Paul Simon

[ejp626]

3 hours ago, stephenrr said:

Lucky enough to have seen Paul and company last month in Chicago on his self-admitted "retirement tour". ...Dylan and Paul Simon are America's greatest living songwriters.  See him while you can.

Still kicking myself for not seeing him at the Vic in Chicago 5 or 6 or so years ago (the show was literally down the street from my place).  I really can't remember now why I didn't go. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by ejp626

[paul secor]

I'll drop out here. For me, Simon is a nonentity, and I'll leave it at that.

[JSngry]

Ok, you have to actually acknowledge somebody as an entity to consciously declare them an existing non-entity, but oh well, life's funny that way, so let's all have a laugh with Buddy!

 

[Justin V]

11 hours ago, medjuck said:

The only time I ever saw Toots Thielemans was when he toured with Simon. 

I miss Toots.   I'm glad that I caught him once, in a duo with Kenny Werner.  He's one of those musicians who seems to be universally appreciated.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

The stories I heard about the recording of "Graceland" have more to do with just the money. There's the band Los Lobos claiming he lifted an entire song of theirs that they started playing during the recording session. "The Myth Of Fingerprints" or "The Myth That Paul Wrote This"?

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/los-lobos-steve-berlin-labels-paul-simon-a-jerk-alleges-graceland-snub/

[crisp]

I find the stories of Simon blatantly plagiarising as hard to believe as the ones about Fats Waller being the true author of Jimmy McHugh's early songs. Are we seriously supposed to believe Simon doesn't know how to write songs? Or in this case that Los Lobos are better at writing songs than Paul Simon?

[JSngry]

There are talented thieves, I mean, just because somebody already has skills doesn't mean they're not above taking that extra piece of pie when they think nobody's looking.

but still, Paul Simon has enough of a body of work that, ok, take whatever's claimed to have been stolen, there's still plenty left.

[paul secor]

 "But hey, let's just remember who's the genius here."

[jlhoots]

You didn't drop out - just sayin'.

[paul secor]

Nope. I heard John Forster do this song about 25-30 years ago in a club. I didn't remember Forster's name and a friend who used to work for Rounder/Philo Records sent me an email and reminded me.  John Forster told a story about performing the song and someone who worked for Paul Simon was there. The person told Forster that he enjoyed the song but added, "Paul must never hear it."

[JSngry]

Is this John Forster guy supposed to be funny or just clever?

[mjzee]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

Is this John Forster guy supposed to be funny or just clever?

I think he's trying to be funny and clever, but comes off just sounding jealous.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

19 hours ago, crisp said:

I find the stories of Simon blatantly plagiarising as hard to believe as the ones about Fats Waller being the true author of Jimmy McHugh's early songs. Are we seriously supposed to believe Simon doesn't know how to write songs? Or in this case that Los Lobos are better at writing songs than Paul Simon?

So we're supposed to discount the word of the entire band Los Lobos because Pail Simon has written some great tunes? Notice how Simon never sued them for libel. I think that says a lot more about what happened than anything.

[Scott Dolan]

Did they sue him for copyright infringement? 

[medjuck]

7 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

So we're supposed to discount the word of the entire band Los Lobos because Pail Simon has written some great tunes? Notice how Simon never sued them for libel. I think that says a lot more about what happened than anything.

I've never heard the entire band tell the story (doesn't mean that they don't) just Steve Berlin who seems to tell it every chance he can. BTW Just saw David Hidalgo Jr playing drums with Social Distortion.  He's solid. 

Edited July 21, 2018 by medjuck

[JSngry]

Hell, if you believe the stories, Duke stole from his own band, as did Frank Zappa, as did Miles, as did so many people, if you believe the stories.

And then there's Bob Dylan, jesus, there's always Bob Dylan.

I'd never say that I believe Paul Simon to be the most ethical person in the music industry, but I'd just as surely say that I believe him to not have a pretty solid skill set of his own, up to and including taking a good song and making it better, as well as his own.

Irving Mills' estate doesn't get what all the fuss is about.

[Mark Stryker]

I saw Simon in the early ‘90s in South Bend, Ind., doing a wide variety of material, including the “Graceland” stuff, and it all sounded great. I thought the elements that were borrowed from other cultures were treated with thoughtfulness and respect and overall there was a high level of craft, artistry and musicianship on display. Not everything was to my taste, but there was no bullshit from Simon or anyone else. Steve Gadd played drums and Mike Brecker played tenor. I don’t know who the bass player  was but he was always in the right place at the right time.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by Mark Stryker

[Brad]

Feeling Lost with Paul Simon One Last Time

Reportage in the New Yorker on his last concert, ever. 

[Adam]

According to Simon, it's not his last concert, just his last tour.  So this is the last concert of his last tour, but he still will play occasional & local concerts, theoretically.  

I saw this tour in Los Angeles and was glad I went.  I regret not seeing a variety of people when they played (Ray Charles, James Brown), and I just want to see some of these folks while I can.  Simon has a solid band and a lot of songs that I like.  Simple as that.  But I've seen Los Lobos in person more.

Not mentioned as much is that George Clinton has said that this P-Funk tour is their last tour, and that's a show that must be seen!  I've seen them twice in the past.