The Legend Of Paul Simon

The Legend Of Paul Simon

by Benjy Eisen

Upon being inducted into the Rock and’ Roll Hall Of Fame, Paul Simon went down a long list of thank you call outs, naming one by one all the musicians, songwriters, places, and people who have influenced him since he started playing music. The list was nearly as long and eclectic as Paul Simon’s career, but not nearly as exhaustive. Being a professional musician since the 1950s, Simon has conquered folk, rock, pop, American traditional, and worldbeat music, each time bringing the respective form into popular consciousness through a string of radio hits, platinum sellers, and Grammy-award winners.

When he was 16, he scored “Hey Schoolgirl,” a tune he performed with Art Garfunkel, a schoolmate of his from Queens, NY, under the name “Tom and Jerry.” That was 1957. After brief stints with various monikers and a couple false starts, Simon hooked up with Garfunkel again in the ’60s and the two went on to become one of the most popular groups of the decade. Not only did they chart hits and gain national acclaim, they also influenced the landscape of popular music at large, opening the door to the folk-rock era with such followers as Crosby Stills and Nash and James Taylor.

Simon and Garfunkel disbanded in 1970 and Paul Simon started to reveal himself as an artist in constant motion, repeatedly evolving, morphing, and expanding his musical identity. Five years after his split with Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon went to the top again, this time alone. 1975’s Still Crazy After All These Years yielded the Number One hit “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” and earned Simon a Grammy for Album Of The Year.

Upon entering another decade as a recording artist, in the early 1980s Simon became restless as a vanguard of folk music. Like a snake wishing for survival, he shed his skin yet again, this time dressing himself in the music of South Africa. Calling upon help from South African musicians, Simon mastered the rhythms and vocal techniques of the music, ultimately resulting in Graceland. The album became his biggest seller as a solo artist and won him another Grammy for Album Of The Year. But the ripple effects of Graceland became a wave much bigger than the original splash. It opened up American — and indeed international — ears to the music of South Africa, and did for worldbeat in the 1980s what Bridge Over Troubled Water did for folk-rock in 1970. Soon Paul Simon was joined by other rock superstars such as Peter Gabriel, David Bryne, and Mickey Hart in the fusion of sounds from other cultures into popular American music.

Again, Simon moved on. This time shifting to Brazilian music for 1990’s The Rhythm of the Saints. In 1991, Paul Simon returned to Central Park, where he played, recorded, and released a live concert a decade after doing the same thing with Art Garfunkel. A couple of days later, Simon came to Hersheypark Stadium. Telling the crowd that the show before Hershey was Central Park, “I thought this would be a let down,” he admitted. “I was wrong.”

Simon moved on. In the late ’90s, he spent his time writing his first Broadway musical, one of his only commercial failures — “The Capeman.” Simon moved on, moved on so much in fact that he has come full circle, releasing You’re The One in 2000. An album that shows his constant evolution as growth more than change, You’re The One is an integration of all that Paul Simon has been over the course of 50 years: a songwriter, storyteller, singer, guitar player and worldbeat conducter. The songs bring back the reflective quality so prevalent with Simon and Garfunkel, while continuing the lyrical artistry that continued to emerge throughout his career. The sounds of South Africa and Brazil remain an undercurrent, but still fully present; a permanent part of Paul Simon’s artistic design.

It’s been exactly 10 years since that show in Hersheypark Stadium. Now, Paul Simon returns to Hersheypark on July 16, with Brian Wilson opening. The tour will include material that spans Simon’s entire career. Tickets are $55.00 and $37.50 and may be purchased through Ticketmaster or by calling the Hersheypark Box Office at 534-3911.