Music for Grownups: A YouTube Tribute to Paul Simon
How better to celebrate Simon's half-century career than with a 10-video biography courtesy of YouTube?
By: Richard Gehr | Source: AARP.org | Date Posted: 2008-07-31
Richard Gehr is a veteran music critic based in New York City. His reviews for AARP.org appear every Tuesday; his columns on Thursdays.
In 1957, New York City high-school juniors Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel released their first single, "Hey Schoolgirl," under the (less ethnic-sounding) names, “Tom and Jerry.” That makes Simon's career alone eligible for a ticket to AARP's Life@50+ event in Washington, D.C., where the prolific singer-songwriter will perform with his band on Sept. 6. And how better to celebrate Simon's half-century career than with a 10-video biography courtesy of YouTube?
1. “Tom” wasn't Simon's only musical alias. He recorded creditable doo-wop and hot-rod rock either as Jerry Landis—"The Lone Teen Ranger" (1963) was one single—or with Tico & the Triumphs, "Motorcycle” (1962). Discover some of his early work in this clever montage of his earliest seven-inch releases.
2. Simon and Garfunkel's debut album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM," was released in 1964. The duo achieved full-fledged stardom by 1966, when they taped this moving version of "The Sound of Silence," probably for Dutch TV.
3. My favorite Simon clip captures Paul and his look-alike younger brother, Ed, performing eccentric British songwriter Davey Graham's popular guitar instrumental, "Anji," for NBC's "Kraft Music Hall" in 1968. Can you tell which brother is which?
4. Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie offer a rapping introduction to Simon's 1986 video of "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" that Simon made to promote a greatest-hits album. Note special guest appearances by New York Yankees switch hitter Mickey Mantle, diminutive NBA slam-dunk star "Spud" Webb, and football coach/commentator John Madden.
5. "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" may not be the best song on Simon's Grammy-winning "Still Crazy After All These Years"—that would be "My Little Town." But Simon's 'mustache and a cracker-jack band carry the day at this 1975 BBC taping.
6. Simon's career lost its sizzle for about a decade, until the 1986 release of his groundbreaking "Graceland." Simon's video for "You Can Call Me Al," featuring the formerly funny Chevy Chase, is a small gem of self-mockery and antics likely inspired by silent film.
7. Simon's thrilling 1987 performance of the same Grammy-winning album's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" in Zimbabwe, however, is serious business indeed. South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo's voices and dance moves are a revelation, while Simon himself comes across as just another genius in a plain white T-shirt.
8. In 1991, Simon kicked off his free Central Park concert (in front of 750,000 people) with "The Obvious Child," from 1990's "The Rhythm of the Saints." With its African bass line, Brazilian beats, poetic lyrics, and doo-wop chorus, the song seems to sum up everything great about both Simon and his hometown.
9. "The Capeman," Simon's 1998 stab at a Broadway musical about Puerto Rican gang member Salvador Agron, lost $11 million and received little love from critics. It did boast a few fine songs, however, and "Bernadette," which Simon performed for a VH1 "Storytellers" episode, is one of them.
10. "I'm an ordinary player in the key of C," Simon sings in "Outrageous," from his thoroughly underappreciated 2006 album, "Surprise." Performing the song on "Late Night With David Letterman," Paul Simon looks thoroughly anything but a veteran pop star making another comeback. After 50 years, he's got this gig down pat, and he still plays with as much cool gusto as ever.
1. “Tom” wasn't Simon's only musical alias. He recorded creditable doo-wop and hot-rod rock either as Jerry Landis—"The Lone Teen Ranger" (1963) was one single—or with Tico & the Triumphs, "Motorcycle” (1962). Discover some of his early work in this clever montage of his earliest seven-inch releases.
2. Simon and Garfunkel's debut album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM," was released in 1964. The duo achieved full-fledged stardom by 1966, when they taped this moving version of "The Sound of Silence," probably for Dutch TV.
3. My favorite Simon clip captures Paul and his look-alike younger brother, Ed, performing eccentric British songwriter Davey Graham's popular guitar instrumental, "Anji," for NBC's "Kraft Music Hall" in 1968. Can you tell which brother is which?
4. Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie offer a rapping introduction to Simon's 1986 video of "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" that Simon made to promote a greatest-hits album. Note special guest appearances by New York Yankees switch hitter Mickey Mantle, diminutive NBA slam-dunk star "Spud" Webb, and football coach/commentator John Madden.
5. "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" may not be the best song on Simon's Grammy-winning "Still Crazy After All These Years"—that would be "My Little Town." But Simon's 'mustache and a cracker-jack band carry the day at this 1975 BBC taping.
6. Simon's career lost its sizzle for about a decade, until the 1986 release of his groundbreaking "Graceland." Simon's video for "You Can Call Me Al," featuring the formerly funny Chevy Chase, is a small gem of self-mockery and antics likely inspired by silent film.
7. Simon's thrilling 1987 performance of the same Grammy-winning album's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" in Zimbabwe, however, is serious business indeed. South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo's voices and dance moves are a revelation, while Simon himself comes across as just another genius in a plain white T-shirt.
8. In 1991, Simon kicked off his free Central Park concert (in front of 750,000 people) with "The Obvious Child," from 1990's "The Rhythm of the Saints." With its African bass line, Brazilian beats, poetic lyrics, and doo-wop chorus, the song seems to sum up everything great about both Simon and his hometown.
9. "The Capeman," Simon's 1998 stab at a Broadway musical about Puerto Rican gang member Salvador Agron, lost $11 million and received little love from critics. It did boast a few fine songs, however, and "Bernadette," which Simon performed for a VH1 "Storytellers" episode, is one of them.
10. "I'm an ordinary player in the key of C," Simon sings in "Outrageous," from his thoroughly underappreciated 2006 album, "Surprise." Performing the song on "Late Night With David Letterman," Paul Simon looks thoroughly anything but a veteran pop star making another comeback. After 50 years, he's got this gig down pat, and he still plays with as much cool gusto as ever.
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