Thursday, February 20, 2025

The Right Stuff Dept. - Paul Simon

A carousel horse's one trick is to go round and around ...


One Trick Pony didn't sell too well, and there are various theories as to why; a sense of more-of-the-same disappointment after the five year wait since Still Crazy, material not up to par, and a sense of him not keeping up with the times (the eighties! a whole new vital decade in pop!), yadda yadda. All of which is just so much hornswoggling flapdoodle, if you'll pardon the salty vernacular. The lesser status granted the album has nothing to do with the music.

It's the association with the film of the same name, a vanity project seen by nobody but projectionists. But even more toxic than the taint of "side project/not real album" is the cover [left - Ed.], which we need to study before consigning it to the Furnace of Forgetfulness™. An obviously airbrushed shot of the great man pretending to be a young rock star - you know, acting. Imagine him going through the movie stills with the art director; "I like this one. I look young, a street punk, kinda vulnerable. Are you getting a young Pacino vibe from this?" It's an exercise in fakery. We all know Simon doesn't and didn't look like that. The shouting typography and floating silver discs work hard to shift our focus, but we know a sidewalk oyster when we step on one.

The insensate human tragedy of this is it's a quietly wonderful album, one of his better solo outings. It's a band album, and that band is basically the awesome Stuff, who graced Joe Cocker's Stingray. Their subtly virtuosic [is this even a word? - Ed.] funk is the perfect setting for Simon's voice. It's also something of a guitarist's Summit Meeting - Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken, Hiram Bullock, Jeff Mironov, and Joe Beck all strut their very considerable stuff. It's gawjuss, dammit!

The album works perfectly without any references to Simon's misguided fantasy. He should of lissen to me an' forgot his lousy one trick horseshit movie. But dat's his problem. Haw! Too late now, pally!

 

 

This post sponsored in part by Orange-U-Tang© "The real fruit-style drink that's 100% sweetener!"

14 comments:

  1. Your Top Three Paul Simon solo albums! Line 'em up!

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  2. Probably the first three P.S. Rhyming & Still crazy and I never really 'got' Graceland.

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  3. One Trick Pony is the only album worth any attention. His last solo concerts, where he talked a lot about his music, and his past were also very interesting. Not for me, musically, but culturally.

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  4. Not a projectionist, but did see the movie when it first was released. After one month, I belieev they gathered all of the film and did something useful with it but cutting it into guitar picks.
    Its a great lp though, but not in my top 3. That would be the overlooked Hearts and Bones, Rhythm of the Saints and the self titled one.

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  5. best thing Paul Simon ever did, IMAO, and he's thankfully nowhere in sight:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ylQaKuSJY

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  6. This might be my fourth favorite after There Goes, S/T, and Still Crazy.

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  7. Rhythm Of The Saints
    There Goes Rhymin' Simon
    You're The One
    I remember Surprise and Stranger To Stranger as being fairly consistent as well. The movie's not awful but it's not great either.

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  8. Rhymin' , Still Crazy & One Trick. The movie sucked, but the soundtrack didn't!

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  9. Rhymin', Still Crazy, Live Rhymin'. Soundtracks to early adolescence

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  10. 1. Still Crazy After All of These Years
    2. You're The One
    3. There Goes Rhymin' Simon

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  11. Here is the link, the link is here, this is the link:
    https://workupload.com/file/VTZDzycfhN6

    (Extra tracks version - they're better than the usual "work in progress/demos" Simon usually appends, but the original running order, ending with Long, Long Day is unimprovable)

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    1. Oh - I edited out the applause after a couple of tracks. You won't miss it.

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