I don’t think anyone was particularly surprised by the tone of Paul Simon’s post S&G ‘debut album’ (technically his second, but at this point in time, virtually nobody on the planet ever heard his first, so…) but there was a lackluster ‘meh’ feel about it when it first hit the streets…which surprised me.

I thought it was great. In point of fact, I thought it bettered most of the Simon/Garfunkel catalog, because Paul sounded like…Paul. He got to be himself, just as the singer/songwriter era started to become a ‘thing’.

Critics (and fans) dismissed the album tracks as light filler, but what albums with Garfunkel didn’t have the same thing happening? At least here, the filler was less pretentious, and infinitely more believable. Paul sounded genuinely honest on this record and that was a giant step toward retaining relevance, and two timeless hits certainly didn’t hurt his cause. Paul, quite literally, came unto his own.

Featured tracks include: 

Mother and Child Reunion 

Duncan 

Everything Put Together Falls Apart 

Run That Body Down 

Armistice Day 

Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard 

Peace Like a River 

Papa Hobo 

Hobo’s Blues 

Paranoia Blues 

Congratulations 

January 1972 - Billboard Charted #4