“We Can’t Be Forever Blessed”

Paul Simon’s sings his “American Tune,” written over 45 years ago; under our present circumstances, his incredibly touching performance makes it seem like it was written just yesterday.

Thanks to YouTuber soundofsimon

Sounds of Silence

Mr. Simon, 76 years old, in his last song at the last performance of his farewell tour 2018, Corona, Queens.

When Paul says, “Hello darkness, my old friend,” it’s totally believable.

Stay until the end. “Means more than you can know.”

Thas to YouTuber Josinho1989

Peace Like A River

Leave it to Josh Turner to unearth this Paul Simon gem. Josh’s guitar playing and vocals are so inspiring that I didn’t pay attention to Paul Simon’s amazing lyrics until the third time around.

More at Josh Turner Guitar

Dion: Song for Sam Cooke

Monday morning, Dion, now pushing 80 years old, sings “Here in America,” his moving tribute to Sam Cooke, with whom Dion toured. The harmonies by the unseen Paul Simon raise it to a whole other level.

More at Dion

Get Your Plane Right On Time

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It’s not enough that Josh Turner plays perfect guitar and the best Paul Simon covers you’ll ever hear, but the freakin’ guy actually does the Artie Garfunkel part for “Only Living Boy In New York” as well. Just amazing.

The reverb is courtesy of a tunnel in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. And stay tuned for the announcement after the song. Wish I could hop on a plane.

More at Josh Turner Guitar

Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

 

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Josh Turner and company with an audacious country/folk music take on the Paul Simon classic from the Graceland album that is every bit as good as the original.

More Josh Turner at Josh Turner Guitar

Simon and Simon

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In this rare live television performance, Paul Simon and his younger brother, Eddie Simon, play Davey Graham’s catchy guitar instrumental, “Anji.” Eddie, who looks remarkably like Paul, used to run the Guitar Study Center in New York City, and later he helped to manage some of Paul’s tours. He was also executive producer of some of the Simon and Garfunkel compilation albums. It’s fun to watch the two of them workout and exercise their chops on this one.

More at Simon and Garfunkel News

The Boxer–Interrupted By A Story

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Monday Morning, Brother Paul still La-La-Li-ing, even after fifty years since first writing and recording “The Boxer.”

I really enjoyed this live version documented in the clip above, filmed just two months ago, where Simon stops the song for a minute to tell a wonderful anecdote about an unlikely fan.

Thanks to YouTuber Rosie Tobin

Loves Me Like A Rock: Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and the Dixie Hummingbirds

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Monday, Paul grows from being a rock to being loved like one, while Stevie does a literal double take. The amazing Ira Tucker is the soloist for the Hummingbirds.

Thanks to YouTuber AZLiveVideo

Red Rubber Ball

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It’s Monday morning and your teen-age heart has had time to learn some profound teen-age lessons. . .

Written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers, and performed by a two-hit wonder, The Cyrkle (“Turn Down Day”). They opened for The Beatles in their final live performance.

“Time Is An Ocean”: Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades

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The short-lived original 1998 Broadway production of The Capeman had a beautiful score by Paul Simon and Derek Walcott. And it was sung superbly by two icons, Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades.

The video above was uploaded last month to YouTube by Blades himself. In this song, Ruben Blades plays the older Salvador Agron, the so-called Capeman murderer, looking back and trying to reach his younger, 16-year-old incarcerated self, played by Marc Anthony.

I hope that someday more video surfaces, as that show really needs to be re-evaluated. It was performed for a few times in the summer at Central Park’s outdoor Delacorte Theatre in 2012, but was not picked up for a longer run. If anyone is interested, I’ll tell a funny story concerning my viewing of that production.

Quality

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Monday, the singing teen-agers on the corner wake you up at 4:00 in the morning.

In 1996, Paul Simon, along with Derek Walcott, wrote the music and book for the Broadway play, Capeman,. The critics killed the show, unfairly in my opinion, but the songs are some of Simon’s best work. The play took place in 1950s New York City, and the music was an amalgamation of doo-wop and salsa. This song was one of the decidedly doo-wop influenced songs.

Click on the video to play

Thanks to YouTuber nostalgicdoowop