Sunday, April 06, 2008
Paul Simon: The Obvious Child
This Sunday's video shows a performance given by Paul Simon at a concert given in Central Park, New York, on 15 August 1991 and attended by 750,000 people.
"The Obvious Child" is taken from the LP The Rhythm of the Saints, which was released in 1990, four years after the better known Graceland, and used South American musicians in the way the earlier LP had used South African musicians.
I suppose Simon's imposition of his Woody Allenesque Angst on Third World music ought to be ridiculous, but this sounds rather wonderful. The drummers are from the Brazilian group Olodum.
Graceland means a lot to me too - when I was defending my council seat in 1987 I put it on every night before I fell asleep. And there is something reassuring about an artist who has been around for as long as you can remember.
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1 comment:
Wow! That takes me back. We went to see Paul Simon doing his Rhythm of the Saints tour in Wembley Arena. I'm sure we got a better view than the people in Central Park!
He was brilliant, of course, and the Brazilian drummers were stunning. That gig also featured the great Steve Gadd, who also did some amazing drum duos with the leader of the Brazilian band. Did he appear in Central Park as well?
Of course, I'm one of those sad people who actually remember Bridge over Troubled Water from the first time round.
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