“Homeward Bound” exists in many incarnations. From the folk-rock Simon & Garfunkel arrangement of the 1960s to the Flamenco and piano jazz Simon & Garfunkel take from 2003-04, Paul Simon’s best road song has clearly stood the test of time. But what’s the best version?
Well, I’m partial to the “Old Friends” tour approach, which highlighted the band. Warren Bernhardt takes the melody to new, interesting places on piano, Mark Stewart adds an atmospheric guitar part and Larry Saltzman introduces some Spanish flavour on guitar.
But something about it isn’t quite perfect. Maybe it’s over-arranged.
In 2002 Simon toured Europe, stopping for a night in Liverpool, as close as he’s going to geographically get to the song’s origin. The performance stellar, largely due to the rather loud audience participation. But it, too, is off. Maybe it’s the undeniable cheerfulness; “Homeward Bound” is a sad song, a solo expression.
The best performance, it turns out, is from a TV taping in Cleveland, for the short-lived VH1 program “In Tune,” featuring Paul Simon and John Mayer. Simon’s singing captures the song’s tenderness and longing, and the guitar accompaniment is perfect (catch the fill in the third verse, and the harmonic period at the end). If anyone has the video handy, drop me a line.
Paul Simon will perform and discuss his work on tomorrow night’s episode (August 30th) of Live From Abbey Road on the Sundance Channel! Recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London. For more info, visit: www.livefromabbeyroad.com
August 17, 2007 at 9:52 pm · Filed under Paul Simon
The opening bars to “The Boxer,” perhaps Paul Simon’s most enduring song, are instantly recognizable because of one man: Fred Carter Jr., the Nashville session player whose cascading melody line (in an alternate tuning) introduces the song’s first verse. Fred’s daughter, Deana, is releasing an album in October that features both her dad’s playing and a version of “The Boxer” - with Paul Simon’s son, Harper. More details from CMT.
In an interview with the Scotsman on Sunday, legendary flugelhorn player and Graceland show star Hugh Masekela hinted at a possible world tour with Paul Simon:
Masekela and Simon reunite over Darfur
MIKE WADE
LEGENDARY musicians Hugh Masekela and Paul Simon - who played together in the controversial Graceland tour of 1986 - are to reunite in a series of concerts aimed at prompting politicians to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Beginning next month with a concert in New York, the pair will launch a worldwide tour, with the support of other musicians including the singers Youssou N’Dour and Angelica Kidjo. The first performance is set to coincide with a meeting of the UN heads of state on September 25.
“It will be targeted at people who can be effective,” said Masekela, who is in Edinburgh for a concert at the Queen’s Hall tonight as part of the Fringe. “We want to get the heads of state and ministers and say to them, ‘This is serious. You have to do something about it.’”
Sudan’s government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against Darfur’s black African population. An estimated 250,000 people have died, with two million more living in refugee camps.
“Are we going to sit around and watch another Rwanda, and just sigh, ‘This is bad,’” said Masekela, who is an African Union goodwill ambassador for Darfur. “I called Paul and said, ‘I’m working with the Darfur people - I need your help.’ He said, ‘You just tell me what it is and I’ll be there.’
“We will do the concert in a place where we can get 500 people or so - and focus on people who can do something about it. Then we want to do a tour and hope it helps.”
Masekela, 68, has never shied away from controversy. His song Bring Him Back Home became an anthem of the campaign to free Nelson Mandela, but his involvement with Simon’s Graceland tour brought accusations of breaking a cultural boycott of South Africa.
