Recently I was able to add 2 new dates in 1965 to the llst.
1965-00-00 Isleworth, Borough Road College 1965-00-00 Coggeshall (near Essex) played here often in a pub
The info from Facebook was put there by the person who booked Paul Simon and drove him to the tube after the gig: “I put Paul Simon on in West London in 1965 . Great show. Ran him to Isleworth tube after the gig. Paid him £12.00.” The gig was at the Borough Road Collge in Isleworth. Another Facebook-reader mentioned seeing paul Simon perform often in a pub in Coggeshall.
Paul Simon recorded many demo’s – often as Jerry Landis – of songs written by others. One of those who hired Paul was Ouida Mintz. In her biograpy ‘My friend Lenny’ she mentioned this.
A lot of those demo’s made it to a (bootleg)cd called “Paul Sinon aka Jerry Landis” Vol 2:
(1962-06-06) I’m Scared (Dub 3, Take 2), recorded at Associated Recording Studios in New York City.
This demo made it to a 10-inch 78rmp shellack record and a copy was recently sold at eBay:
Paul Simon performed, together with Mark Stewart, at the White House Dinner Party on april 10th. Both the Japanes prime-minister, who was visiting the White House, and Mrs Biden are big fans of Paul Simon.
On the internet you can see and hear Paul Simon and Mark Stewart perform ‘Graceland’.
In 1958 on January 25th, Tom & Jerry were performing their hit ‘ Hey Schoolgirl ‘ during a show at Hartford’s State Theatre where also LaVern Baker and Little Joe The Thriller, among others, were present.
Besides the advertisement of the State Theatre, there’s also a small editorial on the left:
Many celebrities in the music industry were at the concert in Long Angeles’ Amphitheater. One of thems was Dolly Parton who was invited on stage to sing with Paul Simon:
The album was recorded in the summer of 1965. Earlier that year Paul Simon was to be heard on the BBC Light morning radio programm called “ Five to Ten ” and listeners were looking for records to buy from this singer they had heard. There was none available in the UK. So CBS England got interested in doing a record with Paul Simon.
Under the guidance of producers Reginald Warburton and Stanley West 12 songs made it to the album. The recordings came from the following 3 days: June 17, 1965, June 23, 1965 and July 5, 1965.
Many takes were done and it resulted in the use of the following takes:
from the June 17th session: I am a rock [ Take 4 ] Leaves that are green [ Take 11 ] A most pecliar man [ Take 4 ] Kathy’s song [ Take 1 ] Patterns [ Take 3 ]
from the June 23 session: April come she will [ Take 2 ] The sound of silence [ Take 1 ]
from the July 5 session: A church is burning [ Take 3 ] He was my brother [ Take 2 ] The side of a hill [ Take 4 ] A simple desultory Philippic etc [ Take 1 ] Flowers never bend with the rainfall [ Take 8 ]
The above info come from CD release of the album, which also has 2 bonus tracks, from the June 23 session: A church is burning [ Take 4 ] I am a rock [ Take 6 ]
As you can see a Take 4 of ‘A church is burning’ was done before Take 3, which was recorded almost 2 weeks later. Probably there will have been more days in the studio before June 17th, when he recorded down take 11 of “Leaves that are green”. We don’t know this for sure, so we can only assume it. Just like it can be assumed that there were more session days after July 5?
A few notes about earlier recordings of some of the songs that appeared on the “Songbook” album:
Topic Records: In [early] 1964 Paul Simon also recorded a version of ‘The Sound Of Silence‘ and ‘April Come She Will‘ for the UK label Topic Records. The songs was never used maybe because Paul Simon was under contract of Columbia and / or CBS? The planned album “New Voices” with, besides Simon, Leon Rosselson, Sydney Carter and Cyril Tawney never saw the light.
Oriole Records: Oriole Records in the UK released a 45rpm single with Carlos Dominquez and He Was My Brother in 1964 [May 8th] as well. Not under his real name, but Jerry Landis:
This was also released [ already in 1963 ] in the US on the Tribute label [#128] using the name of Paul Kane. If you wanted to gain in on the success in the folk-circuit, having to us other names because of earlier contracts, this would and did not help.
Through the years I have collected many version of The Paul Simon Songbook. Released in 1965 in the UK and later also in other countries when Simon & Garfunkel became more and more famous.
The cover is most of the time (!) like this:
Columbia Records in Canada also released the album but with a totally different cover and album-title:
Columbia EL 111 [Monaural]:
Titled “The Sounds Of Simon” and sub-titled “The Paul Simon Songbook”.
The near full moon and rolling clouds set behind a silhouette of palms seemed to capture the gentle and poetic nature of lyrics carefully crafted over the years by legendary singer and songwriter Paul Simon.
The musician, known for his lyrical savvy, shared a repertoire of music that began with the lyrics “The first thing I remember” from his popular 1980 hit “Late in the Evening.”
The night featured favorites from a sustained musical career that has spanned generations. Fans of Simon’s early career with Garfunkel were treated to a backstory on the creation of the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” “Some songs come through you as a conduit. It would be yours, but not yours,” explained Simon who wrote the song when he was just 28. “Artie would sing it… then Aretha Franklin. Tonight I’m taking it back,” he said.
His eclectic lyricism is apparent and crafted like a well placed puzzle as illustrated in “Graceland”: “The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar; I am following the river, Down the highway, Through the cradle of the civil war.”
His creative process is organic and in the case of “René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War” the title came before the actual song. Simon explained that he was going to a festival in Northern California that Joan Baez was at. He pulled a book off her shelf and happened upon a photo of the surrealist painter with his wife and dog, and thought, “What a great title of a song.” In writing it, he brought the styling of vocal groups like The Penguins, The Five Satins and other doo-wop and R&B groups of the time, “And that’s how this song came to be,” Simon explained.
Simon also performed a handful of hits from his 1986 album Graceland and several signature pieces from his 1990 album Rhythm of The Saints, featuring accompaniment by west African guitar player Biodun Kuti from Nigeria and back up from a 14 piece band which included horns, strings and percussion.
In a polite, yet encouraging tone, Simon said, “If you feel like dancing please be my guest, but keep in mind that the people behind you may disagree… I don’t mind,” he said with a smile.
The casual concert served as a fundraiser for the Auwahi Forest Restoration Project and Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo–two local organizations dedicated to environmental welfare and to preserving species biodiversity in Hawai‘i. “Mahalo for supporting the causes we are championing this evening,” Simon said to the packed crowd gathered at the Amphitheater and Yokouchi Pavilion.
During a short set, Simon also welcomed friend and special guest, Keola Beamer to the stage. The multi-nominated Grammy slack-key musician sang a “Seabreeze” duet with Simon and exited with the iconic “Honolulu City Lights.” Beamer called the composition “a song about you, about me, about the people that love Hawaiʻi,” Simon included, who now owns a home on Maui
Simon is set to perform again tonight for the second of two concerts at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. The Maui concerts are the only ones Simon has planned in Hawaiʻi and mark the first Hawaiʻi shows since Simon & Garfunkel appeared at the Blaisdell Arena more than 50 years ago.
In two hours and 20 songs, Simon traveled back in time to his 1964 album Wednesday Morning 3 A.M., ending the concert with a greeting… “Hello Darkness.” “Thank you so much I am so happy to be here,” said Simon as he exited the stage.
Paul Simon - 'Time it was...it was' 