JOESEDDIT’S CRATES FULL OF VINYL – PAUL SIMON

I’ve got a couple of crates full of old vinyl albums that I haven’t listened to in years due to lack of equipment to play them. Over a period of about a year and a half I revisited each album on the internet or bought the CD and ranked the songs. I also recorded some brief thoughts, rated the album, and posted the results on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists comment section. I’m recycling and categorizing/grouping the posts on this website.

There Goes Rhymin’ Simon

One of my favorite Paul Simon albums. I rank it ahead of the more popular “Graceland”.

Scale of 1 to 10:  A

1- American Tune

2- Kodachrome

3- Tenderness

4- Something So Right

5- St. Judy’s Comet

6- Loves Me Like a Rock

7- One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor

8- Take Me to the Mardi Gra’s

9-Was a Sunny Day

10-Learn How to Fall

One Trick Pony

Not as good as other Paul Simon albums, but has some bright spots.

Scale of 1 to 10:  C

1- Late in the Evening

2- Oh, Marion

3- Ace in the Hole

4- Nobody

5- Jonah

6- Long, Long Day

7- One Trick Pony

8- How the Heart Approaches What it Yearns

9- God Bless the Absentee

Graceland

This album garnered many accolades back in the days of its release but at the time I felt it was overrated. I really only liked two of the songs, although I did like ‘em a lot. I like the album much more now but I still think extra points for social (political?) reasons contributed to the albums glowing reception. Paul Simon is my favorite lyricist and he doesn’t disappoint here. I bought this album during a bit of a rough patch in my life. I’m long past those days now but the revisit did take me back… “everybody sees you’re blown apart”…. “as if I didn’t know that”. I still think the first two on my list are among Simon’s best and I’ve also substantially warmed up to most of the other songs. I wouldn’t bring a strong argument against switching songs four thru seven on my list a spot or two.

Scale of 1 to 10:  B +

1- Graceland

2- Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

3- The Boy in the Bubble

4- Gumboots

5- Under African Skies

6- I Know What I Know

7- Crazy Love, Vol. II

8- That Was Your Mother

9- You Can Call Me Al

10- All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

11- Homeless