I
was lucky to be one of those few
people to see Paul at the Chelmsford Folk Club in 1964. I didn't know
who he was, not many did at that time, but when I heard him sing and
play the guitar there was no doubt this man had something special.So I
collected his records, learnt some of his tunes and played them: I
still do!
I found this link which records his passage at Chelmsford: |
J'avais
de la chance d'être parmi ceux
qui ont vu Paul au Folk Club de Chelmsford en 1964.Pas grand monde le
connaissait à cette époque,moi non plus! Mais
quand je
l'ai entendu chanter ses chansons et jouer sa guitare,je n'avais aucun
doute que cet homme était spécial. Donc, j'ai
collectionné ses disques, appris quelques chansons et
commencé de les jouer: ce que je fais toujours!
J'ai trouvé ce lien qui enregistre ce passage à Chelmsford: |
|
Now
at that time the folk singing community rather frowned on people like Bob Dylan, Donovan, Julie Felix, Buffy St.
Marie etc... and so
did Paul Simon. He even parodied Dylan in
his 'A simple
Desultory Philippic' song on his Paul Simon Songbook album.
Read
here about it:- http://www.morethings.com/music/beatles/rockyraccoon.html but, I think, he was only reflecting what most people in the folk club circle felt at the time. Now, of course, things have changed somewhat and Bob Dylan has become well respected as he should be. The two of them have even sung together, so what more can you say! |
Eh bien, à cette époque là, le communauté folk considérait avec dédain les gens comme Bob Dylan, Donovan, Julie Felix, Buffy St. Marie. Paul Simon aussi.. Il a même parodié Dylan dans sa chanson 'A simple Desultory Philippic' sur son album 'The Paul Simon Songbook'. On en parle ici : - http://www.morethings.com/music/beatles/rockyraccoon.html mais, je pense, il reflétait simplement ce qui pensait la plupart des personnes dans ce milieu. Maintenant, naturellement, les choses ont changé légèrement et Bob Dylan est devenu bien respecté comme il devrait être. Ils ont chanté ensemble! | |
With
just one folksong,Scarborough Fair, Paul managed to become
popular on the british folk scene. At that time a lot of things were
happening musically: Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and when
Paul brought out 'Bridge over troubled water' with Art Garfunkle now,
it was a great success. He became , I suppose, a sort of up-market rock
star. This album was different: I can still remember feeling those bass notes on 'Baby driver' and for me The Boxer is one of his best songs of all time. 'Bridge over troubled water' must be the song of him most performed by other artists. |
Avec juste un folksong, Scarborough fair, Paul est parvenu à devenir populaire sur la scène folklorique britannique. A cette époque beaucoup de choses se faisaient musicalement : Elvis, le Beatles, les Rolling stones, et quand Paul a sorti 'Bridge over troubled water' avec Art Garfunkle maintenant, c'était un grand succès. Il est devenu, je suppose, une sorte de rock star haut de gamme. Cet album était différent. Je peux encore me rappeler la sensation de ces notes basses sur 'Baby Driver' et pour moi 'The Boxer' est l'une de ses meilleures chansons. 'Bridge over troubled water' doit être sa chanson la plus chantée par d'autres artistes. | |
Graceland
marked another major change for Paul Simon. He is always ahead of his
time, and this album brought a breath of fresh air to the music scene
in 1986. The driving force of the song Graceland can never be
forgotten, even though it's meaning is not too clear even for Paul
apparently. This was music that cut through national and racial
barriers: 'Diamonds on the soles of her shoes' was as good as you get
and 'You can call me Al'- another great song. But for me all his songs
are great! The favourite is hard to name but is probably on 'The Paul Simon Songbook': 'April come she will' or 'Leaves that are green' or 'Kathy's song'. |
Graceland a marqué un autre départ pour Paul Simon. Il est toujours en avance sur son époque, et cet album a apporté un souffle d'air frais en 1986. La force d'entraînement de la chanson Graceland peut ne jamais être oubliée, quoique la signification ne soit pas trop claire même pour Paul apparemment. C'était une musique qui traversait les barrières nationales et raciales : 'Diamonds on the soles of her shoes' était superbe et 'You can call me Al'- une autre grande chanson. Mais pour moi toutes ses chansons sont grandes ! Ma favorite est difficile à nommer mais se trouve probablement sur 'The Paul Simon Songbook: 'April come she will' ou 'Leaves that are green' ou 'Kathy's song'. | |
Now
Paul has become
extremely popular worldwide and there are some remarkable websites in
his name. How about this one: http://www.paul-simon.info/ Here is another Paul Simon link with plenty of interesting information http://k.webring.com/hub?ring=paulsimonnetworkThis is my modest Paul Simon page, but it's a start and that's the hardest thing: slip sliding away- well that's what I seem to be doing most of the time, but I try and push ahead and get something done..... |
Maintenant
Paul est connu
mondialement et il y a des websites remarquables à son
sujet.
Essaie celui ci: Ceci est ma modeste contribution. 'Slip sliding away'*- c'est ce que je fais le plupart du temps, mais j'essaie d'avancer et faire quelque chose... * - glisse, glissant |