Harper Simon

Last updated
Harper Simon
Harper Simon.png
Harper Simon in 2007
Born
Harper James Simon

(1972-09-07) September 7, 1972 (age 51)
New York, United States
Parent(s) Paul Simon, Peggy Harper
Musical career
Genres Indie rock, folk rock, psychedelic rock
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, music producer, guitarist
Instrument Guitar
Years active1996–present
LabelsTulsi Records, PIAS Recordings
Website harpersimon.com

Harper James Simon (born September 7, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He is the son of Paul Simon and Peggy Harper. Simon has appeared on several studio albums, and has been featured in films and television shows, including HBO's Girls . In 2010, Simon released his self-titled solo album, followed by his second album Division Street released in 2013.

Contents

Over the years, Simon has appeared as a musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Late Night with David Letterman , Jimmy Kimmel Live , and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and has been featured in Rolling Stone, Paper , Mojo , Uncut , Clash, The Independent, and London Times.

Simon is also a journalist, and has conducted interviews with cultural and political figures. He has contributed to several publications, including LA Review of Books, Purple, Issue, and Hesperios Journal. Simon is also a producer of film, music and charity events, and sits on the board of Waterkeeper Alliance . [1] [2] [3] [4]

Early life

Harper James Simon grew up in New York City as the eldest son of musician Paul Simon and his first wife, Peggy Harper. His stepmother was the late actress and writer Carrie Fisher. [5] Simon made appearances in film and television shows growing up, including Sesame Street where he sang "Bingo" with his father in a segment that demonstrated how a record is made, [6] as well as Lorne Michaels’ The New Show and Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. Many of Paul Simon's lyrics include references to the younger Simon, most notably "St. Judy's Comet", "Slip Slidin' Away" and "Graceland." [7] His mother, Peggy, is the "silver girl" referred to in the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water." [8] The feature film One Trick Pony is loosely based on the relationships between Paul, Peggy and Harper. After high school, Simon moved to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music. [9]

Early career

In the 1990s, Simon played the club circuit in New York as a solo artist with both acoustic and electric ensembles. He contributed music to two films by Abel Ferrara, New Rose Hotel and The Blackout, and played guitar on Carl Perkins's final album Go Cat Go! , [10] [11] recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. He made cameo appearances in New Rose Hotel, [12] as well as in Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out The Dead . [13]

Simon has performed as a guitarist in Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band on many occasions, [14] including headlining festivals such as ArthurFest in Los Angeles and All Tomorrow's Parties in the UK, both in 2005. He played guitar on Sean Lennon's album Friendly Fire, [15] appeared in the film by the same name, and accompanied Lennon on the road opening for Regina Spektor and the Strokes.

Simon performed as part of Blackout Sabbath, a concert curated by Rufus Wainwright, alongside Beth Orton, Martha Wainwright, and Joan As Police Woman. [16] He also performed as part of a Joe Boyd-produced tribute to Nick Drake that was broadcast on the BBC in 2013. Others on the bill included Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian, Blur's Graham Coxon, and Vashti Bunyan. [17]

[18] [19]

Solo albums

Simon's self-titled debut album was released in 2010. It was produced by Simon and veteran producer Bob Johnston, known for his work with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Johnny Cash. The album featured many legendary session players, including members of the original "Nashville A-Team" Charlie McCoy and Hargus "Pig" Robbins, "Memphis Boys" Gene Chrisman and Mike Leech, and Lloyd Green, pedal steel player with George Jones and The Byrds. Other musicians on the album include Marc Ribot, Steve Nieve from Elvis Costello's Attractions, Yuka Honda from Cibo Matto, and Petra Haden. The debut featured songs co-written with Inara George and Booker Prize-winning novelist and poet Ben Okri.

In 2010, Simon performed as a musical guest on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Show with David Letterman . Simon played many festivals to support the release of his solo album, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Port Elliot, Cambridge Folk Festival, and Festival au Désert in Mali (where he performed with Tinariwen), and opened for acts such as Kris Kristofferson, Marianne Faithfull, Fleet Foxes, and Brian Wilson.

Simon's second solo album, Division Street, was released on March 25, 2013, under Tulsi Records/PIAS. It was produced by Simon and Tom Rothrock, best known for his work with Elliott Smith and Beck. It features drummer Pete Thomas from Elvis Costello's Attractions, Nikolai Fraiture from The Strokes, Bright Eyes' Nate Walcott, and Wilco's Mikael Jorgensen, among others. Simon performed on The Tonight Show in support of Division Street. [20]

Appearances

In 2012, Simon reunited with the Plastic Ono Band, and was a featured guest at three Yoko Ono shows—at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, L.A.'s Orpheum Theater, and San Francisco's Fox Theater—where he shared the bill with Iggy Pop, RZA, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Eric Clapton and Perry Farrell, among others. [14]

Simon performed in the band Lavender Diamond for two shows at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in 2013. Simon has regularly performed at the Los Angeles venue Largo, including two residencies at the venue, and has performed frequently with Largo regulars Jon Brion, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Benmont Tench (Brion and Tench also appear on Division Street).

Simon has performed several times with various members of the Grateful Dead. In 2010, he performed with Bob Weir at the benefit for Rainforest Action Network. In 2012, Simon performed at the Jerry Garcia 70th birthday tribute along with Bob Weir, Cass McCombs, and members of Vampire Weekend. He shared the bill with the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh at a benefit for Rainforest Action Network in 2013, and performed along with Weir, Lesh and others at the memorial for Grateful Dead lyricist John Barlow at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2018.

Simon has worked in collaboration with producer Hal Willner on two occasions. He performed for a two-week run in 2016 at the Adelaide Festival in Eric Mingus’ re-imagining of The Who's Tommy, which was produced by Willner, and performed in The Bells, a tribute to Lou Reed at the Lincoln Center in 2018, which was produced by Willner and Laurie Anderson.

Simon produced the 30th Anniversary of Repo Man along with Steve Hanft at The Regency Theater in Los Angeles in 2016. The event consisted of a film screening, and a concert musically directed by Simon featuring Fear's Lee Ving, Luna's Dean Wareham, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Simon also produced a benefit concert for the film non-profit Vidiots honoring Stanton the following year. The Harry Dean Stanton Award was held at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles in 2017. Simon performed and acted as musical director alongside Karen O, Father John Misty, Inara George, John C. Reilly, Kris Kristofferson, and Harry Dean accompanied by Mariachi Los Reyes. The award was presented by director David Lynch.

In 2018, Simon performed at Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance benefit as a duo with John C. Reilly, along with performances by Sarah Silverman, Kevin Nealon, and Larry David.

Simon has presented several films in Los Angeles in the past several years, and has conducted Q&A's and has served as a panel moderator for many of the screenings. He presented the unreleased cult film Nothing Lasts Forever and interviewed the director, original SNL writer Tom Schiller, at Cinefamily in 2014, and interviewed Buck Henry following the presentation of Miloš Forman’s Taking Off in 2016. He was the panel moderator at the screenings of Jimi Hendrix and Monterey Pop presented by Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2015. Simon also presented John Waters’ Female Trouble with Fred Armisen for American Cinematheque, and appeared in conversation with Armisen following the screening.

In 2017, Harper played guitar on Lady Gaga’s title track for her album Joanne, produced by Mark Ronson.

In 2018, he played Bram Stoker in an episode of Drunk History .

Journalism

Simon has conducted many interviews for publications, as well as for Lip TV's Talk Show, which ran from 2016 to 2017. Some of his interview subjects include former CIA director James Woolsey, former senator Al Franken, actresses Natasha Lyonne and Anjelica Huston, directors Sean Baker and Sam Taylor-Johnson, artists Ed Moses and Alex Israel, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Monty Python's Eric Idle, and many others. He has interviewed artist Tracey Emin for Purple Magazine, and virtual reality pioneer and author Jaron Lanier for the L.A. Review of Books. Most recently, Simon interviewed director Miranda July for Hesperios Journal in 2019.

Personal life

Harper Simon has been linked to actress Parker Posey. [21]

Music in film and television

Songs from Simon's first album were featured in the Golden Globe-winning HBO show Girls , [22] ABC shows Private Practice and The Neighbors , [23] and in the film Peace, Love and Misunderstanding directed by Oscar-winner Bruce Beresford. [24]

Film and television credits

Musical performances on television

Film and television cameos

Selected discography

Solo albums

Other albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lennon</span> English musician and member of the Beatles (1940–1980)

John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. His work included music, writing, drawings and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history as the primary songwriters in the Beatles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Lennon</span> English musician, photographer, and philanthropist (born 1963)

Julian Charles John Lennon is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian inspired three Beatles songs: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967), "Hey Jude" (1968), and "Good Night" (1968). His parents divorced in 1968 after his father had an affair with Yoko Ono.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Ono</span> Japanese artist and activist (born 1933)

Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Lennon</span> British-American composer and musician (born 1975)

Sean Taro Ono Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and his parents' group Plastic Ono Band. He has released two solo albums: Into the Sun (1998) and Friendly Fire (2006). He has produced numerous albums for various artists, including Black Lips and the Plastic Ono Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuka Honda</span> Japanese-American musician

Yuka Honda is a Japanese-American musician who resides in New York City. She is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and co-founder of the band Cibo Matto. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians, including Petra Haden, Sean Lennon, Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Tricky, Harper Simon, Beastie Boys, Los Lobos, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Mitchell Froom, Medeski Martin & Wood, Marc Ribot, Yoshimi P-We, Arto Lindsay, Edie Brickell, Vincent Gallo, Luscious Jackson, Dave Douglas, Bernie Worrell, and Caetano Veloso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lennon Sisters</span> American vocal group

The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group that has been made up, at one time or another, of three or four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet.

<i>Live Peace in Toronto 1969</i> 1969 live album by Plastic Ono Band

Live Peace in Toronto 1969 is a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969 on Apple Records. Recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, it was the first live album released by any member of the Beatles separately or together. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono received a phone call from the festival's promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker, and then assembled a band on very short notice for the festival, which was due to start the following day. The band included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The group flew from London, and had brief unamplified rehearsals on the plane before appearing on the stage to perform several songs; one of which, "Cold Turkey", was first performed live at the festival. After returning home, Lennon mixed the album in a day.

<i>Wedding Album</i> 1969 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Wedding Album is the third and final in a succession of three experimental albums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It followed Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins and Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions. In Britain, the album was released credited by "John and Yoko", without last names mentioned. In the United States, it was released credited by "John Ono Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon."

Elephant's Memory was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performances with Lennon and Ono, the band was known as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic Ono Band</span> Rock band

The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed-in</span> Anti-war demonstration by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

A bed-in is a nonviolent protest against wars, initiated by Yoko Ono and her husband John Lennon during a two week period in Amsterdam and Montreal as an experimental test of new ways to promote peace. As the Vietnam War raged in 1969, artist Ono and Lennon held one bed-in protest at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The idea is derived from a "sit-in", in which a group of protesters remain seated in front of or within an establishment until they are evicted, arrested, or their requests are met.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abel Ferrara</span> American film director

Abel Ferrara is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known movies include the New York-set, gritty crime thrillers The Driller Killer (1979), Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996), chronicling violent crime in urban settings with spiritual overtones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Willner</span> American record producer (1956–2020)

Hal Willner was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles. Willner died during the COVID-19 pandemic from complications brought on by the virus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of John Lennon</span> 1980 murder in New York City

On the evening of 8 December 1980, the English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who was envious and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, alongside his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.

<i>Imagine: John Lennon</i> 1988 documentary film by Andrew Solt

Imagine: John Lennon is a 1988 documentary film about English musician John Lennon. It was released on 7 October 1988, two days before Lennon's 48th birthday.

Robert Greenidge is a steelpan player. He is a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini. Greenidge has also collaborated with artists such as Robert Palmer, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Taj Mahal, Ringo Starr, Earth, Wind & Fire and Carly Simon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imagine (song)</span> 1971 single by John Lennon

"Imagine" is a song by the English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017, she received a co-writing credit.

Joseph Delia is an American singer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the eponymous blues rock band Joe Delia & Thieves, after previously touring as a session and studio musician with Chuck Berry, Pat Benatar, and Stevie Wonder. He is also prolific composer of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with filmmaker Abel Ferrara on films like Ms. 45, King of New York, Bad Lieutenant, Body Snatchers and Zeros and Ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger</span> American-British band

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is an American-British band formed in 2008 by Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The couple have stated that they started the band as a way to spend more time together, and while they released a number of recordings and went on tours as a duo, they consider Midnight Sun, released in April 2014, their first real record. Their tour to support the release of the album in May and June 2014 included opening for Beck as he started the East Coast leg of his tour that year.

<i>The Pope Smokes Dope</i> 1972 studio album by David Peel & The Lower East Side

The Pope Smokes Dope is the third album by David Peel and the Lower East Side, released on April 17, 1972 through Apple Records.

References

  1. ↑ "Breaking: Harper Simon - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone .
  2. ↑ "Gerstenzang, Peter (November 1, 2009). "Harper Simon - Harper Simon". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 18, 2017". Americansongwriter.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-03.
  3. ↑ "Sullivan, Andrew (December 6, 2012). "Harper Simon Readies Sophomore Album Division Street". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 18, 2017". Americansongwriter.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09.
  4. ↑ "'Harper Simon' Articles at Rock Torch". Rocktorch.com. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  5. ↑ "Harper Simon ready to step out of his dad's shadow in Pocklington—this is Hull & East Riding". Hulldailymail.co.uk.[ dead link ]
  6. ↑ Wilks, Jon (December 28, 2009). "Harper Simon interview". Time Out Doha.
  7. ↑ "Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel". Songfacts.com.
  8. ↑ "Best of What's Next: Harper Simon | Paste". Pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  9. ↑ "At 37, Paul Simon's son makes his musical mark | The Post Newspapers Zambia". Postzambia.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
  10. ↑ ""Go Cat Go! - Carl Perkins: Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2017". AllMusic .
  11. ↑ "Artist Direct". Artistdirect.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  12. ↑ "New Rose Hotel". IMDb.
  13. ↑ "Bringing Out The Dead | IMDb". IMDb.
  14. 1 2 "BAM! | Imagine Peace". Imaginepeace.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  15. ↑ "Sean Lennon – Friendly Fire". Discogs.com. 3 October 2006.
  16. ↑ "Blackout Sabbath | flicker". Flickr.com. 20 March 2008.
  17. ↑ "Harper Simon | Liberator Music". Archived from the original on 2013-05-03.
  18. ↑ "Harper Simon | All Music". AllMusic .
  19. ↑ "Quantum Shift Benefit Concert". Wn.com.
  20. ↑ "Harper Simon Announces New Album 'Division Street' Out March 25th, 2013". Contactmusic.com. 7 December 2012.
  21. ↑ Posey, Parker (2017). You're on an Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir. p. 186.
  22. ↑ "Soundtrack for HBO's 'Girls' Announced". Filmmusicreporter.com.
  23. ↑ "The Neighbors". ABC Music Lounge. January 16, 2013. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011)". IMDb.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.