Paul Simon

Paul Simon - Paul Simon

Album #186 - January 1972

Episode date - November 25, 2020

The Top 500 of The Top 40
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    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

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