It's New to Me: There Goes Rhymin' Simon by Paul Simon (1973)

Illustration titled "Two Indians Outside a Tent, Spearing Giant-Size Bug" by George Hunt, c. 1880

I've long held the opinion that, with the exception of Graceland, Paul Simon's solo records simply don't stand up to those of Simon & Garfunkel. I've been listening to the 2004 reissues of the early '70s Simon records this year - my sister was nice enough to send me a couple of them for my birthday (Hi Gwyn!) I haven't really doubled back on my original hypothesis, in that the Simon albums from this period have great singles that tower over the other album tracks, but there's some other interesting stuff going on with these records that I've enjoyed exploring.

The remarkable thing about 1973's There Goes Rhymin' Simon is how little I enjoy its first half - the album starts with the first-rate single "Kodachrome", but the four other songs on the album's first side really rub me the wrong way. I appreciate Simon's interest in gospel, soul, and dixieland, but there's something that irritates me in how he tries to incorporate them into these songs. The album's second track, "Tenderness", features backing vocals from the Dixie Hummingbirds, but something about it brings to mind the unfortunate image of Bing Crosby in blackface from 1942's Holiday Inn. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" doesn't bother me quite as much, but Rev. Claude Jeter's brief guest vocal seems a little tokenistic. The other two tracks, "Something So Right" and "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor", are just boring.

Interestingly, the second side of There Goes Rhymin' Simon is a mirror of the first, but everything works much better - for me, this sequence of five songs is mostly perfect. It doesn't hurt that it starts with "American Tune", my favorite Paul Simon song. But the other songs are a cut above as well - "Was a Sunny Day" really should bother me more than it does because it features Simon doing some kind of clipped pidgin delivery (is there a name for that?), but it's got an infectious melody and light, fun feel. "Learn How to Fall" has some of my favorite Simon guitar work on the album, and it shows that '70s-style horn flourishes can be used to good effect. "St. Judy's Comet" is a cute lullaby, and the album ends with "Loves Me Like a Rock", where the Dixie Hummingbirds are given better material to work with, and their contribution seems more unified with what Simon is doing on the track.

Sometimes I am mystified by artists' sequencing choices - why did Simon choose to backload There Goes Rhymin' Simon so heavily? I have wondered whether my listening experience is more about me becoming used to the album's sound as it goes on, but I'm actually pretty sure that the songs on the first side are just weak ("Kodachrome" excepted). More than anything, these songs make me want to listen to Graceland, as it's the Paul Simon album that doesn't contain a single cringe-inducing moment.

"Learn How to Fall" by Paul Simon