The funniest part of this video that is so subtle that people seem to miss is Chevy Chase putting his drink and the tin whistle "down" on the table that has no top because it's the drum stand. He doesn't call any attention to it but watch as both things just fall to the ground. It slays me every time.
Paul Simon is one of the great american songwriters, with a long, successful solo career. This was the first single from Graceland, an album he recorded with south-african musicians in the late '80s, when apartheid was still in effect. He's always championed world music, same as Peter Gabriel. Fun fact - the short bass solo in the song is actually reversed.👍😜
There were actually two videos created for this song. This was the 2nd video when Chevy approached Paul about making one with the two of them. A Fun Fact if you watch the video again, the stand next to Chevy was for the bongo but Chevy was using it as a table where everything Chevy placed on it (or attempted to) went through it, his plastic cup, the piccolo all fell to the ground. There were multiple shots done because the two of them kept cracking up on set during the filming. Chevy kept pulling stunts to make Paul laugh.
Billy Connolly was in a band called the humble bums,the lead singer was Gerry Rafferty who was the lead singer of Steelers wheel,and also did baker street. Billy used to tell stories between songs and left to become one of the most successful stand up comedians in the world. So yeah comedy and music are a crossover quite often.
One of my favourite British stand-up comedians is Bill Bailey, who is a terrific musician and uses a lot of music in his act. And, while he's better known now as a straight actor, Hugh Laurie is another comedian/musician.
Paul Simon has a long list. Great lyricist and Poet. 50 ways to leave your lover,Kodachrome,Me and Julio down by the schoolyard ,Slip slidin’ away and a massive hit Cecilia,obviously many more just some of my favourites.Great reaction as always Gentlemen 🙏 His song Loves me Like a rock was featured in my grade 7 language arts class.
This is about a guy in mid life crisis, the names Betty and Al came from a party Paul and his wife Peggy had attended and there was a French producer that misheard their names and was calling them Betty and Al, it must have been hilarious for them and was probably a joke for a long time to include it in this song.
@@dennywranich7024 how cool is that? My parents name were Betty and Al too. They're both gone now but today would have been my mom's 106th bday, lost her 10 yrs ago at the ripe old age of 96 ❤
@@sammyd8860 That would be weird considering that Paul Simon and Edie Brickell did even meet each other until over two years after this song was released.
Love the last verse: “He doesn't speak the language He holds no currency He is a foreign man He is surrounded by the sound. The sound Cattle in the marketplace Scatterlings and orphanages He looks around, around He sees angels in the architecture. Spinning in infinity He says Amen! and Hallelujah!”
In 1970-71, Paul Simon had the biggest album in the world, was a huge celebrity, super famous, and went to a party in Manhattan; and the clueless host called Paul and his wife Al and Betty all night. And so this song.
The album Graceland was done with a group from South Africa called Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I’d have to look up the details, so I won’t even attempt to give you the entire back story. Paul Simon had a very successful solo career. “Late In The Evening” is a total jam! A ton of great songs in his solo catalog, but that one is a personal favorite.
Simon made more music in his solo career than he did with Garfunkel. This song is from "Graceland", probably Simon's best solo album. He collaborated with numerous African musicians on the album and had very unique songs/arrangements. Graceland is definitely an iconic album like Tapestry, Rumours, and Aja.
Fun Fact: This was the first single off Graceland, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1988. It was Simon's first hit since 1980, when "Late In The Evening" went to #6 in the US.
Paul Simon had a really great career, after his Duo with Art Garfunkle. This song was on his killer album "Graceland", along with "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" and the titular "Graceland". He topped off his career by eventually marrying Edie Brickell from The New Bohemians.
He puts the glass on the drum stand like it is a table and the glass just goes to the floor. All of these years and the many, many times I've seen this...first time I noticed.
I love how Paul Simon nearly cracks up at the end of the video. Paul and Chevy have been friends since SNL days (Paul guested a few times) Paul has had a huge solo career, which is still going. Art had far less of a solo career, but did have a few hits and one great album IMO (Angel Clare. Try his track "I Shall Sing"). For more Paul solo, try "Kodachrome", "Loves me Like a Rock", "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", "50 Ways to leave Your Lover", "Late in the Evening", "Train in the Distance", "Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard"... tons of great songs. "New wave and on the spectrum"? Try some Gary Numan :)
Saw this tour, 'Graceland', got tickets for a wedding present. Amazing album and show. South African musicians and inspiration made this record what it is. Hmmm 🤔 Sheds a different light on the album title, even after all these years. 😮 Hilarious video, these Dr. Skeevil and Mini-me buddies are perfect together. '...Call Me Al' and 'Sledgehammer' are both perfect representations of their time. A place in....or a few...or lots. 😂🤷🏽 Just decided what I like most about Paul Simon's songwriting is the open, honest, even freewheeling mindscape. Or the easy, all-embracing musicality of his sensibility. No borders here. Look it up. 😊🤙🏼🎶❤️🍁❤️✨️🕊
New Wave---Blondie, Pretenders, The Cars, DEVO, Soft Cell, .......it was just that period around 1980-1981 when MTV first started, that punk was dying and disco was crap, and the 80s were just building up for the BIG NEON 80s of music videos, a new thing.
The other group singing with Paul here is LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO. Everytime I hear them It takes me back to when I visited the Masai tribes in the Masai Mara in Kenya back in the 80s. Our group narrowly missed a bout with rhino poachers with uzi's that killed a pod of 5 rhino and their armed guards within 3-4 minutes of us leaving them. We saw the whole thing from the next ridge a couple miles away as we fled. I wanted to become a ranger in Kenya after that experience (Kenya law-{biggest industry--tourism for animals} ALL poachers are SHOT ON SIGHT, no trial)
I was born in 1970 we used to have NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. And you could only watch one channel for the whole house because the 40 foot antennae on the side of the house would have to be manually turned, and tinfoil moved on the rabbit ears, just to change the channel. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING as a music channel until 1981. HBO started in the late 70s, and cable started right around the same time. Many Americans could not afford cable in rural areas, where you would have to pay for the company to run cable from the nearest road that had it. If it was miles away, you could end up needing tens of thousands of dollars just to get basic cable. The "Videos" we see of some groups like the Beatles (they did 4-5 as a television ad for tour promotions, not to just watch on tv. )
A terrapin is a turtle (turtles live in water, and eat fish, frogs and snakes, tortoises live on land and eat vegetation) that lives in "brackish" waters (where the ocean mixes with rivers, estuaries.) In the US terrapins mostly are found in areas like Florida, and the inlets along the east coast in the Carolinas, and Chesapeake.
Krebs, Oklahoma had an annual terrapin derby since 1929. I don’t know if they’re still going on today, but it was a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department.
this song to this day is still used by my former high school pep band. Mainly because our high school basketball coach is Neil Alexander...who everyone calls "Coach Al"
In the 80s when Music Videos were just being introduced to us, it was as foreign to us kids as people actually paying for bottled water, (another CRAZY idea in the later 80s) to make it a better sale, Pitch Correction was a new analog plug in that would instantly take a gorgeous model that can't carry a tune in a bucket, sing like most pop stars. Suddenly dancers, models and actors (pretty people) lined up with videos to make it something to catch peoples eyes (I think this is why the 80s were full of NEON colors). ART was the message of the music video DIRECTORS. In the 80s, MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTOR was a brand new thing, and usually, an artist would have their song and then have to be in a video that a director envisioned on his own without collaboration. The musician would usually be surprised by what the music video really was about. It was like abstract art. Lots of bare white walls, angles, clean spaces. and bright colors contrasting. That was what all started with MTV starting, and new wave music leading us into the land of Van Halen.
From a fellow VH1 kid, shoutout to Smokey and all the other VH1 kids! Except he physically couldn't watch MTV. I got the channel but it was banned in my house when I was a kid 😂 And yes, this video was one of my favorites. In a swamp of diluted 70s and 80s songs that aged like a fine milk, this video was a breath of fresh air thanks to Paul's insane talent and Chevy Chase being Chevy Chase. Also how did I make it 37 years without realizing this video was done in one continuous take??? Thanks to you guys for finally pointing that out!
Did Hugh Laurie play all the instruments in House? Hugh Laurie - Wikipedia On House Laurie played several classic rock 'n roll instruments including Gibson Flying V and Les Paul guitars. His character has a Hammond B-3 organ in his home and on one episode performed the introduction to Procol Harum's classic "Whiter Shade of Pale". Didn't It Rain is the second studio album by English actor and musician Hugh Laurie. Recorded in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles in January 2013,[5] the album contains several blues songs (like its predecessor, Let Them Talk). Unlike his previous album, however, Laurie also branches further into other Southern US and South American genres, including jazz, R&B, and tango.
Morning guys! I was just a kid when this came out and never really "paid attention" to it like I do as an adult. But My mind keeps associating it back to my childhood back to the 80s though and all the 80s music and 80s movies that I grew up with and loved and watched and rewatched for some reason. Maybe it's because of Chevy Chase I dont friggin know.. Lol. This song still kinda gets ya moving...lol😂
Simon and Garfunkel's split was deep and bitter despite them managing some reunions. Take "Bridge Over Troubled Water where everybody rightly swoons at Garfunkel's vocals and it's always associated as his song. And who wrote this masterpiece? Paul Simon. You can imagine the bitterness on stage when the spotlight is on Garfunkel and Simon is in the background. "You Can Call Me Al" is from the album 'Graceland" which was one of the biggest albums of the 80s and where he worked with black South African artists in the apartheid era so it was controversial at the time. Check out the title track or "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" which show more the African influence than this song
You can certainly argue Garfunkel didn't get the credit he deserved and apparently he originally thought Simon should have done the vocals for "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". Simon admitted jealousy saying "..many times on a stage though when I'd be sitting off to the side and Larry Knechtel would be playing the piano and Artie would be singing 'Bridge', people would stomp and cheer when it was over and I would think 'That's my song, man...'". Garfunkel also had an acting career and was filming "Catch-22" at the same as the "Bridge over Troubled Water" album was being recorded which delayed things and when he agreed a role in another film "Carnal Knowledge" that was one of the last straws in the relationship. Both of those films were directed by Mike Nichols who also directed "The Graduate" which of course featured "Mrs Robinson" amongst other songs by the duo.
This video was one of my favorite videos on MTV! It always made me laugh and being so young not having any clue what the song was about. But I love Chevy and listened to Simon and Garfunkel on my mom’s vinyl. This is a classic I will forever cherish.
There is a classic SNL sketch from when Simon hosted and was the musical guest, where he and his date keep bumping into random fans of his that he remembers in great detail from the one time he saw them in person, but then Art walks up and Paul has no idea who he is.
Both Simon and Garfunkel had very long and successful solo careers. Simon is still singing at age 82 and put out an album this year called Seven Psalms.
fun fact: before joining snl, checy was the drummer of a jazz band and as Chevy states "not a very good band". his bandmates went on to form another very influential band: Steely Dan. Chevy also hosted a short late night talk show(a couple of months) on ABC. you can see him occassion playing the keyboards.
The bass solo in this song is pretty interesting. The first half of the solo is played normally and the second half is the first half, but the tape is played backwards. That's why it sounds unusual but symmetrical. I've always loved the sound of that little studio trick that Hendrix made so well known.
Great song, iconic singer-songwriter! Next, check out any of these PS classics: Late in the Evening, Loves Me Like a Rock, Kodachrome, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Slip Slidin’ Away, and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard. ✌️
Yes, Art Garfunkle did have a solo career, I have a vinyl album of his that I played a fair amount. All I Know is a great song. He was also an actor, he acted in a movie called Carnal Knowledge. That came out a long time ago! Love your reaction videos 👍😁
its a sweet, funny little video. (i remember watching a parade of some kind in nyc on tv, and one of the floats turned out to be paul simon performing "you can call me al", with chevy chase and dan ackroyd playing brass for all they were worth...)
❤❤❤ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel didn’t get along.I don’t know if it was always that way but I have seen multiple interviews of Paul talking about it.🤷♀️😊
would you consider reacting to some raw classic blues? Specifically HOWLING WOLF. In my opinion the greatest blues master ever. Early rock bands recognized him as one of their greatest influences: Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, etc... In many ways he was one of the greatest musicians ever. His most popular track was "Smokestack Lightnin'", also "Spoonful" , "Backdoor Man" (played by The Doors on one of their albums), "Down in the Bottom" (one of my favorites, as well as.:) "How Many More Years". Sans reactions, if you wanna know what the real blues is - listen to HOWLING WOLF. Blessed be guys! P.S. in "How Many More Years" video, before the song he explains actually what the real blues is. "Any time you're thinking evil you're thinking 'bout the blues" - HW
Definitely the best video in one of the best songs forever. This album Graceland is one of the best albums ever. Check it out. Also one of the best music videos ever. Paul Simon was in as his musicians like Paul McCartney who could do an entire album on his own. Also Tom schools from Boston. RIP Brad Delp. I was working in remote Alaska when I heard about his death and I was devastated.
Chevy quit music for comedy. He played drums for a band called Leather Canary with 2 guys you might know: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, who went on to form Steely Dan.
Saw Paul Simon a few years ago. Dude is still awesome. Soooo many hits. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard is a great one with two different ways to look at it.
It’s been said very often that Comedians want to be Rock Stars and Rock stars wanted to be Comedians . Simon is an incredible Artist, he writes all the music all the lyrics. Garfunkel has a gorgeous voice but even he said he didn’t write anything
I think the world's indifferent. Hollywood...I have the same memory problems you do. I feel your pain. You guys should check out the Classic Albums documentary on the making of this album Graceland. What Paul Simon did was very unique. He started with a brand new band, all of whom are from Africa. Fascinating back story!!
Please react to ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her shoes’ by Paul Simon. It is also off his Graceland album and features the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo prominently. Lots of love from South Africa 🇿🇦
Art left Simon and Garfunkel to pursue acting and they barely spoke after the break up except for a few reunion concerts. This isn’t New Wave because it’s not synth heavy. It’s late 80s pop. And amazing!
