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Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Simon is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel and as a solo artist. In 2006, Time Magazine called him one of the "100 people who shape our world."

Early life and career

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Born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, who soon moved to Kew Gardens Hills, Queens in New York City, Simon's musical career began in Forest Hills High School when he and his friend Art Garfunkel began singing together as a duo, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers, whom they often emulated and/or imitated in their early recordings. Simon and Garfunkel called themselves "Tom & Jerry," and it was under this name that the duo first had success. In 1957, they recorded the single "Hey, Schoolgirl," on Big Records which reached forty-nine on the pop charts while they were still in their teens.

After graduating from high school, Simon attended Queens College, while Garfunkel studied at Columbia University in Manhattan. Simon was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Though Simon earned a degree in English literature, his real passion was rock and roll. Between 1957 and 1964, Simon wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song," "That's My Story," and "Surrender, Please Surrender," among others. He also briefly attended Brooklyn Law School.

However, most of the songs Simon recorded in the six years after 1957 were performed alone or with musicians other than Garfunkel. They were released on several minor record labels, such as Amy, ABC-Paramount, Big, Hunt, Ember, King, Tribute, and Madison. He used several different pseudonyms for these recordings, including Jerry Landis, Paul Kane (from Orson Welles's film Citizen Kane), and True Taylor. Simon enjoyed some mediocre success in recording a few singles as part of a group called Tico and the Triumphs, including a song called "Motorcycle" which reached 99 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Tico and the Triumphs released four "45s." Marty Cooper, a member of the group, sang lead on several of these releases and was actually known as Tico. That same year, Paul reached 97 on the pop charts as Jerry Landis with the hit "The Lone Teen Ranger." Both singles were released on Amy Records.

During this period, Simon met Carole King, with whom he recorded several unreleased demos as a duo called The Cosines to be recorded and released by other groups. In addition, Simon's experience in the studio led him to produce many singles for other acts, including The Vels, Ritchie Cordell, The Fashions, Jay Walker and the Pedestrians, and Dougie and the Dubs. It was also at this time that he became attracted to the New York folk music scene and made his first forays into the folk-rock genre, as is evident in the songs "Carlos Dominguez" and "He Was My Brother" (1963), the latter of which he dedicated to a friend and former classmate, Andrew Goodman who had been murdered while working on the Freedom Summer project in Mississippi in 1964. During the mid-1960s, while living in the UK, Simon co-wrote several songs with Bruce Woodley of the Australian pop group The Seekers. "I Wish You Could Be Here," "Cloudy," and "Red Rubber Ball" were written during this period. However, Woodley co-authorship credit was incorrectly omitted from "Cloudy" off the Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme album. When the American group The Cyrkle recorded a cover of "Red Rubber Ball", the song reached number one in the US. Simon also contributed his original composition to The Seekers catalogue, "Someday One Day," which was released in March 1966.

Simon and Garfunkel

In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records, whose executives were impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. According to a February 2001 writing from Bud Scoppa, Miles Davis was a member of the Columbia Records staff that offered the duo a record deal. Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel," which Simon claimed in 2003, was the first time that artists' ethnic names had been used in pop music.

Simon and Garfunkel's first LP, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. was released on 19 October 1964 and comprised twelve songs in the folk vein, five of them written by Simon. The album initially flopped, but radio stations on the east coast of the USA began receiving requests for one of the tracks, Simon's "The Sound of Silence". Their producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed the track with electric guitar, bass, and drums, releasing it as a single that eventually went to number one on the pop charts in the USA. Simon had gone to England after the initial failure of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., pursuing a solo career and releasing the album The Paul Simon Song Book in the UK in 1965. But he returned to the USA to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sound of Silence" had started to enjoy commercial success. Together they recorded several influential albums, including 1966's Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bookends in 1968 and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1969). Simon and Garfunkel also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of the 1967 Mike Nichols film The Graduate (starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft). They recorded an early version of "Mrs. Robinson" not intended for the film. (The song was originally entitled Mrs. Roosevelt," about the good old days of Eleanor Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio. Reportedly, when the film's director, Nichols, heard the song, he instructed Paul: "It's Mrs. 'Robinson' now.")

Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their very popular album Bridge over Troubled Water. Occasionally, he and Garfunkel did reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town," which Simon originally wrote for Garfunkel, claiming his work was lacking ‘bite’, until Garfunkel insisted they sing the song together, and put it on both of their solo albums, Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years, and Garfunkel's Breakaway. Contrary to popular belief, the song is not at all autobiographical of Simon's early life in New York. In 1981, they got together again for the famous concert in Central Park, followed by an aborted reunion album Think Too Much, which was eventually released (sans Garfunkel) as Hearts and Bones. Together, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2003, the two reunited again when they received Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This reunion led to a U.S. tour, the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series, followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome. That final concert drew 600,000 people — 100,000 more than had attended Paul McCartney's concert at the same venue a year earlier.

Solo career

After Simon and Garfunkel split in 1971, Simon began to write and record solo material. He released Paul Simon in 1972, which contained one of his first experiments with world music, the Jamaican inspired Mother and Child Reunion, and There Goes Rhymin' Simon in 1973, which featured such popular hit songs as "Something So Right" (a tribute to his first wife, Peggy) and "Kodachrome". His 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years is considered to be among his finest work, particularly the title track and the hit single "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Over the next five years, Simon continued to produce hits such as "Slip Slidin' Away" and "Late in the Evening", while often appearing on Saturday Night Live. 1980's One Trick Pony album was also paired with a major motion picture of the same name, with Simon in the starring role. Simon's next album Hearts and Bones, while since critically acclaimed, did not yield any hit singles and marked a lull in his commercial popularity in the early 1980s. The album featured "The Late Great Johnny Ace", his tribute to slain ex-Beatle John Lennon.

In 1985, Simon lent his talents to USA for Africa and performed on the famine relief fundraising single We Are the World. In 1986 he released the immensely popular Graceland, for which he won a Grammy. The album featured the groundbreaking use of African rhythms and performers such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In 1990, he followed up Graceland with the commercially successful and consistent successor album The Rhythm of the Saints, which featured Brazilian and Cajun musical themes. These albums helped to popularize world music as a genre. The importance of both albums allowed Simon to stage another New York concert, and on August 15, 1991, almost 10 years after his concert with Garfunkel, Simon staged another concert in Central Park with both African and South American bands. The success led to both a live album and an Emmy winning TV special.

His 2000 studio album You're the One, did not reach the commercial heights of previous albums but was considered by many fans and critics to be an artistic success and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. A DVD of the same title, taped in Paris, was released in 2000. In 2002 he recorded the theme song for the animated children's movie The Wild Thornberrys Movie called "Father and Daughter". It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.

Simon's latest album, Surprise, produced by himself and Brian Eno (who was credited with "sonic landscapes"), was released on May 9 2006. In commenting on US TV show Ellen what drove him to write material for this latest album, Simon noted the events of September 11, 2001 and also turning 60 since his previous album You're the One. Simon toured the USA in early 2006, playing songs from Surprise as well as his classics. Towards the end of the year he toured Surprise in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

2004 reissues

In 2004, Simon's record company announced the release of expanded editions of each of his solo albums, individually and together in a limited-edition nine-disc boxed set, Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972–2000. The expanded individual albums feature a total of thirty bonus tracks, including original song demos, live recordings, duets, six never-before-released songs, and outtakes from each of his nine solo albums.

Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time in 2000 for his achievements as a solo artist.

Music for Broadway

In the late 1990s, he also wrote and produced a Broadway musical called The Capeman, which lost $11 million during its 1998 run. Though the musical failed, the music itself is considered to be some of Simon's finest, and rumors persist that the show may be revived and go on national tour.

Film and television

Simon has also dabbled in acting. He played music producer Tony Lacey in the 1977 Woody Allen film Annie Hall, and wrote and starred in 1980's One Trick Pony as Jonah Levin, a journeyman rock and roller. Paul Simon also appeared on The Muppet Show (the only episode to use only the songs of one songwriter, Simon). He has also appeared on Saturday Night Live, either as host or musical guest, seven times, most recently on May 13 2006 when he appeared as musical guest and sang two new songs from his Surprise album, "How Can You Live in the Northeast?" and "Outrageous". In one SNL skit from 1986 (when he was promoting Graceland), Simon plays himself, waiting in line with a friend to get into a movie. He amazes his friend by remembering intricate details about prior meetings with passers-by, but draws a complete blank when approached by Art Garfunkel, despite the latter's numerous memory prompts. On September 25, 2001, Simon made a special appearance on the first Saturday Night Live to air after the September 11, 2001 attacks. On that show, he performed "The Boxer" to the audience and the NYC firefighters and police officers. He is also friends with former Saturday Night Live star Chevy Chase, who appeared in his video for "You Can Call Me Al" lip synching the song while Simon looks disgruntled and mimes backing vocals and the playing of various instruments beside him. Chase performed the song with him again during his Concert in the Park in 1991. He is also friends with the SNL producer Lorne Michaels, who produced his 1977 TV special The Paul Simon Special, and the Simon and Garfunkel concert in Central Park 4 years later. He has been the subject of two films by Jeremy Marre, the first on Graceland, the second on The Capeman.

Personal life

Simon has been married three times. His first was to Peggy Harper; they were married in late autumn 1969. The song "Train in the Distance", from Simon's 1983 album, is about her. They had a son, Harper Simon, in 1972. They divorced in 1975, though on good terms.

His second marriage was to Carrie Fisher (Hearts and Bones is about her) to whom he proposed after a New York Yankees game. They were married on August 16, 1983 for a period of just eleven months.

Simon's current wife is Edie Brickell to whom he was married on May 30, 1992. Their first child, Adrian Edward, was born by the end of the year. Daughter Lulu Belle followed in 1995 and son Gabriel Elijah in 1998. His first son, Harper is a guitarist. His son Adrian also plays guitar.

Philanthropy

Paul Simon is a proponent of music education for children. In 2003, he signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.

On March 1st, 2007, Paul was announced as the recipient of the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which he will receive on May 23rd, 2007. The award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world’s culture. Upon being notified of receiving this honor, Simon said, “I am grateful to be the recipient of the Gershwin Prize and doubly honored to be the first. I look forward to spending an evening in the company of artists I admire at the award ceremony in May I can think of a few who have expressed my words and music far better than I. I’m excited at the prospect of that happening again. It’s a songwriter’s dream come true.”

The Gershwin Prize event will be nationally broadcast on PBS on June 27th, 2007.

Discography

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As Simon and Garfunkel

As Paul Simon

Singles

as True Taylor

as Jerry Landis

recorded on Laurie Records as a member of The Mystics

recorded as Tico & The Triumphs with Mickey Borack, Marty Cooper, Gail Lynn and Howie Beck.

as Jerry Landis, but recorded with the members of Tico & the Triumphs.

backing vocals on this record by Ritchie Cordell

as Paul Kane

released only in the UK as CBS 201797

A-side with The Dixie Hummingbirds

A-side as a duet with Phoebe Snow

A-side with The Oak Ridge Boys

released only in the UK

NB: This discography does not include singles released under the pseudonym "Tom & Jerry" with Art Garfunkel or singles released by Simon & Garfunkel

Samples

• Download sample of "Graceland" from Graceland

Work on Broadway

• Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years (1982) - revue - featured songwriter for Mrs. Robinson
• Asinamali! (1987) - play - co-producer
• Mike Nichols and Elaine May: Together Again on Broadway (1992) - concert - performer
• The Capeman (1998) - composer, co-lyricist and music arranger - Tony Nomination for Best Original Score
• The Graduate (2002) - play - featured songwriter

See also

• A Poem On The Underground Wall

Notes

1. Paul Simon, Speech given upon induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, 2003.

External links

• Official website for Paul Simon
• The neck of my guitar - reliable and up-to-date source
• Official PR website for Paul Simon
• Paul Simon at IMDb
• A site devoted to Paul Simon
• VH1's webpage on Paul Simon
• PBS' webpage on Paul Simon
• Detailed Paul Simon site
• Paul Simon Discography by Quasimodobell All albums, singles... includes all covers, lyrics, catalog number info, UK chart info & other releases

• Articles lacking sources from March 2007
• American singer-songwriters
• American male singers
• American pop singers
• American composers
• American buskers
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
• Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees
• Queens College, City University of New York alumni
• City University of New York people
• Fisher family
• Hungarian-Americans
• Jewish American singers
• Jewish American musicians
• Jewish composers and songwriters
• New Canaan, Connecticut
• New Jersey musicians
• People from Newark, New Jersey
• People from Queens
• People from New York City
• People from Long Island
• People from New York
• 1941 births
• Living people