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ALBUM REVIEW

PAUL SIMON

Paul Simon

Released - 1972, Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee

Paul Simon - Lead and Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitars and Percussion

Additional Personnel: Huks Brown, Wallace Wilson, Neville Hinds, Jackie Jackson, Winston Grennan, Denzil Laing, Larry Knechtel, Los Incas, David Spinoza, Mike Manieri, Jerry Hahn, Ron Carter, Hal Blaine, Airto Moteira, Fred Lipsius, John Schroer, Russell George, Victor Montanez, Joe Osborn, Stephane Grappelli, Charlie McCoy, Stefan Grossman, Steven Turre.

Background singers on Mother & Child Reunion: Cissy Houston, Renelle Standford, Deirdre Tuck, Von Eva Sims

All songs written by Paul Simon except Hobo's Blues written by Paul Simon & Stephane Grappelli.

MINI REVIEW

The first album released by Paul Simon after he broke up with Art Garfunkel, and a beauty. If you're looking for a mellow LP to listen to, then this is the one! Paul used different musicians on almost every track, yet the entire album flows so well you'd swear it was one tight little band playing throughout.

The album starts off just wonderful with a hint of a reggae beat to it on "Mother And Child Reunion", a sad song about the lost of a parent (even if Paul first got the idea for the song's title after seeing it listed on a menu in a Chinese restaurant). The LP then slows way down with the ballad "Duncan", which has some real nice flutes that help to make the tune special. The feel good song on this album is "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard", even if nobody seems to know just what this ditty is about or what Julio did. Then you can thank Stephane Grappelli's violin playing for making "Hobo's Blues" great; the only problem with this song is it's too short.

Overall a nice piece of work by Paul, and a totally underrated LP, for sure!.

- Keno 2001

To listen to some soundclips from Paul Simon or to purchase it, click on: Paul Simon

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