THE BAND: "Cahoots"

 Original released on LP Capitol ST-651

(UK 1971, September 15)

In comparison to its predecessors, "Cahoots", the Band's fourth album, may be characterized as an essentially minor effort that nevertheless contains a few small pleasures. These pleasures begin with the leadoff track, "Life Is a Carnival," a song that continues the theme of "Stage Fright" by emphasizing the false nature of show business and its impact on reality. The song features a lively Dixieland horn chart courtesy of Allen Toussaint. "When I Paint My Masterpiece," a Bob Dylan song making its recorded debut here as the second selection, is another welcome track, buoyed by mandolin and accordion in a charming arrangement appropriate to its tale of an odd trip to Europe. "4% Pantomime" is a duet between the Band's Richard Manuel and Van Morrison that is entertaining to hear, even if the song itself is slight. Unfortunately, that just about completes the list of the album's attractions. Annotator Rob Bowman claims that the overriding theme of the songs is «extinction and the sadness that accompanies the passing of things that once were held to be of great value»; actually, there is no overriding theme to the minor songs written by Robbie Robertson. Several of the songs' lyrics come across as half-baked film scenarios, but they fail to be evocative, and they are paired to music lacking in structure. The failure is solely in the writing; the Band sounds as good as ever playing the songs, with singers Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko all performing effectively and primary instrumentalist Garth Hudson filling in the arrangements cleverly. It's just that the material is not strong enough, particularly in comparison to the three impressive albums the Band had released previously. [By adding four good bonus tracks, the 2000 reissue significantly strengthens the collection.] (William Ruhkmann in AllMusic)

"My Father's Eyes" By ERIC CLAPTON

"The Thrill Is Gone" By B.B. KING & ERIC CLAPTON

"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" By DAVID GILMOUR

"Heroes" By DAVID BOWIE

CLIFF RICHARD: "Love Is Forever"

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 

33SX 1769 (mono) / SCX 3569 (stereo)

(UK, November 1965)

By late 1965, Cliff Richard was having serious doubts about his continued role in pop. He had recently rediscovered Christianity and, years later, acknowledged that he was suddenly questioning whether a continued career in rock & roll was even possible. Songs which he might once have recorded without a second thought now seemed somehow wrong - maybe the lyric was too racy, maybe the rhythm too raunchy. Today he acknowledges, «a lot of [new Christians] create problems for themselves because they want to change what they themselves are.» However, he also admits that it would take another year, and a very near brush with retirement, before he realized that fact for himself. The first fruit of that confusion, "Love Is Forever" was as smooth, slick, and professional as any Richard album could be. But that was all you could say about it. Almost without exception, its contents rank among the most uninspiring songs he had yet brought together. A redundant rendering of "Fly Me to the Moon" is only one of several nadirs plumbed; the insipid "Through the Eye of a Needle" just the worst of too many insubstantial jingles. There is a passable version of "A Summer Place," and "Paradise Lost" is at least buoyed along by an attractively dramatic arrangement. But the best song in sight is the mid-tempo Shadows by numbers of "Someday (You'll Want Me to Love You," and even that scarcely rouses itself beyond the level of human Muzak. In seeking out the songs least likely to raise controversy or comment, Richard had also succeeded in uncovering some of the blandest confections of the age - and, in turn, provoked more outrage than he could ever have imagined. "Love Is Forever" spent one week in the U.K. Top 20 (at number 19), then vanished without a trace. Oblivion, even his greatest fans admit, was the best place for it. (Dave Thompson in AllMusic)

A Special Visit To Liverpool (June 2018)

WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY AND MARVELLOUS VIDEO!!!

Les Amis de Georges

Original released on LP Polydor 2401 118

(FRANCE, 1974)

"Love Her Madly" By THE DOORS

"Hey Bulldog" By THE BEATLES

"Revolution" By THE BEATLES

"Last Night" By TRAVELING WILBURYS

BUD SHANK: "I'll Take Romance"

Original released on LP World Pacific WP-1251

(US, April 1958)

"Tua Cantiga" By CHICO BUARQUE

A Boa-Hora do Represas

Edição original em CD Sony Music

(PORTUGAL, Junho 2018)

«Já não dá para adiar o recomeço / Este é o tempo de sarar e ser melhor»

Os versos são retirados de “Boa Hora”, tema que dá nome ao novo disco de Luís Represas e que não poderiam ser os mais indicados para caracterizar este momento na vida e carreira do cantor e compositor. Com mais de quatro décadas de experiência, mais que uma vontade, a renovação ganhou contornos de inevitabilidade. E nada melhor que recomeçar ao lado de amigos. Assim, junta-se aos de sempre, como Ivan Lins com quem co-compõe “Asas de Anjo”, ou Jorge Palma e Paulo Gonzo - com quem cria uma sequela de 125 Azul em “Cinema Estrada”. Mas não só. Luís Represas em 2018 abre asas para a descoberta de novos tons musicais explorados e descobertos ao lado de nomes da nova música nacional. Para esta viagem convidou Fred Pinto Ferreira (Orelha Negra / Buraka Som Sistema), que à excepção de “Boa Hora” e “Na Curva do Horizonte” produzidas por Francisco Faria e Manuel Faria, assina a produção do disco; o músico Jorge Cruz (Diabo na Cruz), que escreveu e partilhou a composição "Boa Hora", o tema que dá nome ao album; e Mia Rose, cujo encontro se deu “Na Curva do Horizonte” - o primeiro single. Mas porque é de história que todos somos feitos, "No Colo do Vento” é o tema que junta Luís Represas e Carlos do Carmo, e que marca a primeira vez que gravam um tema inédito. Ainda tempo para um reencontro com a herança lusófona e com o músico moçambicano Stewart Sukuma em "Achas que Sim”, e mais uma parceria com a filha Carolina, que assina a letra de “Promessas".

1. BOA HORA

Letra: Jorge Cruz

Música: Jorge Cruz, Luís Represas

Produção: Francisco Faria, Manuel Faria

Piano Acústico: Manuel Faria

Bandolim: Luís Represas

Baixo: João Pestana

2. CINEMA ESTRADA

Com Jorge Palma e Paulo Gonzo

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Luís Represas

Pedal Steel Guitar: Michael Eckert

Guitarra Acústica e Bandolim: Luís Represas

Banjo: Tiago Oliveira

Acordeão e Teclados: Carlos Garcia

Baixo: CÍcero Lee

Bateria: Alexandre Alves

Harmónica: Paulo Gonzo

3. ASAS DE ANJO

Com Ivan Lins

Letra: Luís Represas

Música: Ivan Lins, Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira, Ivan Lins

Arranjo: Fred Ferreira, Ivan Lins

Piano: Ivan Lins

Guitarra acústica e elétrica: Ricardo Silveira

Teclados: Manuel Faria

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria e Programação: Fred Ferreira

4. NA CURVA DO HORIZONTE

Com Mia Rose

Letra: Luís Represas

Música: José Calvário

Produção: Manuel Faria

Arranjo: Manuel Faria

Teclados: Manuel Faria

Programação: Manuel Faria e Francisco Faria

Guitarra Elétrica. Ricardo Riquier

5. QUER-ME PARECER

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Luís Represas

Guitarra Acústica e Bandolim: Luís Represas

Guitarra Elétrica: Tiago Oliveira

Teclados e Acordeão: Carlos Garcia

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Fred Ferreira

Coros: Manuel Rebelo, Catarina Orega, Inês Martins

6. PASSA AMANHÃ

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Luís Represas

Pedal Steel Guitar: Michael Eckert

Piano: Manuel Faria

Piano eléctrico: Carlos Garcia

Guitarra Acústica e Percussão: Luís Represas

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Fred Ferreira

Coros: Manuel Rebelo, Catarina Orega, Inês Martins

7. NO COLO DO VENTO

Com Carlos do Carmo

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Arranjos: Carlos Manuel Proença

Produção: Luís Represas

Guitarra acústica: Carlos Manuel Proença

Guitarra portuguesa: Sandro Costa

Contrabaixo: Cícero Lee

8. PROMESSAS

Letra: Carolina Represas

Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Carlos Garcia, Luís Represas

Teclados: Carlos Garcia

Harmónica: Luís Trigo

Guitarra Acústica: Tiago Oliveira

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Alexandre Alves

Percussão: Luís Represas

Coros: Manuel Rebelo, Catarina Orega, Inês Martins

9. SEI LÁ

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Carlos Garcia, Luís Represas

Guitarra Acústica: Luís Represas

Bandolim e Percussão: Luís Represas

Guitarra Elétrica: Tiago Oliveira

Teclados: Carlos Garcia

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Fred Ferreira

Coros: Manuel Rebelo, Catarina Orega, Inês Martins

10. EU DOU

Letra: Jorge Cruz

Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Carlos Garcia, Luís Represas

Programação, Mini-moog e Moog sub37: Fred Ferreira

Piano eléctrico e Hammond: Carlos Garcia

Guitarra: Tiago Oliveira

Coros: Carlos Garcia, Juliana Branco

11. A SAUDADE

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Luís Represas

Acordeão: Carlos Garcia

Guitarra Elétrica: Tiago Oliveira

Steel Guitar e Guitarra Eléctrica Solo: Marco Nunes

Contrabaixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Alexandre Alves

Percussão: Luís Represas

12. SE ACHAS QUE SIM

Com Stewart Sukuma

Letra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira, B Fachada

Arranjos de Vozes em Língua Changana: Stewart Sukuma e Filipe Mondelane

Tradução de Português para Língua Changana- Filipe Mindelane

Guitarra Elétrica: Luís Represas

Guitarra Elétrica: Tiago Oliveira

Piano: Carlos Garcia

Baixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Alexandre Alves

Percussão: Fred Ferreira

Coros em português: Luís Represas e B Fachada

Coros em Changana: Stewart Sukuma

13. SILÊNCIO

Ltra e Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Manuel Faria

Arranjo: Manuel Faria

Teclados e programação: Manuel Faria

Bateria: Fred Ferreira

Coros: Manuel Rebelo, Catarina Orega

14. CANÇÃO PATETA

Letra: Jorge Cruz, Luís Represas

Música: Luís Represas

Produção: Fred Ferreira

Arranjo: Luís Represas

Guitarra Acústica: Luís Represas

Bandolim e Percussão: Luís Represas

Acordeão: Carlos Garcia

Contrabaixo: Cícero Lee

Bateria: Alexandre Alves

Percussão: Ricardo Riquier

Coros: Mico da Camara Pereira, Henrique Vassalo, Luís Represas, Ricardo Riquier

"Walk On The Wild Side" By LOU REED

"I've Gotta Get A Message To You" By THE BEE GEES

"Oh Pretty Woman" By ROY ORBISON & FRIENDS

"Dedicated To The One I Love" By MAMAS AND PAPAS

"José" By RITA LEE

"Come On To Me" By PAUL McCARTNEY

"All Along The Watchtower" (A TRIBUTE)

"I Don't Know" By PAUL McCARTNEY

"Summer Holiday" By CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS

"Dance On!" By THE SHADOWS

"Teus Olhos Nos Meus" By TERESINHA LANDEIRO

"Get Closer" By LINDA RONSTADT

"Tell Him" By LINDA RONSTADT

"I Knew You When" By LINDA RONSTADT

LINDA RONSTADT: "Get Closer"

Original released on LP Elektra E1-60185

(US, September 1982)

While this effort isn't "Heart Like A Wheel" or "Simple Dreams", the material on those albums was well considered. On "Get Closer", Rondstadt's voice hasn't changed. In fact, if anything (less than a decade later from those amazing pieces of work already mentioned) there is a maturity and confidence present that only enhances her incredible vocal range to songs she consistently makes her own. "Get Closer" is not a bad album and certainly deserves more than 2 stars. From starting off with the title track to the very beautiful "Moons A Harsh Mistress", followed by a nicely put together duet with James Taylor and the dreamy/slightly off into the distance "Mr. Radio", Linda shows a lot of versatility. From speeding things up with "Lies" & "Tell Him" to the sincerity in "Talk To Me Mendocino", these songs capture the dreams, desires, hopes, and memories of an artist who started fresh and is still moving through an impressive career. "Get Closer" shouldn't be overlooked. Take your time to listen to this record, you'll be glad you did. (Robert Johnson in AllMusic)

"Wonderful Tonight" By ERIC CLAPTON

"Oh Well" By FLEETWOOD MAC

"Still Got The Blues" By GARY MOORE

"Os Vampiros" By SÉRGIO GODINHO

"Não Queiras Saber de Mim" By MARIZA & RUI VELOSO

"Jane B" By JANE BIRKIN

"Avec Le Temps" By PATRICIA KAAS

"La Vie En Rose" By YVES MONTAND

"Tu Vuo' Fa' L'Americano" By HETTY & THE JAZZATO BAND

"Love For Evermore" By THE HILLBILLY MOON EXPLOSION

"Moliendo Cafe" By MARTIN ZARZAR

"A Song For V." By DR. PROJECT POINT BLANK

PAUL McCARTNEY LIVE IN TOKYO, 2013

"Como Yo Te Amo" By RAPHAEL

"Mi Gran Noche" By RAPHAEL

JOSÉ FELICIANO: "DESTINY"

One of the most prominent Latin-born performers of the pop era, singer/guitarist Jose Feliciano was born September 10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico; the victim of congenital glaucoma, he was left permanently blind at birth. Five years later, he and his family moved to New York City's Spanish Harlem area; there Feliciano began learning the accordion, later taking up the guitar and making his first public appearance at the Bronx's El Teatro Puerto Rico at the age of nine. While in high school he became a fixture of the Greenwich Village coffeehouse circuit, eventually quitting school in 1962 in order to accept a permanent gig in Detroit; a contract with RCA followed a performance at New York's Gerde's Folk City, and within two years he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. After bowing with the 1964 novelty single "Everybody Do the Click," he issued his flamenco-flavored debut LP "The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano", trailed early the next year by "The Fantastic Feliciano". Unhappy with the direction of his music following the release of 1966's "A Bag Full of Soul", Feliciano returned to his roots, releasing three consecutive Spanish-language LPs - "Sombras...Una Voz", "Una Guitarra, Mas Exitos de Jose Feliciano" and "El Sentimiento, La Voz y La Guitarra de Jose Feliciano" - on RCA International, scoring on the Latin pop charts with the singles "La Copa Rota" and "Amor Gitana." 

With 1968's "Feliciano!", he scored a breakthrough hit with a soulful reading of the Doors' "Light My Fire" that launched him into the mainstream pop stratosphere; a smash cover of Tommy Tucker's R&B chestnut "Hi Heel Sneakers" solidified his success, and soon Feliciano found himself performing the national anthem during the 1968 World Series. His idiosyncratic Latin-jazz performance of the song proved highly controversial, and despite the outcry of traditionalists and nationalists, his status as an emerging counterculture hero was secured, with a single of his rendition also becoming a hit. In 1969 Feliciano recorded three LPs - "Souled, Alive Alive-O", and "Feliciano 10 to 23" - and won a Grammy for Best New Artist; however, he never again equalled the success of "Light My Fire", and only the theme song to the sitcom Chico and the Man subsequently achieved hit status, edging into the Top 100 singles chart in 1974. Throughout the 1970s Feliciano remained an active performer, however, touring annually and issuing a number of LPs in both English and Spanish, including 1973's Steve Cropper-produced "Compartments"; he also appeared on the Joni Mitchell hit "Free Man in Paris," and guested on a number of television series including Kung Fu and McMillan and Wife. In 1980 Feliciano was the first performer signed to the new Latin division of Motown, making his label debut with an eponymous effort the following year; his recorded output tapered off during the course of the decade, although he occasionally resurfaced with LPs including 1987's "Tu Immenso Amor" and 1989's "I'm Never Gonna Change". A school in East Harlem was renamed the Jose Feliciano Performing Arts School in his honor; in 1996, he also appeared briefly in the hit film "Fargo". (in All Music)

"Che Sarà" By JOSE FELICIANO

"Maria Isabel" By LOS PAYOS

"Sweet Pea" By TOMMY ROE

"Hang On Sloopy" By THE McCOYS

"Bad Moon Rising" By C.C. REVIVAL

"Do Wah Diddy Diddy" By MANFRED MANN

"Whole Lotta Love" By LED ZEPPELIN

"Dance Me To The End Of Love" By L. COHEN

"Reflections Of My Life" By MARMALADE

"Time" By PINK FLOYD

EXOTIC GUITARS: "I Can't Stop Loving You"

Original released on LP Ranwood R-8085

(US, 1970)

"A Banda" By CHICO BUARQUE DE HOLLANDA

CHICO BUARQUE - Os Primeiros Anos

A imagem que o público fixou de meu filho não é correta. Para o público, Chico é tímido (antes de tudo, tímido), bonzinho, retraído. Nada disso. Pelo menos em família e com os amigos, é completamente diferente, um rapaz brincalhão, extrovertido, bem para fora. Quando ele aparece em público, torna-se diferente. Talvez seja o medo de parecer ridículo. Mas podem crer, ele não é tímido, nem bonzinho. É, sem dúvida, uma boa pessoa. Mas não bonzinho, no sentido em que esta palavra é interpretada. Quando criança, jamais foi um rebelde. Posso assegurar que se tratava de uma criança normal. Procurava sempre ser independente. E essa independência ele afirmava, procurando fazer tudo o que faziam os irmãos mais velhos. Não era nem ligado ao pai nem à mãe. Dava-se bem com todos. Com as irmãs, tias e avós. Quando viajamos para a Itália (nesse tempo tinha 8 anos), deixou para avó um bilhete: «Avó, vou para Itália. Quando eu voltar, provavelmente a senhora estará morta. Mas não se preocupe. Eu vou me tornar um cantor de rádio. É só a senhora ligar o rádio do céu que vai me escutar». Desde menino, sempre se interessou por música e futebol. Jogo, não perdia uma irradiação. Seus ídolos eram Telê, do Fluminense, e Pagão, do Santos. Na Itália, torcia pelo Genoa. Da música popular, seus ídolos eram Ismael Silva, Caymmi e Ataulfo Alves. Mas tarde, João Gilberto, de quem procurava imitar o estilo. Chico também não é um compositor de classe média, como afirmam por aí. Quando surgiu a bossa-nova, Chico se encontrou com ela. Apreciava muito João Gilberto e ouvia-o seguidas vezes. Vinícius, muito amigo da família, aparecia sempre em festas e Chico ficava a ouvi-lo, com grande admiração.

Desde cedo, Chico já tinha namorada. Sempre foi muito vivo e alegre. Jogava futebol nas ruas, como todos os garotos de sua idade. Quanto aos estudos, dedicava-se a eles principalmente às vésperas de exame. Estudava duas ou três horas seguidas, depois cansava e ia se divertir. Em 1962, quando terminou o curso científico, foi orador da turma, provocando muitas risadas com seu discurso cheio de humor. O sucesso não o mudou essencialmente, chateia-o um pouco, apenas. Hoje, não pode sair às ruas sem que lhe venham pedir autógrafos. Continua fiel aos amigos, embora não tenha muito tempo para se dedicar a eles. Assim que chega a são Paulo, telefona para todos, organiza noitada com eles. Chico sempre viveu em bando, com muitos amigos, uma verdadeira turma. Sua formação é, sem dúvida, paulista. Nasceu no Rio, mas quando completou 2 anos, mudamos para São Paulo. Aqui, passou toda sua infância. Preferiu fazer o científico porque achava que o curso clássico era coisa de mulher. Dado momento, escolheu um ramo bem aproximado do artístico: arquitetura. Ficava em casa criando cidades imaginárias. Todas tinham uma fonte no meio da praça: lembrança das fontes de Roma, onde moramos algum tempo. 

Chico, em vez de começar a falar, cantou. Desde que tentou se expressar foi através da música. Mas tarde, ficava com as irmãs aí pela sala, inventando música. Dizia que já que não conhecia de cor música de outros compositores, era obrigado a inventar as próprias. O sucesso veio de repente, sem que ninguém esperasse. Recebi a notícia de que Chico tinha ganho o Festival de Música Popular Brasileira com "A Banda", quando estava em Nova York. Um jornal norte-americano publicou a notícia. Claro que me senti muito orgulhoso. Cheguei à conclusão - o que uma revista publicou na época - de que, antes, ele era meu filho. E depois do festival eu passei a ser o pai dele. Não há posição melhor. Das suas músicas todas, gosto mais de "A Banda", "Pedro Pedreiro", "Roda Viva" e "Carolina". Nunca me esquecerei do dia em ouvi "A Banda" pela primeira vez, em Nova York, na casa de um amigo. Foi uma grande emoção. Não obstante todo o sucesso, o qual não lhe provoca muito prazer, é bem capaz de Chico largar tudo isso e partir para uma outra coisa qualquer, bem diferente. Ele é bem capaz disso. Muito inquieto. Muito inteligente. Sempre gostou muito de ler. Guimarães Rosa é um de seus autores preferidos. Quando fez "Pedro Pedreiro", inventou uma palavra: penseiro. Talvez inspirado em Guimarães Rosa, que também era dado a inventar palavras. Tolstoi e Dostoiévski também eram seus favoritos. Assim como Kafka. Em geral, ele ia lendo tudo o que caía em suas mãos.

A música é responsável por ele ter abandonado o curso de arquitetura, decisão que tomou sozinho. O sucesso abriu uma impossibilidade de estudar. Excesso de compromissos, solicitações. Creio que, na música, ele se realiza mais, se torna muito mais feliz. É preferível um compositor realizado, que um arquiteto frustrado, como todo mundo sabe. Quando vai compor, geralmente fica isolado, no quarto, sozinho. A música e a letra sempre nascem juntas, uma ligada à outra, indissoluvelmente. Desde que aprendeu a tocar violão, com sua irmã Heloisa, hoje casada com João Gilberto e morando em Nova York, nunca mais deixou de compor. Sua adolescência foi normal, sem nenhum conflito especial. Posso considerá-lo um rapaz feliz. Suas primeiras composições falavam de amor. Mais tarde, quando ingressou na faculdade, passou a fazer música de participação, sendo que a primeira foi "Pedro Pedreiro". A família ficou um pouco tonta com o sucesso tão fulminante, tão rápido. Mas já nos acostumamos. Chico é que não se habituou a ele. Ficou muito contente de ter ido a Paris, porque ninguém o conhecia por lá. Talvez o sucesso tenha provocado uma espécie de defesa, tornando-o um pouco retraído. De fato, meu filho não é tímido. É bem diferente a imagem que temos dele. Trata-se de uma pessoa normal, alegre, sem problemas graves de personalidade. Eu sei o que eu estou falando. Sou seu pai há 23 anos. (Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, 1968)

"Solamente Una Vez" By Ozomantli Y Gaby Moreno

"Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" By Gaby Moreno

PAUL SIMON: "THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON"

Original released on LP CBS 69035 (UK)

and Columbia 32280 (US), May 1973

A1. Kodachrome 3’35

A2. Tenderness 2’55

A3. Take Me to the Mardi Gras 3’30

A4. Something So Right 4’36

A5. One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor 3’48

B1. American Tune 3’47

B2. Was a Sunny Day 3’44

B3. Learn How to Fall 2’47

B4. St. Judy’s Comet 3’21

B5. Loves Me Like a Rock 3’40

All songs composed by Paul Simon

MUSICIANS:

Guitar: Paul Simon, Cornell Dupree, Pete Carr, David Spinozza, Alexander Gafa, Jerry Pucket

Electric Guitar: Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carr

Bass: David Hood, Gordon Edwards, Bob Cranshaw, Vernie Robbins

Acoustic Bass: Richard Davis

Electric Bass: Bob Cranshaw

Drums: Roger Hawkins, Rick Marotta, Grady Tate, James Straud

Percussion: Airto Moreira, Roger Hawkins

Keyboards: Barry Beckett, Bobby James

Piano: Paul Griffin, Bobby Scott, Barry Beckett

Organ: Carson Witsett

Vocal Group: The Dixie Hummingbirds

Vocal Duo: Maggie & Terre Roche

Horns: The Onward Brass Band

Strings arranged by Del Newman

Produced by Paul Simon

Cover designed by Milton Glaser

«And high up above

my eyes could clearly see

the Statue of Liberty

sailing away to sea.

And I dreamed I was flying»

Paul Simon’s “There Goes Rhymin' Simon” is the logical step in Paul Simon's solo recording career, and it is a dazzlingly surefooted one. Despite its many light, humorous moments, the core theme of his first album, Paul Simon, was depressing: fear of death, its focal point a sung poem, "Everything Put Together Falls Apart," that while worthy of comparison with the best work of John Berryman, could hardly be called "easy listening." Since the album dealt with anxiety, it communicated anxiety and was difficult to accept as entertainment. This isn't true of “Rhymin' Simon”. Like its predecessor, it is a fully realized work of art, of genius in fact, but one that is also endlessly listenable on every level. Simon has never sounded so assured vocally. He demonstrates in several places pyrotechnical skills that approach Harry Nilsson's (in embellishment of ballad phrases) and John Lennon's (in letting it all hang out), though for the most part, Simon's deliveries are straight - restrained and supple, bowing as they should to the material, which is of the very highest order.

“Rhymin' Simon” shows, once and for all, that Simon is now the consummate master of the contemporary narrative song - one of a very few practicing singer/songwriters able to impart wisdom as much by implication as by direct statement. Here, even more than in the first album, Simon successfully communicates the deepest kinds of love without ever becoming rhetorical or overly sentimental. The chief factor in his remarkable growth since Simon and Garfunkel days has been the development of a gentle wry humor that is objective, even fatalistic, though never bitter. Thematically, “Rhymin' Simon” represents a sweeping outward gesture from the introspection of the first album. Simon has triumphantly relocated his sensibility in the general scheme of things: as a musician, as a poet of the American tragedy, and most importantly as a family man. “Rhymin' Simon” celebrates, above all, familial bonds, which are seen as an antidote, to psychic disintegration in a terminally diseased society. As an expression of one man's credo, therefore, it is a profoundly affirmative action. The chief new musical element Simon has chosen to work with - one he has hitherto eschewed - is black music: R&B and gospel motifs are incorporated brilliantly both in Simon's melodic writing and in the sparkling textures of the album's ten cuts, more than half recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. 

The opener is "Kodachrome," a streamlined pop-rock production that uses the image of color photography as a metaphor for imaginative vitality. The song opens with a couple of Simon's most pungent lines: «When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school / It's a wonder I can think at all.» Next is "Tenderness," a late-Fifties-styled doo-wop ballad in which Simon tells a friend: «You don't have to lie to me / Just give me some tenderness beneath your honesty.» In addition to boasting one of Simon's loveliest vocals, "Tenderness" has a nicely subdued horn arrangement by Allen Toussaint and a soulful R&B backups by a gospel group, the Dixie Hummingbirds. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" is sheer delight - a Latin-flavored evocation of abandon in New Orleans that fades out in joyous Dixieland music by the Onward Brass Band. This sensuous flight of fancy is followed by "Something So Right," Simon's love song to his wife in which he tells her he can hardly believe his present happiness, since he is by nature a pessimist. A ballad that begins in an offhand, almost conversational tone, it builds slowly into a declaration of great eloquence. Side one closes with a witty, R&B piece of homespun city philosophy, "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor."

"American Tune," which opens side two is the album's pivotal moment. A flowing ballad with the chordal structure of an American hymm-tune, its magnificent lyrics give us Simon's definitive reflection on the American Dream. Writing from a state of exhaustion in England (Paul Samwell-Smith co-produced the cut in London, and Del Newman provided the stately string arrangement), Simon sees the country as a nation of «battered souls», but still «home,» and the American Dream either «shattered» or «driven to its knees.» In an apocalyptic reverie, he equates his own death with the death of America and sees «the Statue of Liberty sailin' away to sea.» The song, which has instrumental touches that deliberately recall Simon and Garfunkel's "America," is the single greatest thing Simon has written, a classic by any standard.

"Was a Sunny Day" reshuffles images from "Kodachrome," treating them playfully in a semi-reggae setting. A «high-school queen with nothing really left to lose» makes love with a sailor whom she calls «Speedo but his Christian name was Mr. Earl.» "Learn How to Fall" has an opening melodic phrase similar to that of Bette Midler's now-famous intro, "Friends," but a different message: «You've got to learn how to fall / before you learn to fly.» The album's last two cuts, "St. Judy's Comet" and "Loves Me Like a Rock," complete the thematic cycle of songs avowing familial devotion. In the exquisitely tender acoustic lullaby, "St. Judy's Comet," Simon enters into the imaginative life of his son, who wants to stay up late to watch for the mythical comet of the title. Simon concludes: «'Cause if I can't sing my boy to sleep / well it makes your famous daddy / Look so dumb.» In "Loves Me Like a Rock," a hand-clapping, call-and-response gospel anthem with the Dixie Hummingbirds providing the response, Simon resurrects his own childhood relationship with his mother. 

Since the anxiety-laded "Mother and Child Reunion" was the opening cut on the first Simon album, it is fitting that this incredibly powerful song of love and gratitude, reminiscent in spirit of "When The Saints," should close the second. “Rhymin' Simon'” is a rich and moving song cycle, one in which each cut reflects on every other to create an ever-widening series of refractions. Viewed in the light of the first album, Simon seems ultimately to be saying that acceptance of death is only possible through our ability to honor our human ties, especially those formed within the family structure. Only through the mutual affirmation of love can we redeem our imaginative powers from despair and be able to live with the breakdown of the wider "family" structure that is the American homeland without ourselves breaking down. (Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone 1973, June 21)

"American Tune" By PAUL SIMON

CLIFF RICHARD '65

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 

33SX 1709 (mono) / SCX 3546 (stereo)

(UK, April 1965)

Cliff Richard's eighth album was something of a mixed bag, borrowing moods (and even songs) from the recent "When in Spain" set, but also kicking furiously against the doomsayers who'd written him off over the past two years. True, his chart positions were declining alarmingly; true, too, neither "Wonderful Life", nor the "Aladdin & His Wonderful Lamp" pantomime ranked among his proudest achievements. This album, however, oozes class. The politely swinging "I Don't Want to Love You" and a near-country romp through "You Belong to My Heart" may be standard easy listening fare, and were duly condemned as such as the time. But one cannot help but feel that if the Beatles, say, had hauled the same songs and arrangements out of the vault, they would have been applauded for their audacity. Elsewhere, during a rocking blast through "Razzle Dazzle," the normally punctilious producer Norrie Paramor even overlooks the sound of Richard's voice cracking, so electric is the performance. Also included are English language versions of four songs included on the Spanish language "When in Spain" album: "Perfidia," "Te Quiero Dijeste" (as "Magic Is The Moonlight"), "Quien Sera" ("Sway"), and "Tus Besos" ("Kiss"). None improves on its predecessor, and all actually lose something of their initial charm. But still, the artist's eye for strong material remains as unflinching as ever, and his ability to deliver it remains undimmed. Indeed, from the doomy "House Without Windows" to a (surprisingly?) stirring "Reelin' and Rockin'," there are moments here when his voice sounds stronger than ever, as he not only makes the final transition from simple pop star to all-round family entertainer, but does so with such aplomb that only the vilest cynic could have failed to applaud his grace. (Dave Thompson in AllMusic)