The Paul Simon Songbook

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The Paul Simon Songbook
PS songbook LP.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1965
RecordedJune–July 1965
StudioLevy's (London)
Genre Folk
Length37:48
Label CBS
Producer Reginald Warburton, Stanley West
Paul Simon chronology
The Paul Simon Songbook
(1965)
Paul Simon
(1972)
Singles from The Paul Simon Songbook
  1. "I Am a Rock" b/w "Leaves That Are Green"
    Released: 1965

The Paul Simon Songbook is the debut solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released in the UK in 1965 by CBS. Featuring Simon alone, it was recorded in London after he emigrated there, following the U.S. release and subsequent limited success of Simon & Garfunkel's debut album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964). Songbook features solo re-recordings of two songs from that album, as well as nine songs that would later be re-recorded by the duo for other studio albums. After a very brief release in the U.S. in 1969, Songbook was later made available there as part of the LP box set Paul Simon: Collected Works (1981). It was released on CD in 2004.

Contents

Background

As of 1965, Paul Simon's only recordings available in Britain consisted of three singles released on various labels, two of which were rock and roll-inspired recordings with Art Garfunkel, under the name Tom & Jerry.[ citation needed ]

The other single was "He Was My Brother" backed with "Carlos Dominguez", recorded by Simon under the pseudonym Paul Kane, inspired by his love for the film Citizen Kane (1941). "Carlos Dominguez" had initially been, unbeknownst to Simon, licensed out in London and recorded by popular UK artist Val Doonican. This resulted in a publishing deal for Simon in England, culminating with the release of the Paul Kane solo single there in May of 1964. [1]

After Simon & Garfunkel's debut album, Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. (1964), had failed to achieve success in the U.S., Simon moved to London and performed in coffeehouses there, building up a following that eventually led to a performance at the BBC. Songbook was then recorded to satisfy demand in the UK for recordings of his music, since Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. had not been released there. Simon's deal with Columbia Records in America allowed him to record for the British equivalent, CBS. [2]

During 1965, Simon played in Paris, Haarlem, and Copenhagen, along with London and other locations in the UK.

Recording

Simon recorded Songbook at Levy's Recording Studio, New Bond Street, London, [3] over several dates in June 1965.[ citation needed ] The songs feature Simon alone, singing to his own acoustic guitar accompaniment. [2]

Two songs on the album ("The Sound of Silence" and "He Was My Brother") were re-recordings of songs originally found on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. [3] Nine of the other songs would subsequently be re-recorded by Simon & Garfunkel and released on their albums Sounds of Silence (1965) and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966). [4]

The lyrics to "The Side of a Hill" were later reworked and sung as counterpoint to "Scarborough Fair" on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. [2] The lyrics to both "The Side of a Hill" and "Canticle" are absent from Simon's 2008 book Lyrics 1964–2008. [5]

Artwork and packaging

Regarding the songs, Simon's 1965 liner notes for the album state that "there are some I would not write today", but that they "played an important role in the transition". [6]

The album cover shows Simon and his then-girlfriend, Kathy Chitty, sitting on "narrow streets of cobblestone" in London, the city Simon had adopted as his home, and holding wooden figurines. In the 1970s, the album art was altered: the picture of Simon and Chitty was flipped horizontally, and the red script-like lettering eliminated in favor of an album title in white block print at the top.

Release

The Paul Simon Songbook yielded the single "I Am a Rock" / "Leaves That Are Green".

The album was later issued in the U.S. by Columbia very briefly in 1969 but was recalled within a few days when Simon objected.[ citation needed ] It was re-released on LP in 1981 on the Columbia "Collected Works" boxed set. The mono version was released on CD in 2004 by Columbia/Legacy and features two bonus tracks: alternative versions of "I Am a Rock" and "A Church Is Burning". [7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Robert Christgau (via Blender)Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Music BoxStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Paste 8.0/10 [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Simon. Tracks 7 and 9 credited to "Paul Kane".

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."I Am a Rock"2:52
2."Leaves That Are Green"2:41
3."A Church Is Burning"3:38
4."April Come She Will"1:55
5."The Sound of Silence"3:19
6."A Most Peculiar Man"2:26
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."He Was My Brother"2:58
2."Kathy's Song"3:42
3."The Side of a Hill"2:28
4."A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)"2:25
5."Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall"2:27
6."Patterns"3:13
2004 CD bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."I Am a Rock" (alternate version)2:44
14."A Church Is Burning" (alternate version)3:10

Personnel

Technical

References

  1. Runtagh, Jordan (October 13, 2016). "Paul Simon's Early Years: 10 Fascinating Pre–Simon and Garfunkel Songs". Rolling Stone . Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Eder, Bruce. "The Paul Simon Songbook". AllMusic .
  3. 1 2 3 Mitchell, Matt (March 23, 2024). "Time Capsule: Paul Simon, The Paul Simon Songbook". Paste . Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Scoppa, Bud (April 15, 2004). "Paul Simon: The Paul Simon Songbook". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on May 19, 2008.
  5. Simon, Paul (2008). Lyrics 1964–2008. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1416586920.
  6. Paul Simon (1965). The Paul Simon Song Book (LP liner notes). United Kingdom: CBS. BPG 62579.
  7. Paul Simon (2004). The Paul Simon Songbook (CD liner notes). United Kingdom: Columbia Records. 515421 2.
  8. Christgau, Robert (May 2004). "Paul Simon: "The Paul Simon Songbook"". Robert Christgau .
  9. Metzger, John. "Paul Simon - The Paul Simon Songbook (Album Review)". www.musicbox-online.com.
  10. Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (September 11, 1965). "Paul Simon: Song Book" (PDF). Record Mirror . No. 235. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.

Bibliography

Patrick Humphries, Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years (New York: Doubleday, 1989). ISBN   0-385-24908-X.