I received There Goes Rhymin' Simon for my thirteenth birthday. I had been hanging out for David Bowie's Alladin Sane but the Music Centre in the Wainui Mall was out of copies and they told me the warehouse was out as well. So I "settled" for this album. Not a bad settle and of course I ended up with both anyway.Like many people at the time Paul Simon made a pilgrimage to Southern Alabama to get the inspiration, feeling and sound that seemed to be flowing out of the Tennessee River and Muscle Shoals. He even has a photo of the Studio posted on the inside cover of the album. It was the first time I had heard of that place and I wonder whether my time spent pawing over that first album ingrained something of the Muscle Shoals vibe into my music taste. Who knows?
While many people do not rate it, perhaps for sentimental reasons, I still enjoy it. It spawned three hit singles and another enduring classic in American Tune. The three singles were Kodachrome (banned because he said crap in the opening line - how times have changed), Take Me to the Mardi Gras and Loves Me Like a Rock.
It has never been cool to like Paul Simon with the exception maybe of when he produced Graceland. I think that is partly because of how carefully he crafts songs (check out this) or perhaps because his voice is not a rock'n'roll voice, or maybe because your mother liked him as well (as opposed to that horrible sounding Bob Dylan). However I have enjoyed most of his music, he seems to have a nice balance of experimentation and audience focus. He does not always get it right - but when he does he produces some essential music. There are misses (Capeman anyone?) but many more hits.
He is still capable f coming up with outstanding material and I can also strongly recommend his latest album So Beautiful or So What.
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