This was during apartheid and he got a lot of opposition from people who underestimate the power of music , and introduced the world to African musicians , best thing Paul Simon has ever done . Music is for everybody
@steviesellers Wokery was telling us what we should and shouldn’t do and how to do it, even back then…nothing changes. Simon was right and I still have the CD.
Paul Simon was a really low point in his personal and professional life in the early 70s when a friend invited him to come to South Africa and spend some time with the musicians there. Simon got a lot of criticism for ignoring the boycott, but he formed deep friendships there and produced this transcendent album. And as a result many of the musicians he played and recorded with there ended up touring with him and gaining massive attention, which they never would have gotten otherwise. Watch one of the live videos of this, it will leave you smiling from ear to ear.
Such a great song from the "Graceland" album! Paul Simon is such a great singer songwriter. After his success with Simon & Garfunkel in the 60's, Paul Simon went solo in 1970. He has a huge library of songs such as "Mother & Child Reunion", "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard", "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Gone At Last", "My Little Town", "Kodachrome", "Loves Me Like A Rock", "The Boy In The Bubble" etc.
I've heard and loved this song and this recording of it so many times. I can't believe I didn't hear this through headphones in my whole life. It's so weird to hear the horns in stereo, and the decision to have the right-ear horns cut out before the left again and again in the little fanfare section. But take out one ear, and then take out the other, and you can hear how tightly syncopated the horns are. More than 30 years later, I'm still hearing new things in every layer of this beautiful record.
I love what you said about Paul Simon going into other kinds of music. One of my favorites is a relatively recent Samba called The Afterlife. It’s a quirky, funny take on a rather serious subject. There are several versions on RU-vid, but I suggest the original 12 year old one. It’s just him and the band sitting around and playing.