A few weeks ago I went with Nancy to see Paul Simon on his This is My Last Big Tour tour. It was a fine show as these elegiac events tend to be. I've made it a kind of bucket list to see as many of the performers and songwriters that informed my musical sensibilities as I can before they or I fade from view. Certain shows were somewhat prophetic; the Eagles before Glenn Frey died, Neil Diamond before Parkinson's, Fleetwood Mac with all its members together. Others never were; we had tickets to see Al Jarreau, but he died before the show could take place.
As a songwriter and recording artist with a fair sized catalog-though I don't pretend to be in their league-I tend to see them over the length of their careers and note the changes along the way. I also wonder if, as has been wondered after the end of the gloried Tin Pan days, if, like then, we aren't reaching the end of a particular period of musical creativity that permeated the greater public consciousness.
The 60's, 70's, and 80's were a prolific period for singer-songwriters across all genres of which Paul Simon is a shining example. From the folk inflected songs he wrote in the 60's for Simon and Garfunkel, through the R&B, gospel and soul sounds of his 70's solo records to the world music inflections of his albums of the 80's, Simon mined the sounds he heard over his life and produced a treasure trove of songs that are now part of the American songbook. The irony with Simon is the wake that followed him through these permutations of songcraft, whether is was grousing about his being a faux folkie or an appropriator of black music styles, whether American or World based. There is the counter argument about how he brought otherwise obscure, at least to the broader public, voices to greater acclaim.
As I said above, I wonder if there are any Simons in our future. Songs today that are as popular as his were in his day are the product of collaboration between many writers and tend to be emblematic of the particular sonic qualities inherent in modern computer based production. How many of these songs will be sung by many for many years to come? Will they be sung to old folks by old folks in forty or fifty years? Will Kanye or Kendrick Lamar be someday as Simon is today? Is Rap something others cover? I assume so; why wouldn't they?
It makes me wonder.
This Week's Song. For fun, this week's songs isn't from any album, but is a short song I wrote for a dance solo Nancy and I did late last summer called With a Man (Who Loves to Dance). It's written for a Foxtrot and I was inspired by Peggy Lee when I wrote it. Nancy sings lead. You can hear it at mrprimitivemusic.com
©2018 David William Pearce
