Customer Reviews

The Paul Simon Collection: On My Way, Don't Know Where I'm Goin'

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This latest Paul Simon collection provides a very good overview of his career, including songs from his first solo album released in 1972, up to 2000's "You're The One." As evidenced on this collection, Paul Simon's musical offerings include many genres of music. The reggae influenced "Mother And Child Reunion" starts this compilation off on a strong note. It's thirty years later, and the topical "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" still sounds as relevant today as when it was first released. "Loves Me Like A Rock," featuring the Dixie Hummingbirds, sounds like a traditional gospel standard, even though it was written by the prolific Paul Simon. The virtuoso drumming of Steve Gadd gives "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" its distinctive sound, while the verse displays Paul Simon at his rhymin' best. The Latin flavored "Late In The Evening" combines semi-autobiographical lyrics with a propulsive beat, making it an irresistible dance number.

1986 saw the release of the classic album "Graceland." It was the perfect blend of Paul's songwriting genius with South African music, including a few Zydeco songs thrown in for good measure. The title cut describes Paul's pilgrimage through the cradle of the Civil War to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. His traveling companions may be the ghosts of lost loves, but the goosebumps are provided by the sound of the shimmering pedal steel guitar. "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" features Ladysmith Black Mambazo to best effect, and is the perfect song to help the listener lose the walking blues. "Spirit Voices" and "The Cool, Cool River" display the Brazilian influences showcased in his 1990 album "Rhythm Of The Saints." Both "Love" and "Hurricane Eye," two outstanding cuts from the underrated "You're The One" album, close out the first disc of this collection.

What makes this collection even more desirable is the bonus disc of five, previously unreleased live songs. Both "American Tune" and "Duncan" date back to 1973, but the sound is as crisp and clear as the studio songs on the first disc. "My Little Town," Paul's top ten duet with Art Garfunkel from 1975, is tellingly left off this collection. However, the ghost of Simon and Garfunkel reappears in the last two songs. The arrangement of "Mrs. Robinson" has a country music feel to it. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is a duet between Paul Simon and Aaron Neville, and almost sounds as good as the original version. Even if you have all of Paul Simon's previous compilations, the bonus disc makes this an essential purchase.

Given the contraint of 19 tracks on CD 1 (78 minutes), the track selection is nearly perfect, and gives a very good overview of Simon's solo years. This is a good offer for newcomers to PS's music. The main problem with the selection is that 19 tracks is too little to include all essential songs. CD 1 is not for the fan, though: I own most official CDs (S + S&G), and CD 1 contains no news.

CD 2 contains 5 live tracks. The sound is very good. Personally, I have a preference for the American Tune version on Greatest hits, etc. (with the cello) - one of the few omissions in my collection (the beautiful melody of AT (except the bridge) is found 3-4 times in the Matthew Passion (?) of Bach, as well as in several of Bach's cantatas; it is common to credit Hans Leo Hassler as the originator of this melody, in ca. 1600). I always loved the lyrics of Duncan, and this is a fine live recording. The Coast also differs somewhat from other recordings, in particularly in the guitar playing. Mrs. Robinson is almost country, and is interesting. And Bridge with Aaron Neville is beautiful/different.

Since my own collection is nearly complete, I naturally miss the live track of American Tune from Greatest Hits, etc. Also missing is Thelma (from one of the collections), and Simon's contribution on a Philip Glass CD. (As well as the Paul Simon Songbook). Thus, CD 2 could preferably contain more tracks than the 5 tracks/25 minutes included.

Apart from this, the information about a new Paul Simon record during the spring of 2003 is welcome (p. 15 of the CD booklet). The purpose of the collection is probably also to work as advertising for the new album.

In sum: my rating is for a newcomer. A medium fan probably owns most tracks of CD 1, and perhaps doesn't care about live tracks and variations. A die-hard fan will enjoy the live tracks.

This is an excellent collection of singer/songwriter Paul Simon's hits from his debut solo album simply titled "Paul Simon" (released in 1972) to his "You're The One" cd (released in 2000). In my opinion Simon is one of America's best (if not the best) songwriters ever. Every song has meaning and is sung with emotion. You've got all the hits starting with the catchy "Mother And Child Reunion", "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard", the sensative "Something So Right", the humorous "Kodachrome", "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover","Still Crazy After All These Years", "Slip Sliddin' Away", "You Can Call Me Al" (remember the great video from MTV's glory days), etc. As a bonus disc you get rare 1973 concert performances of Simon performing several songs in "American Tune" and "Duncan" (New York & London), "Mrs. Robinson" from a 1999 New York City concert, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from a 2001 New Orleans concert and "The Coast" from a 2002 Montreux, Switzerland concert. This disc has been remastered and the sound quality is nice and crisp compared to other greatest hits cd's I've heard. There's also ten pages of liner notes which gives a brief history of Simon as well as the making of his various l.p.'s. A great cd for those who enjoy 60's and 70's folk rock. Highly recommended!

The sound quality is the main reason to buy this disc, as the songs simply sound so much better than on any previous Paul Simon compilation. It's a good collection too, but it should be noted that everytime another Simon compilation is produced, the compilers seem to have a harder time covering the broad spectrum of his works properly. 1977's "Greatest Hits, Etc." seemed to cover all of the most essential tracks up to that time (with the possible exception of "Gone at Last") but by the time of his next compilation a decade later, "Negotiations and Love Songs", there were many more "essential" tracks to consider, thus the omission of several fan favorites such as "Duncan" and "Graceland". Now another baker's dozen of years has passed, and while Simon's output during these years could not be described as "prolific", there certainly have been many additions to his list of great songs. "Duncan" appears only on the bonus live disc and I still miss "Gone at Last". My only real complaint with the track listing, however, would be the omission of "The Obvious Child" and "Old". I think these are two of the most orginal and thought provoking compositions of his career. I also would have chosen "Rene and Georgette Magritte", "Train in the Distance", "Allergies" or "The Late Great Johnny Ace" over "Hearts and Bones". As long as I'm picking favorites, I really like "Further to Fly" and would be willing to give up "Diamonds" to include it. I am glad that "Adios Hermanos" is included. I find it interesting that the "F" word is deleted from the lyrics, but the "N" word remains intact. And while I'm on the subject of editing, I don't understand why 30 seconds was deleted from the intro of "50 Ways", the same way it was on the boxed set. Still, any collection of Simon's work is going to contain an enormous amount of brilliance and this one is no exception.

From an analytic point of view, this is an adequate review of Simon's long, though hardly prolific, post Simon & Garfunkel career. A smidge of this, a smidge of that, with pretty much the obvious selections along the way. It's decent enough, though one can't help but feel that the earlier purple patch of albums through 1976's "Still Crazy After All These Years" yielded music of more enduring quality.

The truth of the matter is that despite the relatively modest number of albums represented by this collection (considering that it spans a solo career of 30 years), many of those albums were of very high quality and so a double CD would better represent his career. Perhaps conceeding as much, a second "bonus" disc is included with initial copies of this album. And this turns out to be quite problematic. The compilers have chosen to place live versions of Duncan and American Tune on this bonus disc. But these two songs (moreso in their original studio incarnations than in the live versions you get in this package) are surely among the very best of Simon's solo work. They should have been included on the parent disc. When the limited edition bonus disc is no longer included, these songs will not be represented at all in the package. And any Simon best-of that does not include them fails miserably at fulfilling its basic premise.

Flawed packaging of mostly steller material.

dap

There's no way a "Best of" can be perfect. Fans are always going to disagree about what's missing or what great song didn't make the album. Overall this collection gets it right more often than wrong unlike the two previous "Best of" collections that Simon has put together.

We get two of the strongest tracks from Simon's first album and they were singles as well. "Mother and Child Reunion" and "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" both demonstrate that Simon was making World Music long before the term was created. "Kodachrome" and "Loves Me Like a Rock" were strong singles from Simon's second album and they are aided by a wistful ballad "Something So Right" covered by Annie Lennox which is probably why it was included. "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" and "Still Crazy After All These Years" were highlights from Simon's third solo album. Missing in action is "My Little Town" a Simon & Garfunkel "reunion" single that both men put on their respective albums. It still should be here as it's a great song.

Although "One Trick Pony" isn't Simon's best album is one or two omissions ("How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns", "Oh Marion") that should have been included from that album besides the brilliant "Late in the Evening". "Slip Slidin' Away" is from Simon's first collection "Greatest Hits, Etc". What's missing here is the brilliant "Stranded in a Limousine" (which incidently DOES show up as a bonus track on "One Trick Pony"). All definitely deserve to be here. Really this should have been a full two disc set with the live tracks thrown on to the second CD with these other tracks.

We get the powerful "Hearts and Bones" the title track from Simon's fourth solo album (fifth if you count the Paul Simon Songbook a collection of S&G songs he recorded before the duo broke through)but I miss "Allergies" which, from what I recall, was a single. The brilliant "Graceland" is well represented with "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", "The Boy in the Bubble", "Graceland" and "You Can Call Me Al" all strong songs that got considerable airplay. The selections from "Rhythm of the Saints" is perfect except for the single "The Obvious Child" which seemed like an obvious inclusion on this set.

We close out the album with "Adios Hermanos" from "Songs from the Caveman" and two tunes from Simon's "The One". Both are solid selections overall. Early editions of this terrific album come with a second disc with live tracks featuring "American Tune", "Duncan","The Coast", "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" live.

"Shining Like a National Guitar" features "The Obvious Child" if you want that track as well as "Bernadette", "Take Me To the Madrdi Gras", "Trailways Bus", "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their God After the War" all of which aren't collected here. That album is missing some great material that's included here so, again, between those tracks the ones I mentioned and the live tracks we could have had a perfect "Best of". There is also a two disc "Best of" available as an important which I'd recommend. It digs into the Simon & Garfunkel catalog as well making it, aside from the boxed set, the single set with the most depth (although it lacks anything from Simon's last two albums).

Despite these minor flaws this is probably the best single collection of Simon's best songs available and very generous at that. Definitely worth picking up particularly if you want an album that has the bulk of his best album tracks and single all together in one spot.

Since going solo about 1970, Paul Simon has released (maybe) 7 albums of new material.

And about a dozen greatest hits or live packages.

(Live Rhymin', Greatest Hits Etc, Negotiations & Love Songs, Concert in Central Park, Shining Like a National Guitar, + a box set & at least 5 Simon & Garfunkel repackages, for those who doubt me.)

Listen, I love Paul's music, but Graceland was recorded before Avril Lavigne was born, and only the die-hard Simon fans can rhyme off anything significant he has released since then.

His most recent track, "Father & Daughter" from the Wild Thornberries Movie was nominated for an Oscar, yet is not included on this album. Either pretty lazy or bad marketing, Sony!

Instead we have yet another shuffle of the solo-Simon deck of trick. Out with Something So Right. In with Spirit Voices.

If they were going to release yet another GH package, why didn't Columbia follow the recent tradition of the 2-CD "The Essential" series, and at least "Keep The Customer Satisfied". That way they could have filled 1.5 CD with tracks from his first album, Still Crazy, Rhymin' Simon, and Graceland, and still had 40 minutes for more recent works that, frankly, fewer people care for.

Or maybe that's in the works for his 13th repackage. In about 2 years, at the current rate.

First off, the 3 star review represents the package and not the great music of Paul Simon.

This collection improves on 1986's single-disc Negotiations & Love Songs for two reasons. #1: It inlcudes songs from his post '86 albums (Spirit Voices/Cool Cool River from "Rhythm of the Saints"; Adios Hermanos from "Songs from The Capeman"; Love/ Hurricane Eye from "You're The One". #2: It includes two more songs from the great "Gaceland" album - Boy in the Bubble/Graceland. This collection does not include three good songs from "Negotiations": St. Judy's Comet/Rene & Georgette Margritte.../Train in the Distance and, thankfully, the subpar Have a Good Time.

The other option (besides the 9-Disc "Collected Works") is the 3-Disc Box Set 64/93. This collection has all the songs from both "Negotiations" and "Collection" besides Train in the Distance and the "Capeman"/"You're the One" songs. It does include American Tune, Jonah, The Late Great Johnny Ace, Born at the Right Time, The Obvious Child, Take Me To Mardi Gras, 11 more solo songs and 14 Simons & Garfunkel songs.

There needs to be a double disc Anthology to include all the great Paul Simon Songs left off of this album. This only tells half the story.

...but what it is is little more than a warmed over re-release.

I'm somewhat offended by the complete lack of effort that went into the compilation of this album, to tell you the truth. I own Negotiations and Love Songs, and I own every Paul Simon album from the past sixteen years (there's only four of them, after all). That means I own this new "collection" in its entirety. Truth be told, the main attraction in this set is nothing more than a total rehash of that older, somewhat more succinct collection. What that means is that this CD probably isn't worth the plastic it's pressed on to even the most lacksadaisical of collectors.

To attract collectors, however, we have included a collection of previously unreleased live cuts. Here I'm reminded of the outcry of mild irkedness voiced by Springsteen fans when he released as an individual album "Tracks," which contained all of three songs that didn't show up on the boxed set it was taken from (never mind the fact that they were arguably the three best songs on the album). This is pretty much the same behavior with a different artist. If you are an absolute completist, you'll probably want to get the disk, if only to be able to say that you own that short set of songs. For anybody else, however, this album is probably a waste of money and effort. If you're even considering buying the record, you may as well get Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints, and You're the One, and that takes away any appeal that this record would have on the older Negotiations and Love Songs. The only song from the main disk you don't end up with is from Songs From The Capeman, and that whole collection wasn't precisely well received (I liked it, but other people hated it for very good reasons). Final analysis: probably not worth the effort.

Of course the music is great, but what is this, the 100th Paul Simon compilation in the last few years? To be fair, there are some tracks from his most recent albums not found on any other compilation, and the bonus CD of live tracks from the 1970s (highlighted by "Duncan" and "American Tune", both of which seem to always be overlooked on these compilations) is a worthy addition to any Paul Simon collection. Still, if Paul was looking to release a compilation, how about the long out-of-print "Paul Simon Songbook" of 1960s solo recordings? Recommended for the live bonus CD, or if you have skipped the myriad other Simon anthologies.