There Goes Rhymin' Simon

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There Goes Rhymin' Simon
File:There Goes Rhymin' Simon.jpg
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released May 5, 1973
Recorded Columbia Studios, New York City,
Malaco Recording Studios, Jackson, Mississippi,
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama
Morgan Studios, London,
September 1972 – January 1973
Genre Pop rock
Length 35:19
Label Columbia, Warner Bros.
Producer Paul Simon, Phil Ramone, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Paul Samwell-Smith, Roy Halee
Paul Simon chronology
Paul Simon
(1972)Paul Simon1972		 There Goes Rhymin' Simon
(1973)		 Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'
(1974)Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'1974
Singles from There Goes Rhymin' Simon
  1. "Kodachrome"
    Released: 1973
  2. "Loves Me Like a Rock"
    Released: July 19, 1973
  3. "American Tune"
    Released: 1973
  4. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
    Released: 1973
  5. "Something So Right"
    Released: 1973
  6. "St. Judy's Comet"
    Released: 1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau B+[2]
Rolling Stone (favorable)[3]

There Goes Rhymin' Simon is the third solo studio album by American musician Paul Simon rush-released on May 5, 1973. It contains songs covering several styles and genres, such as gospel ("Loves Me Like a Rock") and Dixieland ("Take Me to the Mardi Gras"). It received two nominations at the Grammy Awards of 1974, including Best Male Pop Vocal performance and Album of the Year.

As foreshadowed by the feel-good lead single "Kodachrome" (which reached #2 on the Billboard charts, blocked by Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles"), There Goes Rhymin' Simon proved to be a bigger hit than its predecessor, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 chart (kept off the top spot by George Harrison's Living in the Material World), and #1 on Cashbox Magazine for one week on June 30, 1973.[4] In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at #4. Subsequent singles were also the #2 single "Loves Me Like a Rock" (knocked-off by Cher's "Half-Breed", but reaching #1 on Cashbox on September 29, 1973), and the Top 40 hit "American Tune". Also "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" was released in the UK reaching the Top 20.

The song "Kodachrome" is named after the Kodak film of the same name. Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark of Kodak. The song was not released as a single in Britain, where it could not be played on BBC radio due to its trademarked name. The song "Was a Sunny Day" has an interesting reference to early rock and roll in the line "She called him Speedo but his Christian name was Mr. Earl" which echoes the chorus from the 1955 song "Speedo" by The Cadillacs: "They often call me Speedo but my real name is Mr. Earl," referring to lead singer, Earl "Speedo" Carroll.

Reception

Critical praise was practically universal for this album. The Denver Post's Jared Johnson called it "a brilliantly executed masterpiece, and surely the finest album in three years," citing such 1970 releases as Bridge Over Troubled Water and After the Gold Rush[5]

Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said, "Combining a variety of musical textures (from a touch of gospel to an infectious trace of Jamaican rhythm to a hint of the old Simon and Garfunkel grandeur), Simon's new album firmly establishes him as one of our most valuable and accessible artists."[6]

But Stereo Review's Noel Coppage found much to complain about. Though he gave it an "excellent" rating, he added that it was "deficient in spontaneity, excitement, strain...I don't know how it could sound so cut-and-dried, having been recorded in four different locations (New York, London, Muscle Shoals, and Jackson, Mississippi), but although the arrangements are clean and sensible, they are oddly predictable."[7]

Track listing

All songs were written by Paul Simon. The melody of American Tune was almost note-for-note written by Johann Sebastian Bach (St Matthew Passion), who was not credited on the album. In turn, Bach had imitated the melody of Mein G'mueth ist mir verwirret by Hans Leo Haßler.

Side one

  1. "Kodachrome" – 3:32
  2. "Tenderness" – 2:53
  3. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" – 3:27
  4. "Something So Right" – 4:33
  5. "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor" – 3:44

Side two

  1. "American Tune" – 3:43
  2. "Was a Sunny Day" – 3:41
  3. "Learn How to Fall" – 2:44
  4. "St. Judy's Comet" – 3:19
  5. "Loves Me Like a Rock" – 3:31

Additional tracks

In July 2004, the album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD with four bonus tracks:

  1. "Let Me Live in Your City" (work-in-progress) – 4:21
  2. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (acoustic demo) – 2:31
  3. "American Tune" (unfinished demo) – 4:03
  4. "Loves Me Like a Rock" (acoustic demo) – 3:24

Personnel

  • Paul Simon – vocals; guitar on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "Something So Right", "American Tune", "Was a Sunny Day", "Learn How to Fall", "St Judy's Comet" & "Loves Me Like a Rock"
  • Pete Carr – guitar on "Kodachrome" & "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", electric guitar on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" & "St Judy's Comet"
  • Jimmy Johnson – electric guitar on "Kodachrome" & "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
  • Cornell Dupree – guitar on "Tenderness"
  • Alexander Gafa, David Spinozza – guitars on "Something So Right",
  • Jerry Puckett – guitar on "Learn How to Fall"
  • David Hood – bass guitar on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", "St Judy's Comet" & "Loves Me Like a Rock"
  • Gordon Edwards – bass guitar on "Tenderness"
  • Bob Cranshaw – bass guitar on "Something So Right", "American Tune" & "Was a Sunny Day"
  • Vernie Robbins – bass guitar on "Learn How to Fall"
  • Richard Davis – double bass on "Something So Right"
  • Barry Beckett – keyboard on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" & "St Judy's Comet", piano on "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", vibraphone on "St Judy's Comet"
  • Paul Griffin – piano on "Tenderness"
  • Bobby James – keyboard on "Something So Right" & "American Tune"
  • Bobby Scott- piano on "Something So Right"
  • Carson Witsett – organ on "Learn How to Fall"
  • Don Elliott – vibraphone on "Something So Right"
  • Roger Hawkins – drums on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor" & "Loves Me Like a Rock", percussion on "St Judy's Comet", possible tambourine on "Loves Me Like a Rock"
  • Rick Marotta – drums on "Tenderness"
  • Grady Tate – drums on "Something So Right" & "American Tune"
  • James Straud – drums on "Learn How to Fall"
  • Airto Moreira – percussion on "Was a Sunny Day"
  • The Onward Brass Band – horns on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
  • The Dixie Hummingbirds – group vocals on "Tenderness" & "Loves Me Like a Rock"
  • Rev. Claude Jeter – falsetto vocals on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
  • Maggie and Terre Roche – backing vocals on "Was a Sunny Day"
  • Allen Toussaint – horn arrangements on "Tenderness"
  • Quincy Jones – string arrangements on "Something So Right"
  • Del Newman – string arrangements on "American Tune"
  • Uncredited - flute on "Something So Right"

Charts

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  4. ↑ [1] Archived February 15, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ DENVER POST, "Roundup" section, May 27, 1973, p. 17.
  6. ↑ DENVER POST, "Roundup" section, July 29, 1973, p. 20.
  7. ↑ STEREO REVIEW, October 1973, Vol.31, #4, p. 112.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4861&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=lo0152od4caliufjkgh3mkphk6
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.Note: user must select 'Paul SIMON' from drop-down
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Allmusic – There Goes Rhymin' Simon > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter There Goes Rhymin' Simon in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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