Maps of Music

So Beautiful or So What (2011)

Where the lyrics of So Beautiful or So What take you, and where it was really made.

Simon paid for this album himself after leaving his 30-year Warner contract, and it still became his highest US chart debut.

Key places

Simon's cottage in New Canaan (2011)

Recording site Simon's cottage (New Canaan) — Most of the album was recorded at Simon's small cottage in New Canaan, Connecticut. The point uses the city-center location, not the exact cottage site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Simon's summer home in Montauk (2011)

Recording site Simon's summer home (Montauk) — Additional recording took place at Simon's summer home in Montauk, New York, though less than on his earlier albums. The point uses the town-center location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Germano Studios overdubs (2011)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Percussion and vocals were overdubbed at Germano Studios. The point uses the New York City center location, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Bluegrass ensemble at Tony Bennett's studio (2011)

Recording site Tony Bennett's New Jersey studio — A bluegrass ensemble was cut at Tony Bennett's New Jersey studio for the album. The point marks the studio site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• So Beautiful or So What: twelfth solo studio album by Paul Simon
• Released 8 April 2011 by Hear Music
• Simon reunited with former collaborator and producer Phil Ramone
• Largely recorded in a small cottage at Simon's home in New Canaan, Connecticut

Background

• Ramone had previously worked with Simon on the 1982 live album The Concert in Central Park
• Simon had spent much of the previous two decades experimenting with rhythm-based textures
• For this album he returned to composing songs in a more traditional manner using only his acoustic guitar
• Simon financed the recording himself after being released from his 30-year record contract with Warner Bros. Records
• After the sessions he signed with Concord Music Group to distribute the album

Recording

• Sessions often consisted only of Simon, Ramone and engineer Andy Smith
• The cottage was not acoustically designed or soundproofed, so Smith used iZotope RX software to remove noise such as falling acorns from an oak tree above the home
• Recorded digitally using Pro Tools
• Percussion and vocals were overdubbed at Germano Studios
• Additional recording took place at Simon's summer home in Montauk, New York, but less than on his previous efforts

Cover

• Cover art titled "DNA Mutation" was designed by visual artist and NASA systems engineer Sven Geier

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Paul Simon (born October 13, 1941, Newark, New Jersey) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• He met Art Garfunkel in elementary school in 1953 and they became known as Simon & Garfunkel in the 1960s.
• The duo's folk-rock hits such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "America" and "The Boxer" defined the 1960s counterculture.
• Their final album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), is among the best-selling albums of all time.

Career

• As a solo artist, Simon explored gospel, reggae, soul and world music.
• Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) drew acclaim and hits such as "Mother and Child Reunion" and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".
• Graceland (1986), incorporating South African influences, became his most successful and acclaimed album.
• He wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman (1998), which was poorly received.
• His later albums include You're the One (2000), So Beautiful or So What (2011), Stranger to Stranger (2016) and Seven Psalms (2023).
• He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and won 16 Grammy Awards.

Honors

• He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 and the first Library of Congress Gershwin Prize in 2007.
• He co-founded the Children's Health Fund, a nonprofit providing medical care to children.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received widespread critical acclaim
• Many critics considered it Simon's best work in two decades
• Metacritic average score of 85, based on 27 reviews
• AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised its focus
• Pitchfork reviewer Stephen M. Deusner said the record can be stodgy in its emotions
• The Independent's Andy Gill found much of Simon's ruminations on love, age and mortality trivial
• Rolling Stone named it the year's 3rd best record
• Mojo ranked it 15th; it was voted the 14th best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop

Reappraisal

• Robert Christgau later said this album and Stranger to Stranger had remained the singer's "21st century prizes"

Records

• US debut at number four on the Billboard 200, Simon's highest chart debut there
• Sold 68,000 copies in the US in the first week
• Sold 254,000 copies in the US by October 2011
• UK debut at number six on the British albums chart, selling 21,993 copies in the first week
• Simon's ninth top-ten solo album in the UK
• Reached sales of 319,000 copies in the US by April 2016
• Charted within the top ten in nine other countries

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was almost a collaboration with Bob Dylan; Dylan said he liked the song, but Simon did not hear back in time because the album was on a deadline.
• Simon bought a hand-built cigar-box guitar from Mississippi blues musician Super Chikan, and it was used on many songs.
• Engineer Andy Smith burned Simon a compact disc each evening of the day's session, and Simon returned the next day with notes.
• 'Getting Ready for Christmas Day' contains a sample from a 1941 sermon by the Reverend J.M. Gates.
• Edie Brickell and Simon's teenage daughter Lulu contributed harmonies to the album.
• Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear contributed electronic drum parts.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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