Information AboutPaul Simon |
This article is about the musician; for other Paul Simons, see Paul Simon (disambiguation) . Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13 1941 in Newark Heights , New Jersey ) is an American Singer-songwriter , who received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. He is best known as half of the folk-singing duo Simon And Garfunkel . Simon has been married three times. His first was to slightly older Peggy Harper ("Train in the Distance" from Simon's 1983 album ''Hearts and Bones'', is about her), whom he married in late autumn 1969. They had a son, Simon's first child, in 1972 . They Divorce d in 1975 , though on good terms. His second marriage was to Carrie Fisher , whom he proposed to after a Yankees game. They were married on August 16 1983 for a period of just eleven months, during which time she miscarried their child. Simon's current wife is Edie Brickell whom he wed on May 30 1992 . Their first child together, Adrian, was born by the end of the year. By summer 2001, they had two more children, Loulou (Simon's first daughter), and Gabriel. His first son, Harper Simon, is a Guitar ist, his second son Adrian (thirteen years now) has his own band named 'Lopside Up' since 2005. EARLY LIFE AND CAREER Born into a Jew ish family in Queens , Simon's musical career began in Forest Hills High School when he and his friend Art Garfunkel began singing together as a duo, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers , whom they often emulated and/or imitated in their early recordings. Simon and Garfunkel called themselves "Tom & Jerry", and it was under this name that the duo first had success. In 1957 , they recorded the single "Hey, Schoolgirl", on Big Records which reached forty-nine on the pop charts while they were still in their late teens. After graduating from high school, Simon attended and graduated from Queens College , while Garfunkel studied at Columbia University in Manhattan . Simon was a Brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Though Simon earned a degree in English Literature , his real passion was Rock And Roll . Between 1957 and 1964 , Simon wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song", "That's My Story", and "Surrender, Please Surrender", among others. He also briefly attended Brooklyn Law School . Most of the songs Simon would record over the six years after 1957, however, would be performed either alone or with musicians other than Garfunkel. These were released on a multitude of minor record labels, such as Amy, ABC-Paramount, Big, Hunt, Ember, King, Tribute, and Madison. He used several different pseudonyms for these recordings, including Jerry Landis, Paul Kane (from Orson Welles 's film '' Citizen Kane ''), and True Taylor. Simon enjoyed some mediocre success in recording a few singles under the pseudonym Tico as part of a group called Tico and the Triumphs. He wrote the song "Motorcycle", which was recorded by Tico and the Triumphs and reached ninety-nine on the '' Billboard '' charts in 1962. That same year, he reached ninety-seven on the pop charts as Jerry Landis with the hit "The Lone Teen Ranger"; both singles were released on Amy Records. During this period, Simon met Carole King , with whom he recorded several unreleased demos as a duo called The Cosine s to be recorded and released by other groups. In addition, Simon's experience in the studio led him to produce many singles for other acts, including The Vels, Ritchie Cordell, The Fashions, Jay Walker, and the Pedestrians, and Dougie and the Dubs. It was also at this time that he became attracted to the New York Folk Music scene and made his first forays into the folk-rock genre, as is evidenced in the songs "Carlos Dominguez" and "He Was My Brother" (1963). SIMON AND GARFUNKEL In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records , whose executives were impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel", which, according to Simon, was the first time that ethnic names (both Simon and Garfunkel are of Jewish descent) were used in pop music . Simon and Garfunkel's first LP, '' Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. '', released on 19 October 1964 , consisted of a set of twelve songs in the folk vein, five of them written by Simon. The album initially flopped, but radio stations on the east coast of the USA began receiving requests for one of Simon's songs on the LP called " The Sound Of Silence ". Simon & Garfunkel's producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed the track with Electric Guitar , Bass , and Drum s, and released it as a single that eventually went to number one on the pop charts in the United States. Simon had gone to England after the initial failure of ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'', and pursued a solo career there, releasing the album '' The Paul Simon Song Book '' in the United Kingdom in 1965, but he returned to the USA to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sound of Silence" began to enjoy commercial success. Together they recorded several influential albums, including 1966's '' Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme '', '' Bookends '', and '' Bridge Over Troubled Water '' (1970). Simon and Garfunkel also contributed exclusively to the soundtrack of the 1967 film '' The Graduate '' (starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft ). They recorded an early version of "Mrs. Robinson" not intended for the film (The song was originally titled Mrs. Roosevelt, about the good old days of Eleanor Roosevelt and Joe Dimaggio . Reportedly, when director Mike Nichols heard the song, he told Paul "It's Mrs. Robinson now"). Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their very popular album ''Bridge over Troubled Water''. Occasionally, he and Garfunkel would reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town". In 1981, they reunited for the famous Concert In Central Park , followed by an aborted reunion album ''Think Too Much'', which was eventually released (sans Garfunkel) as ''Hearts and Bones''. Together, they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990. In 2003, the two reunited again when they received Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . This reunion led to a U.S .tour, the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series, followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome . That final concert drew 600,000 people — 100,000 more than had attended Paul McCartney 's concert at the same venue a year earlier. SOLO CAREER Simon is a prolific songwriter and his output has been of the highest calibre. After Simon and Garfunkel split in 1970, Simon began to write and record solo material. He released '' Paul Simon '' in 1972, and '' There Goes Rhymin' Simon '' in 1973, which featured such popular hit songs as "Something So Right" and " Kodachrome ". He continued to record remarkable material during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 he released the immensely popular '' Graceland '', for which he won a Grammy. The album featured the groundbreaking use of African rhythms and performers such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo . In 1990, he followed up ''Graceland'' with the commercially successful and consistent successor album '' The Rhythm Of The Saints '', which featured Brazillian and Cajun musical themes. These albums helped to popularize World Music as a genre. His most recent work was the studio album ''You're the One'', which disappointed fans expecting more of the musical adventurousness found on his previous two albums. A live CD of the same title, recorded in Paris , was released in 2000. It is also available on DVD . Simon's new album called ''Surprise'', produced by Brian Eno and Paul, is coming out on May 9 2006 . During the mid-1960s, Simon co-wrote the song "Red Rubber Ball" with Bruce Woodley of the Australia n pop group The Seekers . When the American group The Cyrkle recorded a cover of the song, it reached number two in the US. 2004 reissues In 2004, Simon's record company announced the release of expanded editions of each of his solo albums, individually and together in a limited-edition nine-disc boxed set, ''Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972–2000''. The expanded individual albums feature a total of thirty bonus tracks, including original song demos, live recordings, duets, six never-before-released songs, and outtakes from each of his nine solo albums. Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time in 2000 for his achievements as a solo artist. ACTING CAREER Simon has also dabbled in acting. He played music producer Tony Lacey in the 1977 Woody Allen film '' Annie Hall '', and wrote and starred in 1980 's '' One Trick Pony '' as Jonah Levin, a Journeyman rock and roller. Paul Simon also appeared on The Muppet Show . In the late 1990s , he also wrote and produced a Broadway Musical called ''The Capeman'', which was a commercial flop, and lost $11 million. He has also appeared frequently on Saturday Night Live . SAMPLES
DISCOGRAPHY (AS SIMON AND GARFUNKEL)
DISCOGRAPHY (AS PAUL SIMON)
SINGLES {Link without Title} as True Taylor {Link without Title} as Jerry Landis {Link without Title} recorded on Laurie Records as a member of The Mystics {Link without Title} recorded as Tico & The Triumphs with Mickey Borack, Marty Cooper, Gail Lynn and Howie Beck. {Link without Title} as Jerry Landis, but recorded with the members of Tico & the Triumphs. {Link without Title} backing vocals on this record by Ritchie Cordell {Link without Title} as Paul Kane {Link without Title} released only in the UK as CBS 201797 {Link without Title} A-side with The Dixie Hummingbirds {Link without Title} A-side as a duet with Phoebe Snow {Link without Title} A-side with The Oak Ridge Boys {Link without Title} released only in the UK NB: This discography does not include singles released under the pseudonym "Tom & Jerry" with Art Garfunkel or singles released by Simon & Garfunkel WORK ON BROADWAY
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