UK-only Debut Solo Album "The Paul Simon Song Book"
from 1965 on CBS Records in Mono
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"... A Simple Desultory Philippic..."
In
April 2015 Paul Simon had a fourth number one album in an incredible and at times
choppy career – albeit with a 2CD compilation "The Ultimate Collection" that combined both Simon and
Garfunkel with his Solo material for the first time (hit the coveted top spot in the UK). Still life in and fond memories for his beautiful music in all its forms.
Which
got in mind of this superb Box Set and his humble 1965 English beginnings for
his solo career - "The Paul Simon Song Book". Classy presentation,
gorgeous remastered Audio and even Previously Unreleased stuff for those
who haven't bought the previous reissues - "The Complete Albums
Collection" containing "The Paul Simon Song Book" has also even
turned up on sale of late with a price tag that will entice (under twenty quid).
Frankly
what's not to love? The man's day job as intelligent generational spokesman
seems in tact. Flowers never bend with the rainfall; here are the early
patterns...
UK
released October 2013 – "The Complete Albums Collection" by PAUL
SIMON on Sony/Legacy 88691912922 (Barcode 886919129229) is a 14-album/15CD Clamshell
Box Set with Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves and Vic Anesini Remasters. Disc 1
represents his debut album as follows:
CD1
"The Paul Simon Song Book" (38:48 minutes):
1.
I Am A Rock [Side 1]
2.
Leaves That Are Green
3.
A Church Is Burning
4.
April Come She Will
5.
The Sound Of Silence
6.
A Most Peculiar Man
7.
He Was My Brother [Side 2]
8.
Kathy’s Song
9.
The Side Of A Hill
10.
A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)
11.
Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall
12.
Patterns
BONUS
TRACKS:
13.
I Am A Rock – Alternate Version
14.
A Church Is Burning – Alternate Version
Tracks
1 to 12 are his debut album "The Paul Simon Song Book" – released August
1965 in the UK on CBS Records BPG 62979 (Mono) and CBS SBPG 62979 (Stereo) –
the album was recorded in London in June and July 1965.
"The Paul Simon Song Book" was un-issued (at
Simon's request) in the USA until the "Collected Works" 5LP Box Set
in 1981. First official CD appearance in the USA came in 2004 – that CD using
the MONO Mix as does this one. Tracks 13 and 14 are Previously Unreleased Bonus
Tracks that came with the 2004 CD reissue - Vic Anesini/Bob Irwin Remasters.
The
62-page colour booklet is beautifully laid out – full track-by-track annotation
(musicians, producers, studios etc) for every album. In-between the pages of
info are period black and white photos – guitar on his back for “The Paul Simon
Song Book” LP, the straw hat face shot for the “Paul Simon” LP and a live photo
of Simon on stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo before the credits for
“Graceland”. As fans will already know many of the early albums were remastered
in the 2000s by Ted Jensen and Vic Anesini – two names high on the list of
those looking for quality audiophile.
Produced
by STEVE BERKOWITZ and BILL INGLOT, the whole box is listed as being mastering
by VIC ANESINI at Sony Music Studios with input from two other giants in the field - GREG CALBI and DAN HERSCH. There are also a couple of pages at the
beginning by journalist ASHLEY KAHN on Simon's long and prestigious career. A nice touch is that each CD
is a picture disc (usually using the front cover artwork) and 37 Previously
Unreleased Bonus Tracks accompany the albums (two for the debut).
Recorded
in June and July 1965 with only 6 and 12-string guitars, the rarely heard debut
album "The Paul Simon Song Book" is a straight up Folk record (all songs written
by Simon, "He Was My Brother" credited to Paul Kane which is PS under a pseudonym). The Simon & Garfunkel debut LP "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." had
arrived October 1964 in the USA but not England and their second platter "Sounds
Of Silence" would not show Stateside until January 1966.
So
what you have here is the solo album in-between and technically the first official
album-length issue of Paul Simon material for fans in Blighty. The duplicated S&G
tracks are - "The Sound Of Silence", "Leaves That Are Green", "Kathy's
Song", "A Most Peculiar Man", "I Am A Rock", and "April Come She Will" – all of
which would then get US debuts in re-worked form on the second Simon &
Garfunkel album "Sounds Of Silence" issued in January 1966.
These
solo acoustic versions of classics like "I Am A Rock" and "The Sound Of
Silence" are all the more beautiful for their stripped down nature though some will save the addition of Garfunkel's vocals on the S&G takes makes them better. The remaster is seriously tasteful – the ever
so slight echo on his vocals for "A Church Is Burning" like he's inside a
chapel. While the impossibly pretty "April Comes She Will" sounds like some
Traditional Folk song that's come from decades prior (already a classic). His
wit is fabulous for "A Simple Desultory Philippic" and "...the man ain't got no
culture!" lyrics always make me smile.
Like
the Simon & Garfunkel debut album that preceded it "Wednesday Morning, 3
A.M." in late 1964, Paul Simon's summer 1965 acoustic debut is something of a
forgotten and abandoned luncheonette – always ignored in favour of the
undoubtedly better material to come.
But both have been a blast to listen to
again – the simple beauty – the melodies you've forgotten or simply never
heard.
Split
the night and in the naked silence, check out "The Paul Simon Song Book" once
more. Like its S&G predecessor with its blurb on the rear cover that promised newcomers exciting
new sounds in the Folk Tradition - "The Paul Simon Song Book" is too lovely to
leave in an underused box set...
