Here is the first comprehensive biography of one of the primal forces in Sixties rock. Paul Simon has been a major component of folk-rock, rock and roll, African, Salsa, Brazilian, New York City street, and even Broadway music. With his on-and-off partner, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon has left his unique, and uniquely New York, indelible mark on the music of the Boomer generation.
1. By far, this book has the most detailed account of Paul Simon (and Art Garfunkel's) childhood in Queens, his relationship with his father, and how he first became interested in music.
2. There are never-before included details, with sources by some of the most popular names of the day, including the great Lou Christie, that reveal the details of Paul's struggle to make it as a singer-songwriter between his Tom and Jerry and his Simon and Garfunkel periods.
3. Interviews and details with Paul's time with the Classics, one of the least-known periods of Paul's life.
4. The most detailed recounting of Paul's time in England, his relationship with Kathy Chitty (of "Kathy's Song"), his British influences and how he made it back to America. Exclusive British sources including some of England's best rock critics, headed by the legendary Chris Charlesworth.
5. New and intricate details of how "The Sounds Of Silence" was remixed while Paul was in London and became a hit single.
6. In-depth exploration of the tangled and complex relationship between Paul and Artie; their many break-ups, their reunions, and how it was all reflected in the music.
7. Extensive details of each of Paul's three marriages.
8. Absolutely the best, most comprehensive reporting on the entire saga of The Capeman.
9. Personal details, with interviews, of Paul's life away from music.
10. A fully detailed review of Paul's involvement with the Monterey Festival.
11. A full accounting of the label switch from Columbia to Warner, with never-before heard quotes, and enormous details.
12. Dozens of exclusive photos, many of which have never been seen before.
Industry Reviews
"If Dylan was the undisputed poet of the sixties, Paul was its resident diarist" offers Eliot (American Rebel), biographer of cultural icons, as he turns his spotlight on Simon. While younger audiences may know him mostly as a solo artist, fans of Simon & Garfunkel will appreciate the attention Eliot gives to the early years. A child of musicians, Simon began singing with Garfunkel as a young man; the two have performed together, off and on, for most of their lives, and Eliot details their numerous songs, concerts, and breakups while never neglecting Simon's private life. Readers will lean about the music industry, the inspiration behind many of Simon's songs, and his musical friends and rivals as Eliot follows Simon from schoolboy to musical innovator. From efforts that came before "The Sounds of Silence" to the failed stage production of The Capeman and beyond, Eliot almost obsessively chronicles aspects of every song with prose that is smooth and lively, if at times slipping toward purple. Fans of any era of Simon's long career will appreciate the attention to detail. ( Publishers Weekly , November 8, 2010) "Were Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel lovers? No, but Marc Eliot's serviceable biography of the duo's more prolific, more successful, shorter half gets kudos for raising that question about two folk superstars who loved the sound of bickering more than the sound of silence. "'Several of the songs on [the album "Bridge Over Troubled Water"] explicitly point the accusatory finger of abandonment at Artie,' writes Eliot, who has also published books about the Eagles and Bruce Springsteen. 'To some, the finished album had a whiff of homoeroticism about it, as much of it seemed to be about the romantic breakup of a couple.' But if Garfunkel spent too much time away from music dabbling in film, perhaps it was only because Simon had been trying to go solo since at least 1957, when as teenagers the pair scored the hit 'Hey Schoolgirl' under the pseudonyms 'Tom & Jerry.' "Simon, of course, got the last laugh, composing and writing the quintuple-platinum masterpiece 'Graceland' (1986) not long after Garfunkel's acting career had gone from 'Catch-22' to B-movies like 'Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession.' "Eliot is less than convincing when he criticizes 'the sociopolitically correct media lions forever waiting for celebrities at the arrival gates of every politically incorrect airport' who dared question Simon's decision to write 'Graceland' in apartheid South Africa. But the author does pin down the source of his subject's notorious crankiness: 'Paul was, and always would be, self-conscious about his height.' Maybe all it takes to sell 5 million records is a robust Napoleon complex and a tall partner." (Washington Post Review) If Dylan was the undisputed poet of the sixties, Paul was its resident diarist" offers Eliot (American Rebel), biographer of cultural icons, as he turns his spotlight on Simon. While younger audiences may know him mostly as a solo artist, fans of Simon & Garfunkel will appreciate the attention Eliot gives to the early years. A child of musicians, Simon began singing with Garfunkel as a young man; the two have performed together, off and on, for most of their lives, and Eliot details their numerous songs, concerts, and breakups while never neglecting Simon's private life. Readers will lean about the music industry, the inspiration behind many of Simon's songs, and his musical friends and rivals as Eliot follows Simon from schoolboy to musical innovator. From efforts that came before "The Sounds of Silence" to the failed stage production of The Capeman and beyond, Eliot almost obsessively chronicles aspects of every song with prose that is smooth and lively, if at times slipping toward purple. Fans of any era of Simon's long career will appreciate the attention to detail. ( Publishers Weekly Review , October 2010)"
