August 23, 2004 at 8:18 pm · Filed under Paul Simon
I am thrilled to announce that our good friend Dave (a.k.a. Wilkie) has wrapped up work on his eagerly awaited album, P.S. I Love You, a collection of Paul Simon covers. I haven’t had a chance to connect with Wilkie yet, so a full review will remain forthcoming. In the meantime, I can do no more than to point you in the direction of his site at soundlick, where you can sample one new track every day, beginning with “The Boxer.” Take a listen and post your thoughts in the comments below.
Here’s the tracklist for P.S. I Love You:
1. The Boxer
2. 50 Ways
3. Overs/Something So Right
4. Duncan
5. Hurricane Eye
6. Trailways Bus
7. I Am A Rock
8. America
9. Me & Julio
10. Kathy’s Song
11. Hearts & Bones
12. American Tune
I’m particularly looking forward to “Hurricane Eye.”
Congrats, Dave!
August 23, 2004 at 8:17 pm · Filed under Paul Simon
Well, if July 31st was the end of Simon & Garfunkel as a recording/touring duo, they seem to have gone out with a bang. Performing in front of what was perhaps S&G’s largest audience ever (estimated at 600,000, compared to a mere half-million in New York’s Central Park in 1981 - but not quite the 750,000 Paul drew to the park in ‘91), Paul and Artie didn’t deviate from the “Old Friends” setlist, sticking to their yuk-yuk quips, singing Paul’s standards (what else do you call a song like America?) and a sharing the stage in a playful duet with the Everly Brothers. Whether or not Paul and Art will decide that there is a creative spark that needs to be recorded or a series of towns that need to see S&G one last time (Japan? Australia? India? South America? My living room?), one thing can be reasonably certain - that a mid-summer Roman night set against the backdrop of the ancient Colosseum is more than any S&G fan could have asked for as little as eighteen months ago.
I have a feeling that the DVD, when it eventually surfaces, will be a keeper. Aside from, perhaps, Bleecker Street, I can’t think of any S&G song that could or should have been in the show. I can’t imagine a better arrangement of Feelin’ Groovy than Mark Stewart blaring out the descending bassline on Tromba Doo and Rob Schwimmer strutting across the stage blowing into his Hohner Claviola (http://www.polygraphlounge.com/). What more could ask for than Paul & Art singing Leaves That Are Green in front of a silent crowd in the tens of thousands accompanied only by Paul’s lovely guitar picking? How better to animate the “drops of rain” in Kathy’s Song than by gently plucking the high harmonics on the twelfth fret of Paul’s delicious Martin OM42PS? Or the lovely contrast of Art’s angelic vocals with Paul’s soulful singing, and their eventual harmonizing on Bridge Over Troubled Water?
In short, the S&G set was just about everything a fan could ask for (yes, yes, I know, the theatres were too big, Simon & Garfunkel doesn’t need a band, the set never changed, Artie’s voice sounds worse than it did thirty years ago, Paul doesn’t smile enough, and the price! Fine). “Old Friends” was a treat - it emerged out of basically nothing and met some tough expectations. It was a loving endeavour and for that we fans should be grateful. So here’s a treat: Simon & Garfunkel performing Leaves That Are Green live in Atlanta, December 20, 2003. [Ed: Treat gone… bandwidth and all that.]
