REGISTER NEW USERLOST PASSWORD? WELCOME, Logout

Paul Simon – SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT

Music — 17 May 2011

By Gilbert Hetherwick

Paul Simon – SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT

It has been five years since the release of Paul Simon’s last recording. Produced by the legendary Brian Eno, “Surprise” was a brilliant collaboration that merged Eno’s world of electronics and sonic experimentation with Simon’s songwriting in much the same way that he had previously grafted his music with African and South American rhythms or southern gospel music. But with perhaps the exception of the title track, the songs on “Surprise” seemed somewhat cold, distant, and detached. Which may have been why it didn’t connect in a bigger way with the public.

On the contrary, the music on the new “So Beautiful Or So What” invites the listener in, is warm and embracing, and conveys a casual and simple nature to the performances that connect back to Simon’s first “Paul Simon” solo album from 1972. On that initial solo outing Simon rejected the grandiose majestic productions of the later Simon and Garfunkel LPs for a much more intimate, and rhythmic approach that yielded two hit singles and solidified his confidence and direction for a solo career.

paulsimon Paul Simon SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT

Before the release of this new album, Simon himself compared the coming release with his first solo LP but much of the recent press comparisons have been with his breakthrough “Graceland” album. I assume that this is because of the new album’s emphasis on rhythms and percussion. Which is understandable as Simon uses almost every instrument in a percussive way on the new album. Vibrato-laden electric guitars, pulsating bass lines, and even the use of a flute, all work together to propel the music forward in washes of near hypnotic rhythmic energy.

But actually, Simon has been a “groove” oriented songwriter since the days of Cecilia on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and although some of the electric guitar figures reflect his “Graceland” era, the songs on “So Beautiful Or So What” seem far more melody based than the songs on either “Graceland” or “The Rhythm of the Saints”. Whereas the earlier African and South American songs seemed to begin with rhythms from which the song structures were crafted, the new album feels like the songs came first and were then set within rhythmic frames which come together to form a wonderfully loose collection where the songs seem to float casually in and out of consciousness as they drift easily from one to another.

Simon’s brilliant guitar playing has often been overshadowed by his stature as a songwriter and on the new album he really shines on guitar. There is a wonderful minute and a half long solo guitar instrumental called “Amulet” and his own guitar playing is the foundation for all of the songs on the album. Much like it was on his earliest recordings.

So Beautiful or So What Paul Simon SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT

There is also an almost traditional “blues” like quality to the album with the sparse instrumentation and casual approach and the songs have a very “primitive” nature to them like accidental Americana “folk art” cast off on the side of some mythic delta highway. Not that the songs actually have a traditional blues structure or even instrumentation. But they do have a spirit to them that feels similar to the joyously spiritual nature of the best traditional blues. Lyrically the songs connect in much the same way as the subject matters explored fit perfectly within each musical painting with many literal connections to black America whether it be from the use of samples of the sermons from 1941 of Reverend J. M. Gates in the opening “Getting Ready For Christmas Day” and the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet on “Love and Blessings” to the lead character crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on “Questions For The Angels”. The title track perhaps best reflects this “blues” inspiration with again primitive guitar figures repeating and supporting an uplifting lyric that like the rest of the album moves from darker images toward a spiritual redemption that Simon seems to have been chasing his entire life.

Highly recommended, “So Beautiful Or So What” shows Paul Simon coming full circle in his songwriting. This could be his “Bringing it all Back Home” album. And he’s brought everything he’s learned along the way with him.

email Paul Simon SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers

Get new and fresh stories like this each morning by joining the folks reading Paul's Posts. Click here

Related Articles

A Fond Farewell to Levon Helm… The Saxophone: From Adolphe to Gerald Jean Luc Ponty Wes Montgomery

Share

About Author

Gilbert Hetherwick

Gilbert Hetherwick is the former President of Sony/BMG Masterworks and has also served as the General Manager of Angel Records as well as BMG Classics. He has also worked for Telarc and PolyGram Classics and today is a music consultant with his own studio in the Catskills near Woodstock New York. www.GROUSE-HOUSE-PRODUCTIONS.com Gilbert writes opinion pieces on the high end as well as music reviews for us. Gilbert’s passion is music and high-end audio and he consults with the folks at HD Tracks as well as others in the high-end industry

(4) Readers Comments

Leave a Reply