Paul Simon - Graceland
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released	August 25, 1986
Recorded	October 1985 – June 1986
Studio	South Africa, New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Louisiana
Genre	Worldbeat, pop, rock, folk
Length	43:18
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Paul Simon
Paul Simon chronology
Hearts and Bones (1983) Graceland (1986) Negotiations and Love Songs (1988)
Singles from Graceland
"You Can Call Me Al" Released: September 5, 1986 "Graceland" Released: November 1986 "The Boy in the Bubble" Released: March 1987 "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" Released: April 1987 "Under African Skies" Released: August 1987

  "Graceland" is the seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter. Produced by Simon and Roy Halee, the album was released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. In the early 1980s, Simon's career hit a low point. Following a very successful but contentious reunion with former partner Art Garfunkel, Simon's marriage fell apart and his previous record, "Hearts and Bones" (1983), was a significant commercial disappointment. In 1984, after a period of depression, Simon became fascinated with a bootleg cassette of South African township music. He planned a trip to Johannesburg in the new year with Halee, where he spent two weeks recording with South African musicians.

Recorded in 1985 and 1986, Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiya, and mbaqanga. Simon created new compositions inspired by the recordings made in Johannesburg, collaborating with both African and American artists. Simon faced controversy for seemingly breaking the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against South Africa because of its policy of apartheid. In addition, some critics viewed Graceland as an exploitive appropriation of their culture. Following its completion, Simon toured alongside South African musicians, combining the music of Graceland and their own music.

Despite the controversy, Graceland was a major commercial hit, becoming Simon's most successful studio album. His highest-charting effort in over a decade, Simon's return to the forefront of popular music was considered a remarkable comeback in a fickle music industry. It attracted excellent reviews from music critics, won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and sold over 16 million copies worldwide. Graceland has frequently been called one of the best albums of the 1980s, and is present on lists of greatest albums created by numerous publications. It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2007, having been judged to meet the Registry's admission criterion of being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."

 

By the time he released his sixth solo studio album, "Hearts and Bones" (1983), Simon had begun to experience difficult times. Two years previously, he had reformed with former partner Art Garfunkel to perform at the hugely successful Concert in Central Park, in which the duo sang before half a million people, the largest concert audience ever at the time aside from the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen. In response, the previously contentious duo set out on a string of concerts, but they once again clashed while on tour. Warner Bros. Records encouraged Simon to work with Garfunkel on his newest effort, and several vocal tracks were recorded for the album. Despite this, Simon chose not to include them upon the release of Hearts and Bones, which became a sore point between them for many years. The album was unsuccessful commercially, receiving virtually no airplay on FM stations and representing the lowest sales of his career. Meanwhile, his marriage with actress Carrie Fisher collapsed. "I had a personal blow, a career setback, and the combination of the two put me into a tailspin," he would recall.

In 1984, Simon began to emerge from his fallow period, and he became fascinated with a bootleg cassette tape loaned to him by Heidi Berg, a singer-songwriter who he was working with as a producer. It reminded him of 1950s rhythm and blues, and he made a habit of scat-singing melodies over it as the summer closed. He instructed contacts at Warner to track down the artist responsible for the tape, titled Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits, Volume II. Through South African record producer Hilton Rosenthal, Warner confirmed that the music was composed by either the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo or the Boyoyo Boys. "I first thought, 'Too bad it's not from Zimbabwe, Zaire, or Nigeria.' Life would have been more simple," he said at the time. Simon conferred with Rosenthal, who grew up in Johannesburg and booked the album's recording sessions, to see if he could plan a trip to the city. Rosenthal sent him dozens of records from South African artists, which piqued his curiosity and played into his decision. Producer Roy Halee remembered that Rosenthal "knew everyone," and was able to assemble the variety of musicians that inspired Graceland.

Before leaving the States for Johannesburg with producer Halee, Simon was persuaded to contribute to the recording of "We Are the World", a charity single benefiting African famine relief organized by Quincy Jones and Harry Belafonte. Released in March 1985, the single became one of the top-selling singles ever released. Simon spoke with Jones and Belafonte on the decision to fly to South Africa to record, considering the region's charged political atmosphere, and they both encouraged him to make the trip. In addition, the black musician's union in the country voted to let Simon come, as it could potentially benefit their culture's music, placing it on an international stage.

Recording and production

Initial recordings were made in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Later recordings, including mixing, were produced at The Hit Factory in New York City.

In February 1985, Simon and Halee flew to Johannesburg, intending their visit to be a secret affair. Recording sessions took place at Ovation Studios. Halee was initially reluctant, fearing that the studio would be a "horror show," but he was pleasantly surprised to find the studio "very comfortable." The studio was reminiscent of a garage, which Halee feared would be a problem on his end within the production of the recordings, and none of the musicians wore headphones. Simon recorded with artists such as Tao Ea Matsekha, General M. D. Shirinda and the Gaza Sisters, and the Boyoyo Boys Band. Jam sessions ranged from ten to thirty minutes, with Simon and Halee intending to salvage a completed song from it upon their return home. Simon found the music challenging to play well; although it was technically simple, mimicking the style was viewed as demanding. Outside the studio, the mood toward Simon from the general public was hostile, but the Musician's Union received him warmly. At the end of their two-week trip, Simon found himself relieved of his former personal turmoil and with a revitalized passion for music.

Graceland was recorded throughout much of 1985–86, in several cities and locations, including New York, Los Angeles, London, and Louisiana. Simon began by writing lyrics at his home in Montauk while listening to the six recordings. The process was slow, but he determined he had sufficient material to begin re-recording the tracks. He played the tracks backward to "enhance their sound," interspersing gibberish to complete the rhythms. He brought together numerous guest musicians during the sessions that produced Graceland, including childhood heroes the Everley Brothers, as well as Linda Ronstadt. Simon's trip to Louisiana with Richard Landrey led to the recording of "That Was Your Mother" with local band Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters. After seeing the group at a dance hall in Lafayette, he recorded the song with the group at a small studio behind a music store. He felt that the accordian, central to zydeco music, would make a pleasing transition back to his own culture. Afterwards, he contacted Mexican-American band Los Lobos, with whom he recorded "All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints" in Los Angeles.

He flew over several South African musicians to New York to complete the record three months after the original sessions in Johannesburg, paying them triple union rates in order to lure them to record, as many did not know who he was. He also offered writer's royalties to those who he felt had contributed particularly to the song's compositions. These sessions resulted in "You Can Call Me Al" and "Under African Skies". In engineering the album, Halee edited much of the recordings using digital technology: "The amount of editing that went into that album was unbelievable [...] without the facility to edit digital I don't think we could have done that project." They would transfer from analog tape recordings to the digital workspace, doing this an endless amount of times before it was completed. Halee used tape echo and delay on all songs, paying particular attention to the bass of each song ("The bass line is what the album is all about. It's the essence of everything that happened"). Each song on Graceland was mixed in about two days at the Hit Factory, where most of the vocal overdubs were created.

Executives at Warner Bros. were unconcerned with Simon's material, viewing him as a "bad investment" due to the failure of his previous two solo albums. The label was much more invested in the music of Prince and Madonna, and they viewed Simon as a "has-been" performer from another time. This indifference worked in Simon's favor, he would later argue, as they offered no input on his content. According to Halee, he believed executives at the label viewed the duo as "crazy".

Music

Composition

Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Mbaqanga, or "township jive", originated as the street music of Soweto, South Africa. The album was strongly influenced by the earlier work of South African musicians Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu, and the Zulu-Western pop cross-over music realized in their band Juluka. Juluka was South Africa's first integrated pop band. Simon includes thanks to Johnny Clegg, Juluka and Juluka's producer Hilton Rosenthal in the "Special Thanks" citation included in Graceland's liner notes. Simon included American 'roots' influences with tracks featuring Zydeco musicians such as Rockin' Dopsie and Tex-Mex musicians.

The album alternates between more serious numbers and playful, upbeat songs. Simon thought of the album as similar to composing a play: "As in a play, the mood should keep changing. A serious song may lead into an abstract song, which may be followed by a humorous song." On many songs, Simon and Halee employ a Synclavier to "enhance" the acoustic instruments, creating an electronic "shadow."

"The Boy in the Bubble" is a collaboration with Lesotho-based Tao Ea Matsekha. "Graceland" features the playing of bassist Bakithi Kumalo and guitarist Ray Phiri. Simon remarks on the album’s original liner notes that it reminded him of American country music, while also sharing a recording anecdote: "After the recording session, Ray told me that he'd used a relative minor chord — something not often heard in South African music — because he said he thought it was more like the chord changes he'd heard in my music." Steel guitarist Demola Adepoju contributed to the track some months after its completion. "I Know What I Know" is based on music from an album by General M.D. Shirring and the Gaza Sisters. Simon was attracted to their work due to the unusual style of guitar playing as well as the "distinctive sound" of the women's voices. "Gumboots" is a re-recording (with additional saxophone solos) of the song Simon first found himself enamored with from the cassette tape that spawned Graceland.

Joseph Shabalala also contributed to "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Senegalese singer-percussionist Youssou N'Dour. It was recorded a week following their appearance on Saturday Night Live. The penny whistle solo featured on "You Can Call Me Al" was performed by Morris Goldberg, a white South African living in New York. "Homeless" was written jointly by Paul Simon and Joseph Shabalala, the lead singer of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to a melody from a traditional Zulu wedding song. In the song, "the figure of Joseph becomes the dual image of a dispossessed African black man and the New Testament Joseph." For the song, Simon sent a cassette demo to Shabalala, and the two later met at Abbey Road Studios in London, where the rest of the song was completed. "Crazy Love" features music from Stimela, Phiri's group that was very successful locally in South Africa.

Release

Rolling Stone's David Fricke summarized the album’s impact: "The robust bounce and soulful melodicism of township jive, which gave Simon’s brainy lyricism a rhythmic kick in his recent work, has become a daily soundtrack in urban yuppie condos and suburban living rooms and on radio airwaves from Australia to Zimbabwe."

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	A
Pitchfork Media	(9.2/10)
Rolling Stone	(5/5 stars)
Rolling Stone Album Guide
American Songwriter
Drowned in Sound	(10/10)
Pop Matters	(10/10)
The Independent

Initial reviews of "Graceland" were very positive. Rolling Stone's Rob Tannenbaum characterized the record as "lovely, daring and accomplished." Stephen Holden of The New York Times commented, "With his characteristic refinement, Mr. Simon has fashioned that event into the rock album equivalent of a work of literature." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice deemed it his best album and "a tremendously engaging and inspired piece of work." It was so acclaimed by other critics that he later anticipated that it would top The Village Voice Pazz and Jop critics poll for that year (1986).

Retrospective reviews have continued to be positive. "Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured," said AllMusic's William Ruhlmann. Joe Tangari of Pitchfork Media praised the album as a personal favorite, writing, "its songs transcend the context as listening experiences. These songs are astute and exciting, spit-shined with the gloss of production that bears a lot of hallmarks of the era but somehow has refused to age. Taken as a whole, the album offers tremendous insight into how we live in our world and how that changes as we get older." Patrick Humphries of BBC Music wrote that "it may well stand as the pinnacle of his remarkable half-century career [...] Simon fashioned a record which was truly, blindingly original, and – listening to it a quarter of a century on – modern and timeless." "The character of the base music here is overwhelming: complex, ebullient and life-affirming, and in yoking this intricate dance music to his sophisticated New Yorker sensibility, Simon created a transatlantic bridge that neither pandered to nor patronised either culture," said Andy Gill of The Independent.

Accolades

The success of the album earned Paul Simon the Best International Solo Artist award at The Brit Awards in 1987. It was also ranked #84 in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

It was placed 81st (71st in the updated version from 2012) on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time as "an album about isolation and redemption that transcended 'world music' to become the whole world's soundtrack." The song "Graceland" was voted #485 in the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Grammy Awards

Legacy

Alongside albums such as Peter Gabriel's So and Talking Heads' "Remain in the Light", writer Jon Pareles of The New York Times singled "Graceland" out as an album that popularized African rock in the western world. A 2012 documentary film, Under African Skies, directed by Joe Berlinger celebrates the 25th anniversary of the album's release, and includes archival footage, interviews, discussion of the controversy associated with the original release, and coverage of an anniversary reunion concert.

Graceland transcended racial and cultural barriers. "Graceland was never just a collection of songs, after all; it was a bridge between cultures, genres and continents, not to mention a global launching pad for the musicians whose popularity been suppressed under South Africa’s white-run apartheid rule," said Andrew Leahey of American Songwriter. Presenting the album in a modern context, Tris McCall of the Star-Ledger writes that "In a sense, Simon was ahead of his time: The curatorial approach he took to assembling full tracks from scraps of songs and pre-existing recordings is closer in execution to that of Kanye West than it is to any of his contemporaries."

On a personal level, Simon recalled his experiences with the record in 2013:

There was the almost mystical affection and strange familiarity I felt when I first heard South African music. Later, there was the visceral thrill of collaborating with South African musicians onstage. Add to this potent mix the new friendships I made with my band mates, and the experience becomes one of the most vital in my life.

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Paul Simon - Graceland

UK Warner Bros. WX 52 stereo (1986).

Album produced by Paul Simon.

The vinyl record attains a strong excellent grading, suggesting few plays.

Audio quality is very clear and strong throughout.

Both record centre labels are clean and unmarked.

The album cover is in excellent condition, displaying only minimal signs of wear.

The album cover has a strong, unbroken spine with very clear legible script.

The original inner sleeve is perfectly presented.