Posted on 09/23/2018 11:37:54 AM PDT by Artemis Webb
NEW YORK -- Paul Simon wraps up his farewell concert tour Saturday night at a park in Queens, a bicycle ride across the borough from where he grew up. The 76-year-old singer picked Flushing Meadows Corona Park to say goodbye, an outdoor show on the first night of autumn.
The setlist at recent stops has ranged from his first 1960s hit with ex-partner Art Garfunkel, "The Sound of Silence," to selections from a disc released weeks ago.
Simon isn't retiring, and hasn't ruled out occasional future performances. But he's said this is his last time out on the road, and he isn't alone among his peers; Elton John and Kiss are also doing goodbye swings.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
IF by greatest you mean mot pretentious, I’ll agree with you.
I saw it as well. Really good show.
Between him and Dylan IMO. It’s close.
Simon is a true genius.
Purely subjective.
Absolutely. I think of Dylan and Simon as the Big Two.
Is this his first Farewell Tour? Musicians usually have 7 or 8 of them before they actually retire. They should call it the 1st Rendition of the Money Grab Tour.
This musicologist agrees, though Dylan was and is always much more the lyricist than the composer (hence his deserved Nobel Prize for literature), while Simon's music was often the equal of his lyrics.
I like him.
You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free...
You had a good run. Well done, Mr. Simon. And thank you.
Paul Simon is a GREAT songwriter and always had GREAT musicians on his tracks. Dylan is the only American songwriter that surpassed him.
Back in the day as a young teen, I attended a S&G show early in their career (”Homeward Bound” tour) at a teen club that was in the basement of a shopping center. The “stage” was, at most, 12” high. The opening band was a local group, The McCoys (Hang On Sloopy) that featured a young Rick Derringer on lead guitar & vocals. The McCoys remained on stage and became the back-up band for S&G. I think the cover was $1 or so.
Here’s an amazing cover of “The Boxer” during a PS tribute featuring Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin, Jerry Douglas on dobro and Steve Gadd on drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy9B43ERrbw
” I believe Paul Simon is the greatest American songwriter of our lifetime. “
I can’t think of anyone better.
Ahhh Paul - still crazy after all these years...
I saw a Dylan and Simon tour a number of years ago, they each took turns opening for the other on different dates. The show I went to had Dylan opening. When Dylan’s set was over the partiers sat down, many left. When Simon came on all these middle aged soccer moms stood up and started screaming for Graceland stuff. Pretty funny.
Freegards
Liked him and Garfunkel never really cared for either when they went solo!!! cared nothing for their politics!!!
Well, he’s also a leftist asshole.
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