Culture
Let Paul Simon Be Your Long Lost Pal June 3
By: Emily Votaw
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Paul Simon is arguably one of the greatest American songwriters of all time.
Early on in his career, when he was the shorter half of the iconic folk duo Simon and Garfunkel, Simon wrote everything from soul-aching humanist hymns (“Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Sound of Silence,”) to sonically fascinating pop experiments (“Punky’s Dilemma,” “At the Zoo,” pretty much everything on the 1968 album Bookends,) always bringing a patented warmth and sincerity to his craft.
After the duo dissolved in 1970, Simon issued a series of celebrated solo efforts. Although Simon and Garfunkel’s albums are undeniably some of the best pop folk records of the 20th century, to observe Simon’s increasingly skillful songwriting develop over the course of his solo career is a fascinating activity for any armchair musicologist. By the release of the duo’s final effort, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon was crafting infectious, skillful, cerebral tunes like “Cecilia,” “Baby Driver,” “The Only Living Boy in New York City,” and “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright.”
Fast forward to 2012, and Simon is headlining the final day of the London Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park. (Other headliners that year included Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Iggy and the Stooges, if that gives any indication of the festival’s quality.) Fresh off the release of his critically lauded So Beautiful Or So What?, Simon played a collection of his most beloved tunes, from “Gumboots” to “Mother and Child Reunion” (with Jimmy Cliff, yet!) to “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” to “Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes” (with Ladysmith Black Mambazo) and numerous other favorites.
On Saturday, June 3 at 1 p.m., WOUB-HD will broadcast Simon’s 2012 Hyde Park performance. The broadcast lines up with Simon’s monthlong U.S. tour, which kicks off on June 1. Check out the dates below.
Paul Simon 2017 Tour Dates
6/01 – St. Augustine, FL
6/02 – Atlanta, GA
6/04 – Simpsonville, SC
6/06 – Charlotte, NC
6/07 – Cary, NC
6/10 – Cincinnati, OH
6/11 – Toledo, OH
6/13 – Cleveland, OH
6/14 – Chicago, IL
6/18 – Sioux Falls, SD
6/20 – Billings, MT
6/21 – Missoula, MT
6/23 – Spokane, WA
6/24 – Bend, OR
6/25 – Lake Tahoe, NV
6/28 – Denver, CO