Track Listing

1. Kodachrome
2. Tenderness
3. Take Me to the Mardi Gras
4. Something So Right
5. One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor
6. American Tune
7. Was a Sunny Day
8. Learn How to Fall
9. St. Judy's Comet
10. Loves Me Like a Rock
11. Let Me Live In Your City
12. Take Me To The Mardi Gras (Acoustic Demo)
13. American Tune (Unfinished Demo)
14. Loves Me Like A Rock (Acoustic Demo)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4781 in Music
• Released on: 2004-07-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

CD Description
Building on the solid reputation of Simon & Garfunkel and the genre-exploring experiments of his solo debut, Paul Simonreleased this exceptional collection of songs in 1973. Simon seems to revel in his newfound solo freedom here, expanding his folk-rock palette to include gospel, reggae, R&B, and Dixieland, ratcheting up production values, and performing with great authority and confidence. That confidence is supported by some of the artist's finest and most focused compositions, including the jangly, exuberant "Kodachrome", a metaphor for the subjectivity of memory, the beautiful acoustic ballad "American Tune", and the gospel-derived "Love Me Like a Rock".
The Dixie Hummingbirds lend their exquisite harmonies to "Loves Me Like a Rock" [is it "love" or "loves"?] and "Tenderness", while Reverend Claude Jeter contributes a floating falsetto to "Take Me To the Mardi Gras" and the Muscle Shoals rhythms section provide occasional R&B muscle.
These guests add colour and texture to Simon's singer-songwriter format, marking a cultural journey that would culminate in 1986's GRACELAND. In fact, THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON is probably the artist's most consistent and satisfying solo album after GRACELAND--a sizable claim given the songwriter's impressive achievements through the '70s and '80s.

Customer Reviews

Genius Wenius
"There Goes...", despite the whimsical title, is an impressive collection of songs, at times stunning, at other times infectious and at other times moving.
On "American Tune" we have a contender for not only one of Paul Simon's best ever songs, but also a contender for surely the top 50 best songs written in the last 40 years. A chorale-like stateliness underpins a moving, thoughtful vocal that is a profound state of the nation address for its time.
"Something So Right" is a tender love song done with elegance and intelligence. "Loves Me Like A Rock" is infectious and "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" is authentic and charming.
"Tenderness" sounds like something Dion and the Belmonts might have pulled off.
An over-looked classic.

The Definition of Sublime
This album is heart warming and absolutely crammed full of melodic, interesting, uplifting and above all sublime SUBLIME songs. From the opener Kodachrome which is so catchy it's not even FUNNY (and whick works so well incidentallly with Garfunkel on Concert In Central Park), to the understated but very EMOTIONAL Tenderness, to the ecsquisite Mardi Gras which is not only incredibly ATMOSPHERIC but also is such a JOY to listen to, EVERY TIME...to the Another's Man Ceiling with its WACKY lyrics and again superlative melody...to American Tune, possibly on a par with Bridge Over TW as the all time GREATEST Paul Simon ballad, and Del Newman's strings are PERFECT, to Was A Sunny Day, GREAT DRIVING SONG when the sun is shining....to Learn How To Fall, thought-provoking lyrics and a great FEEL to it, St Judy's Comet is sublime and that lyric "if I can't sing my boy to sleep it makes yer famous Daddy look so dumb" so HONEST and....GREAT!!! Loves Me Like A Rock is possibly the HAPPIEST song EVER......and in case you're wondering... Something So Right is also excellent (MUCH better than its Work In Progress companion here!!)...it says something about an album if a song as good as Something So Right is my least favourite on the album!!!! Forget Compilations, downplay later achievements such as Graceland and Rhythm Of the Saints..IMPRESSIVE as they are....not to mention One Trick Pony and the mostly brilliant Hearts And Bones, THIS IS THE ALBUM which is the most consistently BRILLIANT and at the end of the day, together with its predecessor "Paul Simon" (1972), which is the album most played by me!!! Hard to find an album as enjoyable and rewarding as this....ANYWHERE!!!! The demo versions are interesting....but the real joy is in the original album....Paul Simon and his songwriting here are simply to MARVEL AT.....If you don't believe me, then I GIVE UP!!!! :-)

A forgotten gem
Finally available on CD - some of PS's best songs, pre-Graceland. Many of these appear on various Best Ofs, but it's still good to have them in the original form with some lesser-knwon beauties such as "One Man's Ceiling"