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| Simon And Garfunkel |
The singer's running late, so late he's almost out of time to drive from rehearsals in Westchester County to pick up the son, Gabriel, at the family home in New Canaan, Connecticut, half an hour away. At the age of 69, juggling family and work is still a consideration for one of the great American songwriters. Shortly before this drama unfolds, Simon is in good spirits, pleased at how well rehearsals have been going for his six-week tour of the US.
Two years ago Simon was holed up in a disused theatre, the Capitol in Port Chester, New York State, preparing for Simon and Garfunkel's first tour of Australia in 26 years. Today he's in the same space but for a different purpose, this time putting the final touches to a set list that includes a hefty slice of material from his new album, So Beautiful or So What, his 12th solo effort (including his 1980 soundtrack album, One Trick Pony) in 46 years and the first since the Brian Eno-produced Surprise in 2006.
Australia isn't on the tour schedule, at least not yet, but Simon's keen to come, particularly after the success of his visit here with his old friend "Artie" (Art Garfunkel).
"I'd love to come back to Australia," he says, "but I'll do some shows here and maybe seven or eight in Europe and see how that goes . . . and how I cope being away from my family more than I usually am."
The veteran songwriter didn't have to stray too far from his wife, singer Edie Brickell, and their three children to make So Beautiful or So What. The 10 songs were recorded mostly in a cottage next door to their house. "It's very comfortable in there and with Pro Tools [digital recording software] you can have the best quality and you don't need an enormous [mixing] board and enormous space," he says. "I could record drums and vocals and guitars. I could do all of it there and it's only one minute's walk from the house."
With this album Simon has returned to the guitar-based form of writing that characterised much of his lauded 1970s material, such as Still Crazy After All These Years and Something So Right, rather than relying on percussion-driven constructions, which were pivotal to much of his work since his African exploration, Graceland, in 1986.
It's a stripped-down affair, with only two other musicians, guitarist Vincent Nguini and percussionist Steve Shehan, featured prominently. Chris Bear, from New York folk-pop outfit Grizzly Bear, contributed some of the drum parts. Phil Ramone, who produced a sizeable chunk of Simon's (and Garfunkel's) solo 70s output, shared the controls with Simon this time.
No slouch as a guitar player, Simon went back to basics because "I hadn't done it that way for such a long time . . . to sit with blank space in front of me and just a guitar, rather than having several tracks of drums and reacting to that.
"I thought it was time to get those skills back up to speed. It gave me the chance to begin writing ballads, and ballads that had interesting harmonic changes."
Tracks such as the title song, The Afterlife, Dazzling Blue and Love and Hard Times live up to that billing. God, too, is a recurring fixture, making an appearance in different guises on a handful of the songs. On Love and Hard Times he comes down to Earth only to find the population living like slobs and, so, quickly leaves the world to . . . love and hard times. It's as if Simon is taking stock and saying "that's life, good or bad".
"What I think I'm saying is that the need to love is a human need and a human capacity," he says.
"Whether God left in the second verse or not, we can still turn around and attribute this intense feeling for someone. It could be a spiritual connection. We tend to attribute that to something like God. It becomes a convenient way of describing something that is innately human, and it may well be a manifestation of God in human beings or it may just be an evolutionary trait for the sake of survival. We do tend to say 'thank God for that' or 'oh my God'. Atheists say it as much as everybody else."
Could this recurring theme be construed as the ageing Simon's musing on mortality? He laughs off the suggestion. "I asked myself the same question when I noticed it," he says, "but I wasn't consciously aware of that. It surprised me that five of the first six songs had God in them, but it's not in a religious way and there are different contexts. There is the shadow of mortality that hangs over you as you get up in years, but truthfully my denial chops are in pretty good order and I blot it out most of the time."
THERE'S no denying Simon is one of the most successful and revered songwriters of his generation. It's 54 years since he and Garfunkel, then known as Tom and Jerry, had their first hit with the pop song Hey, Schoolgirl.
Since then Simon's career has gone off on a variety of tangents, from his acoustic folk phase in the early 60s in England, through to the enormous success worldwide of Simon and Garfunkel later in the decade and then his 70s solo phase with the albums Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years.
There have been personal and professional upsets, too, not least his short and volatile marriage to actress Carrie Fisher in the 80s and, before that, the divorce from his first wife, Peggy Harper. Their son, Harper Simon, released his first solo album in 2009.
The singer's dabbling outside of music has had mixed results, with favourable reviews for his acting in Woody Allen's Annie Hall and in the starring role in the film for which he wrote the screenplay and the music, One Trick Pony. In the late 90s came the disastrous The Capeman, a Broadway musical that Simon wrote and produced, which sank quickly with debts of $US11 million.
Through his career ups and downs, however, Simon has maintained his reputation as an innovator and as a songwriter who taps intelligently into the American milieu and musical styles from all over the world.
"I still have the same abilities, the same desire to create and ask myself, 'Do I have anything to say lyrically, musically and sonically?' " he says. "That's the challenge each new time that I feel the impulse. I'm grateful if I do feel the impulse because I love to make records. That's really all I've done my whole life. It's the only job I've ever had. So, I'm happy if I'm beginning an album again and at this point, every one I do, I don't know if it's the last one or not."
As a solo artist Simon couldn't be accused of being prolific. Quality rather than quantity has been his modus operandi. In the 25 years since Graceland, the album that redefined him as a songwriter and which helped bring African music to the western world, only five solo albums have followed.
Since the release of Surprise five years ago, Simon has aired his doubts about the future of the album as a form of artistic expression, in the wake of the digital revolution and the dramatic slump in CD sales. However, So Beautiful or So What, which, with its 40-minute playing time recalls the 70s golden era of the album, appears to have renewed his faith in the format.
"I don't think the album is going to disappear for several reasons," he says. "It's not that people aren't listening to albums. They're just doing it on shuffle. What that does is it makes albums more eclectic and more interesting. But if an artist is unique enough they should be able to hold your attention for the 40 or 50 minutes of an album. There's something about that length of time on our DNA. We like to hear it."
He's optimistic, also, about the future of music in general. As a philanthropist Simon has been involved in projects to help young musicians in the US since the 70s. Performers such as Melissa Manchester and the Dream Academy's Nick Laird-Clowes are among those who have benefited from his mentorship. More recently he has been a board member of an organisation called Little Kids Rock, a non-profit outfit that provides instruments and music lessons to public schools across the US.
"So many people are studying music in schools now and many of the schools have really good music departments," he says. "It seems there is as much, if not more, interest in music in this generation. I don't foresee that it will just become about the three-minute pop song. I think that's appropriate for the 12, 13, 14 year olds, but kids outgrow that eventually."
Aside from promoting his new album, there could be some concert component to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Graceland's release, but that's not the only significant landmark in Simon's musical history. Last year marked the 40th anniversary of Simon and Garfunkel's crowning glory and parting shot, the album Bridge Over Troubled Water, which has sold more than 25 million copies.
The album has just been reissued, accompanied by two documentaries on DVD. The first is the 1969 CBS TV Songs of America. The other is The Harmony Game, in which the two protagonists and the album's producer Roy Halee, among others, unveil some of the mysteries behind the making of it.
Simon says he was happy to revisit the classic material from that album (Cecilia, BOTW, The Boxer) on the recent trip to Australia and to be reunited with Garfunkel. Although they parted on bad terms after the album's release in 1970 and the antipathy remained for many years, they now speak fondly of each other as brothers.
Another reunion isn't impossible, Simon says, although it all depends on the state of his partner's voice. Last year the pair had to cancel shows in the US when Garfunkel was diagnosed with vocal cord paresis, which has rendered him unable to perform.
"Artie's voice has been bad for about a year now," says Simon. "I hope that it's not done. I'd like to sing with him one more time, a farewell time probably, but he can't sing most of his notes in the mid-range.
"He's damaged one of his vocal cords and he's waiting for it to heal. He did announce that he was doing some shows in the fall [Australian spring], but I don't know if that's wishful thinking or that his voice has come around. I hope it is that."
For the moment, though, Simon will be concentrating on his solo career.
"It's good because I haven't performed as a solo [act] for a few years now," he says. "There are a lot of new songs to learn. And I'm doing some small club shows as well as theatres. That gives me a chance to break away from doing a greatest-hits show. I think that's important, to do the new songs and songs I haven't played for a while, just to refresh my experience with performing."
Mother and Child Reunion, The Obvious Child (from the album The Rhythm of the Saints) and Peace Like a River, from his eponymous album in 1972, are among the titles he is reviving.
From Peace Like a River through to Love and Hard Times, he has tried to stick with his basic songwriting principle, which is to be truthful.
"I may not be incredibly insightful or anything but at least I'm not faking it," he says. "I'm not being falsely optimistic or being angry to entertain anybody. It's just the way I see things. If that's the case then it's all right with me at this point to let that be a song."
And approaching his 70th birthday, Simon says he's as happy and as passionate about music as he has ever been.
"This record came out in a way that made me think, 'Well, I'm not getting stupider'," he says, laughing.
"That's a good sign. I have friends who are artists and who are a little older than I am and they're doing great work. They say the same thing. They feel like their brain is better. That's what it feels like to me. Things are clearer. The secret is to keep doing it and to stay healthy."
Sources: http://www.theaustralian.com.au
