Paul Simon's Graceland (33 1/3 Africa) by Kalvin Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh
Many thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for sharing
an advanced copy of one of the latest entries into the 33 1/3 series. As the
series has expanded to focus on music from different regions of the world, this
entry is from the Africa series and focuses on Paul Simon’s Graceland. Although
the album is by a famed American musician, Paul Simon, Graceland remains
an iconic and celebratory album for featuring many African and specifically
South African musicians who were not well known to many American audiences due
to the restrictions imposed on South Africa’s apartheid government and the not-yet
invented genre of “world music”. In fact, as author Kalvin Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh
examines the album, Graceland was largely responsible for helping to
popularize this genre that incorporated music from other countries, which often
featured traditional instruments, cultural melodies and rhythms, and lyrics
frequently song in languages other than English. Although Graceland is often
celebrated as a landmark album, Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh explores some of the
questionable practices that Simon engaged in to take full writing credits and
denying royalties to many of the musicians who collaborated on the album and
were integral to shaping the sound. As a result, Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh provides
a critical analysis of the creation and content of the album, providing readers
(and listeners) with a well-rounded view of the plaudits and problems with this
iconic 80s album.
While I’m not a huge Paul Simon fan, I do remember this
album and having a copy of the cassette that I obtained from the Columbia House
Record Club (a penny for 12 tapes). The album wasn’t one of my favorites from
that collection, but I loved “You Can Call Me Al” and many of the songs were
unlike other music that I was familiar with. Just as Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh
explains, this album was much different from Simon’s other music and much of
the music that was popular during the 1980s. However, Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh
provides some examples of Simon’s own forays into genre music, with a reggae themed
album in the early 1970s that enlisted Jimmy Cliff’s band and resulted in a hit
song “Mother and Child Reunion”. I enjoyed learning that Simon struggled with
adapting to the rhythms of reggae and seemed challenged by the Jamaican
musicians he worked with. While it shows that Simon was exploratory and
experimental, it also possibly demonstrates his potential to appropriate music
from other cultures to sell records, a charge that Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh revisits
in the later chapters of the book after Graceland’s release.
In addition, I didn’t know that Paul Simon was married to
Carrie Fisher, and that Graceland was the album that followed his
divorce from the actress. As Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh mentions, the divorce left Simon
rather dejected and depressed, and it was through a friend sending him some
zydeco and accordion music that piqued Simon’s interest in the music of South
Africa. While Simon sought to learn more about the music of South Africa, it’s
important to remember that artists were largely not allowed to perform there due
to its apartheid system of government. In fact, many businesses also boycotted
South Africa, so Simon had to figure out how to work with these musicians. In
any event, he was able to establish a diverse group of musicians not just from
South Africa, but from other African nations who were able to contribute to the
sound of the album.
Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh then goes to explore the album’s tracks
and analyze the lyrical and musical content. I appreciated this analysis as Schmidt-Rimpler
Dinh takes the time to not just examine the lyrical content (despite not having
copyright access to the lyrics), but also the rhythms, melodies, and other
musical components of the tracks to provide an in depth and detailed analysis
of the music. Furthermore, Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh also analyzes the cover art
work, which is a 15th century image of Saint George, from Ethiopia. Schmidt-Rimpler
Dinh explores the significance of this choice to represent an Ethiopian artist
on the cover, but also a Christian saint who is largely represented and
symbolic for many different cultures and countries, providing a kind of global
appeal to many different audiences.
While Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh explores the cultural
significance of the album, he also notes the controversy in the album as its
recording process violated the boycott of working in South Africa, although
Simon claimed he was supporting and working with the artists and not the
government. What was more troubling, though, was that Simon selectively shared
songwriting credits on some of the tracks, but kept sole writing credits for
most of the songs on the album. This caused some friction with some of the
musicians who claimed that their music and compositions largely crafted the
sound and lyrical content of the songs, as Simon would often pen lyrics after
the music was finished. In particular, Los Lobos, who didn’t perform on the
album, claimed that they worked in the studio to generate ideas, but were
ultimately not included in the final recording; however, part of their music
was used in one of the songs, which resulted in some hard feelings for the
band. It’s hard to imagine that Los Lobos, who were not well known at the time,
would challenge a major artist like Paul Simon, but Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh’s
reporting shows how Simon used the large record company system to his benefit to
create this album. It left me somewhat cynical about this album; while I
recognize its importance in widening the scope and sound of world artists, helping
to usher in and bring attention to artists from different cultures and
countries, it does seem like Simon took advantage of the system that rewards
famous artists and didn’t necessarily compensate the artists he collaborated with
appropriately. While Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh notes that many of the artists were
able to tour with Simon and eventually establish recording contracts and tours
of their own, it still seems like they were largely left out of the benefits
from a culturally significant album like Graceland.
I enjoyed reading this entry into the 33 1/3 series, and
Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh’s analysis of all facets of the album- from composition to
rhythm and lyrics and its controversies- helped me appreciate and re-evaluate
the album. Recommended!
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