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There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973)

Where the lyrics of There Goes Rhymin' Simon take you, and where it was really made.

Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark, and the title song could not be played on BBC radio in the UK because of that trademarked name.

Key places

Muscle Shoals sessions (1973)

Recording site Muscle Shoals Sound Studio — Several tracks on the album were recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

London session at Morgan Studios (1973)

Recording site Morgan Studios — One track on the album was recorded at Morgan Studios in London, England. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Jackson session at Malaco (1973)

Recording site Malaco Recording Studios — One track on the album was recorded at Malaco Recording Studios in Jackson, Mississippi. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Columbia Studios in New York (1973)

Recording site CBS Studio Building (Columbia Studios) — The album's infobox lists CBS Studio Building, known as Columbia Studios, in New York City as a studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• There Goes Rhymin' Simon is the third solo studio album by the American musician Paul Simon
• Released in May 1973
• Mixes several styles and genres, including gospel and Dixieland
• Gospel example: 'Loves Me Like a Rock'; Dixieland example: 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras'
• Every track is written by Paul Simon
• Produced by Paul Simon, with co-producers from The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Roy Halee, Paul Samwell-Smith and Phil Ramone
• Cover design by Milton Glaser

Background

• The lead single 'Kodachrome' is named after the Kodak photographic film of the same name
• Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark
• The album was a bigger hit than its predecessor in the US
• Its singles and album charted across several countries, which made it Simon's commercial high point of the period

Recording

• Tracks were recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• One track was recorded at Morgan Studios in London, England
• One track was recorded at Malaco Recording Studios in Jackson, Mississippi
• The infobox also names CBS Studio Building (Columbia Studios) in New York City as a studio
• Engineers credited include Jerry Masters, Phil Ramone and Roy Halee
• Phil Ramone is also credited as supervising engineer on the release

Cover

• Milton Glaser is credited with the cover design

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

• Critics praised the album
• The Denver Post's Jared Johnson called it 'a brilliantly executed masterpiece, and surely the finest album in three years'
• Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Simon's new album 'firmly establishes him as one of our most valuable and accessible artists'
• Rolling Stone's Stephen Holden praised it as 'a rich and moving song cycle'
• Stereo Review's Noel Coppage gave an 'excellent' rating but found it 'deficient in spontaneity, excitement, strain'
• Coppage called the arrangements 'clean and sensible' but 'oddly predictable'

Reappraisal

• In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 267 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
• In 2000, it was voted number 421 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums

Records

• Reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, behind George Harrison's Living in the Material World
• Reached No. 1 on Cashbox for one week from June 30, 1973
• Peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom
• Received two Grammy nominations for the 1974 Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and Album of the Year

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark
• The song 'Kodachrome' was not released as a single in the UK, where it could not be played on BBC radio because of its trademarked name, and appeared there as the B-side to 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras'
• Tracks were recorded in three places: Muscle Shoals, Morgan Studios in London, and Malaco in Jackson, Mississippi
• The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section co-produced several tracks
• Phil Ramone is credited as an engineer on the London Morgan Studios track
• The album was ranked number 267 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums list in 2003

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

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