsatl.com/review-paul-simon/.
“I believe that this”: Elvis Costello liner notes, So Beautiful, So What, Hear Music, April 12, 2011.
24 ■ SEE WHAT’S BECOME OF ME
“literary gravitas”: Rupsha Basu and Stephen Fowler, “Simon Delivers Lectures on Songwriting, Decline of Art,” Emory Wheel, September 24, 2013.
“break [her] heart”: Steve Kobak, “Details Emerge About Paul Simon Arrest,” New Canaan Hour, April 29, 2014.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I started thinking seriously about writing a book on Paul Simon in mid-2012, just as I was finishing work on my previous book. My connection to his music went back as far as the summer of 1968 when the transistor radios in our Seattle neighborhood played “Mrs. Robinson” six or eight times a day, every day, while I pushed my trucks through my parents’ backyard. Simon’s early solo hits were all over the radio when I was in grade school, and I started collecting his albums when I got to high school. I bought each new record as it was released over the next forty years. It was clear to me that Simon’s music had become an essential part of the American cultural experience in the late-twentieth and now early-twenty-first centuries.
I started writing a proposal for this book in the winter of 2012–13 and began work on the book itself in the spring of 2013 and devoted the next three years to researching and writing about Simon’s work, his life,
and his times. As always, I benefited from the work and kindness of many smart, cool, and generous people along the way.
First: My agents Dan Conaway and Simon Lipskar, along with Taylor Templeton and Caitlin Ellis at Writers House. Thanks also to Gillian Blake, who brought me to Henry Holt & Co, and Eleanor Embry, both of whom contributed so much to the book during its creation.
Thanks also to my friend/wingman/transcriber Craig Williams and my New York–based research assistants Emily Kaplan and Greg Hanlon, all of whom made invaluable contributions to this work. Also to Mike Tannen, Barry Kornfeld, Mort Lewis (RIP), Rob Oudshoorn, Raymond F. Kearney and Eric Alterman, and Jim Carlton, all of whom withstood more than their share of calls, visits, and emails. The same goes for my friends at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum + Archives: Greg Harris, Lauren Onkey, Andy Leach, and Jennie Thomas and everyone else at the RRHoF’s research library.
I also owe thanks to the staff of the Essex Records Office in Chelmsford, UK; the New York Public Library for the Arts in Lincoln Center; the British Library; Malcolm Taylor and everyone at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library at the English Folk Dance and Song Society; Principal Saul Gootnik and everyone at Forest Hills High School; the staff of the Queens College Library; the staff of the American Federations of Musicians, Local 802; and the staff of New York University’s Tamiment Library.
For their recollections, insights, suggestions, and so much more: Jerry Garfunkel, Ron Merenstein, Steven Merenstein, Chester Gusick, Morton Craft, Bucky Pizzarelli, Marshall Chess, Bert Skolsky, Art Gatti, John J. McDermott, David Goodman, Ron Pollack, Judith Flanembaum, June Tauber Golden, Mark Levy, Brian Schwartz, Gerry Solomon, Mike Barkan, Harvey Kushman, Norman Basner, Richard Milner, Stuart Hochman, Robert Lieberman, Marv Kalfin, Marv Goldberg, Mickey Borack, Marty Cooper, Al Caiola, Al Contrera, Neil Sedaka, Roderick Warner, Al Stewart, Ariel Bruce, Martin Carthy, Stephen Bromfield, Rick Norcross, John Renbourn (RIP), Hans Fried, Miranda Ward, Bruce Woodley, Wizz Jones, Harvey Andrews, Rupert Hine, David W. Rugg, Geoffrey Speed, Dolly Terfus, Rick Norcross, Melanie Ezekiel, Bill Leader, Bredda Roberts, Spencer Leigh, Jim Abbott, Andre Ceelen, Harry Knipschild, Clive Davis, Bunny Friedus, Michael Pillot, Paul Samwell-Smith, Susan Curry, Janice Lagunoff, Will Trinkle, Linda Grossman Garfunkel, Frank Reina, Norman Strassner, Bill Crow, Bob Johnston, John Simon, Al Kooper, Morgan Ames, Chuck Israels, Hal Blaine, Melissa Manchester, Stefan Grossman, David Hood, Richard Blakin, Dr. Rod Gorney, Ron Delsener, Lenny Waronker, Russ Titelman, Fred Lipsius, Arlen Roth, Attie Van Wyck, Hilton Rosenthal, Jabu Ngwenya, Johnny Clegg, Rory Steyn, Ray Phiri, Steve Berlin, Heidi Berg, Chris Botti, Randy Brecker, Graham Hawthorne, Paul Levant, Dean Parks, Marco Mazzola, Joseph Skibell, Susana Tubert, Eric Simonson, Jeffrey Sweet, Stephen J. Dubner, Stephen Eich, Jerry Zaks, and Paul Zollo.
More thanks to the small but crucial group of sources who spoke, often at length, off the record, on background, and without attribution. They know who they are.
Thanks also to colleagues and friends: Brad Rosenberger, Patrick Humphries, Victoria Kingston, Paul Du Noyer, Loraine Alterman, Jeffrey Melnick, Ben Sidran, Tim Riley, Jim Cullen, Ryan White, Bertis Downs, and Patterson Hood.
For places to stay, places to write, places to hide: Claudia Nelson and Rory Dolan, Brendan and Christe White. Thanks also to the artists residency program at the Sou’Wester Lodge, Seaview, Washington.
More thanks to the King: “So it’s settled. That’s what you’re doing.”
As ever, forever, for Sarah, Anna, Teddy, and Max.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
1. Time & Life Pictures / The LIFE Picture Collection
2. Photofest
3. ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
4. Norman H. Strassner / Strassner Family Collection
5. Author Collection
6. Queens College Archives
7. Queens College Archives
8. Michael Ochs Archives
9. Queens College Archives
10. Archant CM Ltd. / Norfolk
11. Donald Hunstein / Hunstein Art Services
12. Author Collection
13. Pictorial Press Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo
14. Pictorial Press Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo
15. New Musical Express
16. Peter Simon
17. NBCUniversal
18. Richard E. Aaron / Redferns
19. Time & Life Pictures / The LIFE Picture Collection
20. Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo
21. NBCUniversal
22. Steve Azzara / Corbis Historical
23. ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Academy Awards
“Accordion Jive Hits Vol. II”
Ace, Johnny
“Ace in the Hole”
Adams, Anthony
Ade, King Sunny
Adepoju, Demola
“Adios Hermanos”
Adler, Lou
Adler, Norman
Adventures of Augie March, The (Bellow)
African National Congress (ANC)
Africa Report
“Afterlife, The”
Agron, Aurea
Agron, Sal
Albert, Marv
Aldon Music
Ali, Muhammad
Alice in Wonderland (film)
“All Around the World”
Allen, Woody
“Allergies”
Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi)
Alterman, Loraine
Altham, Keith
“America”
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Bandstand (TV show)
American Federation of Musicians
“American Tune”
Amy Records
Andrews, Harvey
Angel Clare
“Anji”
“Anna Belle”
Annie Hall (film)
Ann-Margret
Another Life (Walcott)
Ansen, David
Anthony, Marc
apartheid
Apollo Records
“April Come She Will”
Aquilante, Dan
Araim, Amer
Are You Experienced?
Artists United Against Apartheid
Ashley, Clarence “Tom”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“At the Zoo”
Aushorn, Jacob
Aykroyd, Dan
Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO)
B-52s
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
“Baby Driver”
“Baby Talk”
Bachelors
“Bad News Feeling”
Bad Timing (film)
Baez, Joan
Baldry, Long John
Band Aid
Barnett, Ross
Basie, Count
Baskin, Edie
Basner, Norman
Batson, Mark
BBC
Beach Boys
Bear, Chris
Beatles
Beatty, Warren
“Be-Bop-a-Lula”
Beckett, Barry
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Belafonte, Harry
Bell, Al
Bellow, Saul
Belushi, John
“Benedictus”
Berg, Heidi
Bergen, Candice
Berklee College of Music
Berlin, Irving
Berlin, Steve
Berman, Bess Merenstein
Berman, Ike
Bernstein, Leonard
Berry, Chuck
Bible
“Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine”
Big Records
Billboard
&nbs
p; Bird, Laurie
Blabbermouth
Blades, Rubén
Blaine, Hal
Blakey, Art
“Bleecker Street”
“Blessed”
Block, Martin
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Blood on the Tracks
Bloomfield, Mike
Blow, Kurtis
“Blue Jay Way”
“Blue Mud/Simmer Down”
Boesak, Allan
“Bookends”
Bookends
“Bookends Theme”
Booker T. and the M.G.’s
Borack, Mickey
Born at the Right Time tour (1991)
Born to Run
Boston Phoenix
Botti, Chris
“Boxer, The”
“Boy in the Bubble, The”
Boyle, Peter
Boyoyo Boys
Breakaway
Brecker, Michael
Brecker, Randy
Brennan, Johnny
Brentwood Folk Club
Brickell, Edie (third wife)
“Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Bridge Over Troubled Water
“Bring Him Back Home”
Bringing It All Back Home
Brinkley, Christie
British Musicians’ Union
Bromberg, David
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Law School
Brooks, Albert
“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
Brothers Four
Brown, Blair
Brown, Huks
Brown, Ruth
Brubeck, Dave