Posted on 04/28/2017 7:10:08 PM PDT by Enchante
“Years and years ago” these days could be 1979, or 1984, or 1991, or ...
Simon obviously still had the drafts from writing for the movie.
No, I think it is Mark Steyn speaking. He doesn’t mean that he saw the lyrics manuscript in the era of the movie. He could be referring to anytime in the past 3 decades or so.
The movie stunk but the music was great.... IMNSHO.
That’s probably the way it happened. Paul wouldn’t be the first successful musician who saved all pieces of the compositions he wrote for those movies. It’s like a rich franchise owner who saves his first dollar ever earned in that capacity. I too would be sentimental about my work that turned me into a household name. “This is from the album that bought my first mansion.”
Same thing with Burt Bacharach, another creative genius of that time. Some of the artists may find their level of fame achieved hard to believe even for themselves. It’s a matter of submitting the right material at the right time to the right audience.
It’s probably more than sentiment and very wise. I was looking at rock memorabilia the other day searching for a grand prize to give away for a company contest. Nicely framed sheet music or lyrics handwritten by legends are going for SUBSTANTIAL dollars. A good way to keep the good life going when the hits dwindle. :)
Elaine!!!
If Paul Simon has continued to hold on to a lot of his song manuscripts they must be worth a fortune now. Don McLean (who was more of a 2-hit wonder) got $1.2 million for the lyrics to American Pie:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32208584
A mere $1.2 million for the original American Pie lyrics!
And worth every penny! ... If you can afford it. :)
You are 100% correct.
I have heard that both Paul Anka and the late David Bowie made lots of money from such sales. The material appreciates in intrinsic value over time. Sometimes this is done in fragments, the horn section, the strings section, the background vocals (Chaka Khan used to be everyone’s favorite background screamer).patterns of overdubbing.
I love that movie! I watch it over and over again.
No one has mentioned ‘Rumor Has It’, the Jennifer Aniston - Kevin Costner movie which is kind of a weird second chapter of ‘The Graduate’ story.
Classic pop music. Dee dee dees and ooh ooh oohs and mow mow mows make for great hooks every time.
50 years?!?!?
Dang. that makes me feel ancient.
I’m that way about Broadcast News. I have the Criterion version on DVD but still watch the movie everytime I come across it, which is often. The only other movie I ever watched so many times would have been Robert Mitchum’s bootlegger movie, Thunder Road.
No worries legend, you don’t look a day over relic :)
Watch, “Rainman” back to back with, “The Graduate” and you will be amazed at how narrow his acting range really was.
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Unfortunately, I’ve never seen “Rainman”, although I know he was a savant from clips.
I think his character Ratzo Rizzo in “Rhinestone Cowboy” also demonstrated the acting range you referred to above.
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