Paul Simon

About the artist

For anyone who’s been listening to great music during the past half-century, Paul Simon is certainly no stranger. So one of the most remarkable things about his extraordinary 2016 masterpiece, Stranger to Stranger—Paul Simon’s 13th solo record—is that it conjures a vivid and vital new context to his well-established genius as a singer and songwriter. Full of thrilling textures that feel fresh and modern, while still offering subtle and artful allusions to our shared musical past, Stranger to Stranger presents the perfect opportunity to get to know Paul Simon in a new way.

Following Simon’s collaboration with Brian Eno for his 2006 album Surprise, he began to think about how to create intriguing soundscapes beyond the use of keyboards and synthesizers. So on his last album, 2011’s acclaimed So Beautiful Or So What, Simon experimented further with echo, using bells and the aftertones of bells, as well as placing instruments in the distance, to create new sounds and a more expansive musical environment.

Stranger to Stranger is a record that’s more rewarding with each listen, continually offering new things to discover. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Paul Simon’s music, and why so many of his songs have proven to be timeless.

Description provided by artist representative

	Top songs	Album
1	You Can Call Me Al	Graceland	4:40	1
2	Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard	The Essential Paul Simon	2:44	1
3	Kodachrome	The Essential Paul Simon	3:33	1
4	50 Ways to Leave Your Lover	Still Crazy After All These Years	3:37	1
5	Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes	Graceland	5:49	1
6	Graceland	Graceland	4:51	1
7	Loves Me Like a Rock	The Essential Paul Simon	3:32	1
8	Slip Slidin' Away	The Essential Paul Simon	4:45	1
9	Late in the Evening	The Essential Paul Simon	4:02	1
10	Mother and Child Reunion	The Essential Paul Simon	3:04	1

Albums

Paul Simon

So Beautiful or So What is the twelfth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. For the album, he reunited with former collaborator and record producer Phil Ramone. Having experimented with rhythm-based textures for much of the previous two decades, Simon returned to composing songs rather traditionally using only his acoustic guitar. These songs were further augmented by experimental recording practices in the studio. The album was largely recorded in a small cottage at Simon's home in New Canaan, Connecticut.
The music of So Beautiful or So What features West African blues-inspired guitar playing, Indian-style percussion, and experimentation with samples, which ranged from an excerpt from a 1941 sermon to nighttime ambience in Kenya. The songs were recorded with little bass but with a very large presence of bells. Much of Simon's lyrics touch on themes of spirituality and mortality, which Simon said was unintentional and resulted naturally in his songwriting process for the album.

Paul Simon

You're the One is the tenth solo studio album by Paul Simon, released in 2000 and his first successful studio album in 10 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2001, with Simon becoming the first artist to be nominated in that category in five consecutive decades.
You're the One was also considered a comeback after the failure of Simon's Broadway musical, The Capeman, and concept album for the musical, Songs from The Capeman, which peaked at #42 on the Billboard 200.
The album was remastered and re-released in 2004, accompanied with three bonus live tracks.

Paul Simon

Songs from The Capeman is the ninth solo studio album by Paul Simon, released in 1997. It contains Simon's own performances of songs from the Broadway musical he wrote and produced called The Capeman augmented by members of the original cast. The songs retell the story of Salvador Agron, who was known as the "Capeman". A departure musically from his earlier work, the album features doo wop, rock 'n' roll and Puerto Rican rhythms and a number of songs contain swearing in the lyrics, a first for Simon. The stage show was a commercial flop, losing $11 million, and the album did not sell well. It peaked at #42 on the Billboard 200, the lowest chart position in Simon's career.

Paul Simon

The Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990 on Warner Bros. Like its predecessor, Graceland, the album gained commercial success and received mostly favorable reviews from critics.
In 1992, The Rhythm of the Saints earned two nominations for the 34th Grammy Awards – Album of the Year and Producer of the Year.

Paul Simon

Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Simon and Roy Halee, the album was released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. In the early 1980s, Simon's career hit a low point. Following a very successful but contentious reunion with former partner Art Garfunkel, Simon's marriage fell apart and his previous record, Hearts and Bones, was a significant commercial disappointment. In 1984, after a period of depression, Simon became fascinated with a bootleg cassette of South African township music. He planned a trip to Johannesburg in the new year with Halee, where he spent two weeks recording with South African musicians.
Recorded in 1985 and 1986, Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiya, and mbaqanga. Simon created new compositions inspired by the recordings made in Johannesburg, collaborating with both African and American artists. Simon faced controversy for seemingly breaking the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against South Africa because of its policy of apartheid.

Paul Simon

Paul Simon's dazzling mix of American roots music, South African pop and highly personal songcraft instantly became one of the key albums of the 1980s and is now internationally considered among the greatest of all time. The zydeco rush of "Boy in the Bubble" and the autobiographical title track both offer musical comfort to confusing, sometimes deadly, modern landscapes, while the transcendent "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" brings magical realism to gritty urban streets. This 25th Anniversary Edition includes a bonus disc of choice live cuts and demos, while the physical edition features a well-regarded feature documentary that surveys the controversy surrounding the project, which was partially recorded in a South Africa still under apartheid. The end result? The South African musicians involved (including Ladysmith Black Mambazo) went from holding "working jobs" to earning a living as internationally celebrated musical stars, while Paul Simon was honored in South Africa by the post-apartheid government. The arguments are over and the music has endured.

Paul Simon

Similar Artists

Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s and became counterculture icons of the decade's social revolution, alongside artists such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. Their biggest hits—including "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer", and "Bridge over Troubled Water" —reached number one on singles charts worldwide.
Their often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements, which resulted in their breakup in 1970. Their final studio record, Bridge over Troubled Water, was their most successful, becoming one of the world's best-selling albums. Since their split in 1970 they have reunited several times, most famously in 1981 for, "The Concert in Central Park", which attracted more than 500,000 people, the seventh-largest concert attendance in history.
The duo met as children in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize together and began writing original material.

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. His commercial achievements declined slightly until a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his best-selling and most-awarded work.

Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and the album's title song "Matthew and Son" charted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and Islamic music.
His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts. He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", and the song has been a hit for four different artists. His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Peace Train", "Moonshadow", and "Morning Has Broken". In 2007 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam, and he adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year.

Arthur Ira Garfunkel is an American singer, poet, teacher and actor. He is best known for his partnership in his earlier years with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Highlights of his solo music career include a top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles, five Adult Contemporary number ones, two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned six Grammys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE, known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer. In 2016, Morrison was knighted for his musical achievements and his services to tourism and charitable causes in Northern Ireland.
Known as "Van the Man", Morrison started his professional career when, as a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. He rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns' death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks. Even though this album would gradually garner high praise, it was initially a poor seller; Moondance, however, established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances.

William Martin Joel is a singer-songwriter and pianist. He was born in the Bronx, NY and raised on Long Island, NY, places which have a heavy influence on his songs. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States. His compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 is one of the best-selling albums in the US.
Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the US, all of which he wrote himself. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner who has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts.

Clyde Jackson Browne is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Coming to prominence in the 1970s, Browne has written and recorded songs such as "These Days", "The Pretender", "Running on Empty", "Lawyers in Love", "Doctor My Eyes", "Take It Easy", "For a Rocker", and "Somebody's Baby". In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.

The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. The band recorded two albums, the first in 1988 and the second in 1990, though Orbison died before the second was recorded.
The project's work received much anticipation given the diverse nature of the singer-songwriters. Debut album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 proved an enduring critical success, in 1989 and 1990 winning accolades such as a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

Crosby, Stills & Nash were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. They were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young when joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, who was an occasional fourth member. They were noted for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political activism, and lasting influence on US music and culture. Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all three members were also inducted for their work in other groups. Neil Young has also been inducted as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

Bob Dylan is an American poetic songwriter, singer, painter, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate. He has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became a reluctant "voice of a generation" with songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", which became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement. Leaving behind his initial base in the American folk music revival, his six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone", recorded in 1965, enlarged the range of popular music.
Dylan's lyrics incorporate a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the performances of Little Richard and the songwriting of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and personalized musical genres.

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, is an English singer, pianist, and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriting partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top 10, four No. 2 and nine No. 1. For 31 consecutive years he had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. His tribute single, re-penned in dedication to the late Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind 1997" sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. He has also composed music, produced records, and has occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and 1997 to 2002. He is an honorary Life President of the club, and in 2014 had a stand named after him at the club's home stadium.
Raised in the Pinner area of London, John learned to play piano at an early age, and by 1962 had formed Bluesology.

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell, CC is a Canadian singer-songwriter and painter. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century". Drawing from folk, pop, rock and jazz, Mitchell's songs often reflect social and environmental ideals as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, disillusionment and joy.
Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and western Canada before busking in the streets and shoddy nightclubs of Toronto. In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs were covered by folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell, with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock", helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest entry by a female artist.

James Joseph "Jim" Croce was an American folk and popular rock singer of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and singles. His songs "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle" reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Donald "Don" McLean III is an American singer-songwriter best known for "American Pie", an RIAA "Song of the Century" which is about the death of Buddy Holly and others. The 1971 album of the same name also includes "Vincent", about the painter Van Gogh.

Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the USA, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.
King's career began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists, many of which have become standards. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.
King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years.