Paul Simon's 'Graceland'

Los Lobos finally break their horrible silence

interesting piece on this album: http://www.firstofthemonth.org/archives/2009/08/at_ease_in_azan.html

ollowing “Homeless,” Simon tells us, “I don’t want no part of this crazy love.” For a record that pretends to reclaim rock-n-roll verities, this is an odd stance. The celebration of crazy love, the crazier the better, has been at the heart of the music. To surrender such nutsiness may be the merest prudence, but it is untrue to the deepest impulses of the music Simon has laid claim to here.

an odd attitude

I don't know what "rock and roll verities" are now or were in 1986.

how the fuck does graceland even have anything to do with rock and roll verities?

what a weird thing to fixate on

token Foucault reference too

When the article concentrates on musicianship it's solid though.

Now, Paul Simon is not to be specially faulted if his last record matters less than the elimination of chattel slavery on this continent.

ok no i can't do this

that "now" comma

ollowing “Homeless,” Simon tells us, “I don’t want no part of this crazy love.” For a record that pretends to reclaim rock-n-roll verities, this is an odd stance. The celebration of crazy love, the crazier the better, has been at the heart of the music. To surrender such nutsiness may be the merest prudence, but it is untrue to the deepest impulses of the music Simon has laid claim to here.

how does someone write this and sleep at night?

the article's at least 80% bullshit, but i find it oddly...compelling, somehow? like, he's got sentence after sentence that makes no apparent sense at all ("the merest prudence"?), yet he retains that weird, arrogant, see-this-is-how-it-really-is attitude throughout. it's like someone crossed armond white with a drunk greil marcus.

the result of that union would have to be put down immediately, i would think, to spare itself and the human race.

i dunno. i think the basic thrust of the article is sound: paul simon used african musicians and music, at a time of great crisis in south africa, in a way that lent an aura of dramatic import and moment to graceland without ever really moving outside the small sphere of his own personal concerns. this may not have been simon's intent (a point conveniently elided), but it was nonetheless the effect. he refused to really engage with the political dimensions of the "material" he was using, choosing instead to throw sops to the idea of political engagement while concentrating more fully on music as music, the political as personal. it's a fair criticism, though not a particularly toothy one in my view.

it's like someone crossed armond white with a drunk greil marcus.

i suggest we kill it before it multiplies

I agree that it's smarter and more riveting than a piece that gets so many things wrong should be. But boy, the howlers.

from Foucault’s conclusion to Madness and Civilization: “The moment when, together, the work of art and madness are born and fulfilled is the beginning of the time when the world finds itself arraigned by that work of art and responsible for what it is.” I don’t think Graceland works that way.)

To surrender such nutsiness may be the merest prudence, but it is untrue to the deepest impulses of the music Simon has laid claim to here.

Anyone who was married to Carrie Fisher has got nothing to prove on the crazy love front.

http://www.thedreamerofmusic.org/BIOGRAPHY/WIVES/image011.jpg
just saw this pic and wondered what in the lord's name was the deal with the hat.

what to do when your roommate doesn't realize you're home and thusly is having loud sex in the living room

i dunno. i think the basic thrust of the article is sound: paul simon used african musicians and music, at a time of great crisis in south africa, in a way that lent an aura of dramatic import and moment to graceland without ever really moving outside the small sphere of his own personal concerns.

this is (a) already nearly conventional wisdom and (b) not very interesting anyway.

Just googled that hat for about 10 minutes to no avail :(

it's like, why so glum, hat-guy! your wife is a total fox!

new Graceland documentary airing on A&E tonight!

This is fascinating: he's so *abstract* about his songwriting; it's about the *patterns* in the rhythms.

it makes sense to me, i've always thought of his stuff as being very driven by rhythm and meter

i've watched that "Diamonds" performance on SNL so many times and i had no idea that they'd booked that appearance before the album release was delayed, and recorded that song while in New York for the show. nobody had ever heard that song before that broadcast! i can't even imagine how exciting that would've been.

whoa that is crazy

Thanks for the tip! Enjoying this.

related: http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=5609

new doc on BBC uk tomorrow http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kkn74

i just watched the "classic albums" special on this album (on netflix streaming). cool to see how chopped up/edited the whole thing was.

Thanks for the tip, compulsory viewing by the looks.

the new doc was on Irish tv on Saturday night, it's excellent. recommended viewing even if you are already very familiar with the classic albums doc (as I was).

also, this: http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2012/06/28/hectic-city-15-paths-to-graceland/

a creative reconstruction of the mixtape that inspired Simon to go to Africa and make some music

wow that looks great, thanks!

yeah! 1 hour 15 minutes of summery African pop beats.

and "speaking the deep truths that artists speak" as paul simon opines on the bbc clip...

it would be nice if the talking heads didn't get in the way of fine music.

Only had time to check out the first minute of that tape, but I'm sold already - will listen again

finally watching the new doc from the begining--LOVE the early jam version of boy in the bubble

holy shit the part where they go out to lesotho to find the old accordion dude

A friend who's been obsessively listening to Graceland this (antipodean) summer has asked me to throw together a comp of, uh, Graceland-related stuff after I was enthusing about the Todd Terje edit of "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes", the 12" mix of "The Boy In The Bubble" & Lizzy Mercier Descloux's self-titled album. Apart from combing through Xgau reviews of 80s afropop/digging out my Bhundu Boys and finally getting around to hearing Peter Gabriel's Passion (+ suitable Talking Heads, I guess), what else would fit? That mixtape shaane posted a link to looks fabulous.

I don't think stuff like Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel (neither of whom are as "African" as people claim) would fit at all. I guess I would seek out more specifically South African stuff, like "The Indestructible Beat of Soweto." The Kleptones mix upthread rules.

there are a lot of days where I think the title track is the greatest song ever written.

"as if I didn't know that!
as if I didn't know my own bed!"

then that brief contemplative silence after the outburst, which you can just *hear* even though Simon's voice barely changes...

"as if I'd never noticed the way she brushed her hair from her forehead,
and she said 'losing love is like a window in your heart...'"

it's a very cinematic song. I see the scene in my mind's eye every time I hear it, them driving along in the car, seeing the narrator deep in thought, as his son gazes obliviously out the window.

not many songs I can say all that about.

I always liked the distance of "my traveling companion is nine years old / he is the child of my first marriage" - ie he never says it's "my son."
I like the way it contrasts with the intimacy of the next section detailing his divorce ("As if I didn't know my own bed").

http://africasacountry.com/when-steven-van-zandt-convinced-azapo-to-take-paul-simon-off-a-hit-list-and-what-paul-simon-really-thought-of-nelson-mandela/

Miami Steve Van Zandt and Dave Marsh vs Paul Simon

one excerpt--

He knew more than me, he knew more than Mandela, he knew more than the South African people. His famous line, of course, was, “Art transcends politics.” And I said to him, “All due respect, Paulie, but not only does art not transcend politics… art is politics. And I’m telling you right now, you and Henry Kissinger, your buddy, go fuck yourselves.” Or whatever I said. But he had that attitude, and he knowingly and consciously violated the boycott to publicize his record.

Well, to make his record. That’s the violation of the boycott — to make his record.

Wow, that whole thing.

Paulie

some head-spinning stuff there. most of all Simon dismissing Mandela, then sucking up to him as soon as he's out and free.

still an ace record and I'm so glad it was made.

Paul thought Los Lobos had Russian connections too--Caesar ROJAS anyone?

Goddamn. I know I'm getting Stevie's version here, but Stevie just went up a lot in my esteem and Paul Simon just went down a lot.

"My friend Henry Kissinger told me..."

ha im sure simon is awful or w/e but lil stevies vers doesnt sounds anything like real life