Maps of Music

Songs from The Capeman (1997)

Where the lyrics of Songs from The Capeman take you, and where it was really made.

This is a solo album by Paul Simon, but its songs were written for a Broadway musical whose stage show lost $11 million.

Key places

Recording studio for the album (1997)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The release credits list The Hit Factory in New York City as the recording place. The map point uses the coordinates of that studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songs from The Capeman: ninth solo studio album by Paul Simon
• Released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records
• Simon's first new studio album of original material in seven years
• Contains Simon's own performances of songs from the Broadway musical The Capeman
• Members of the original cast augment the recordings
• Songs retell the story of Salvador Agron, who was known as the Capeman
• Musically a departure from Simon's earlier work
• Features doo-wop, rock and roll and Puerto Rican rhythms
• A number of songs contain explicit lyrics, a first for Simon
• Thirteen tracks, all songs written by Paul Simon

Background

• Simon wrote and produced the Broadway musical The Capeman
• Lyrics for the album songs were co-written by Derek Walcott
• The stage show was a commercial flop, losing $11 million
• The album did not sell well after its release
• Ednita Nazario sings Sunday Afternoon as Sal's mother, Esmeralda

Recording

• Paul Simon is credited as producer
• Roy Halee is credited as associate producer
• Andy Smith is credited as engineer and mixer
• Bob Ludwig is credited for mastering
• Recording location listed as The Hit Factory, New York City
• Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades are featured on Time Is an Ocean as the young and older Salvador Agron
• Marc Anthony sings with Simon on Satin Summer Nights

Cover

• Cover art by Bob Crowley
• Photo of Paul Simon by Nitin Vadukul

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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

• Released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records as Simon's ninth solo studio album
• First new studio album of original material from Simon in seven years
• Built from songs of the Broadway musical The Capeman, which Simon wrote and produced
• Lyrics co-written by Derek Walcott
• Stage show was a commercial flop, losing $11 million
• The album did not sell well
• Musically a departure from Simon's earlier work
• Doo-wop, rock and roll and Puerto Rican rhythms used across the songs
• Some songs contain explicit lyrics, a first for Simon

Records

• Peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200
• That position was the lowest chart placement of Simon's career at the time
• Thirteen tracks in the standard track listing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Discogs notes list interviews with Sal Agron from 1959, placed before tracks 3, 5, 6 and 7.
• Ednita Nazario, who plays Sal's mother Esmeralda, sings Sunday Afternoon.
• Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, co-wrote the lyrics, as the French Wikipedia page also notes.
• The stage show's $11 million loss is cited as the reason the album did not sell well.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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