Paul Simon

March 15, 2018
Searching biography of the renowned songwriter, well known for his melancholic songs and competitive, perfectionist nature.The former longtime critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn (Johnny Cash: The Life, 2013, etc.) ranks high in the firmament of writers on popular music, a fitting match for a subject who himself is very nearly--but perhaps not quite--the equal of Lennon, McCartney, and Dylan, on all of whom Paul Simon (b. 1941) modeled himself. "They wouldn't settle for just good," said Simon of the famous competitiveness between Lennon and McCartney. "That was me, too." In public high school in New York, he teamed, fatefully, with the pure-voiced Art Garfunkel, who would be both his sounding board and his bète noire for decades to come, the subject of constant tension and the agent of transcendent musical moments. When, after several years of constant hit-making, Garfunkel took an interest in acting, the duo began to drift apart. However, writes the author, the story is a touch more complicated, for Mike Nichols offered Simon a part in Catch-22 as well only for it to wind up being cut before the film was shot. Former spouse Carrie Fisher recalls the difficulties that ensued when her own star rose as a result of the Star Wars films, when leaving him to go off and film led Simon to think of the job as "being more important to me than he was." The gossipy stuff is all nicely juicy, especially as concerns Garfunkel, with whom, it would appear, Simon will never really make peace. But what are more important are the music and Simon's contributions to popular culture through his songs; it's telling, in that regard, that Simon took Elvis Presley's death to be a warning about "the danger of not making music your top priority." Throughout a career that stretches back seven decades, Simon has clearly never forgotten where his priorities lie.With train-wreck moments and tender interludes alike, a book that delivers a sharply detailed Kodachrome of a brilliant musician.

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Starred review from April 9, 2018
Music critic Hilburn (Johnny Cash: The Life) delivers an energetic and elegant biography of American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Drawing on interviews with Simon and his family and friends—including ex-wives Carrie Fisher and Peggy Harper—Hilburn exhaustively narrates Simon’s life, from his discovery of pop music in the 1950s via disc jockey Alan Freed to Simon and Art Garfunkel’s success and contentious relationship (“Artie knew Paul wrote the songs and thus controlled the future of the pair,” according to manager Mort Lewis) and Simon’s successful solo career. Hilburn describes Simon’s artistry: his “songwriting would begin with the music... then he’d try to figure out how to express what he was feeling in words.” Though Simon often came across as controlling in the studio, according to Hilburn, he was very respectful of other musicians and their time and work, and was generous toward other musicians (he wrote a check to Claude Jeter in gratitude for Jeter’s gospel singing, which inspired “Bridge over Troubled Water”). Hilburn’s brilliant and entertaining portrait of Simon will likely be the definitive biography. Agent: Luke Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit.

April 15, 2018

For almost six decades, Paul Simon has been a pioneer of American songwriting, with a career that spans the folk-rock of Simon and Garfunkel to sophisticated Seventies pop and to the South African sounds of Graceland, all while writing some of the strongest lyrics in the rock canon. Journalist and writer Hilburn's (Johnny Cash: The Life) life of Simon is immediately essential as he interviewed Simon himself over the course of dozens of hours, something the singer has never before granted to biographers. Along with dozens of other interviews with Simon associates as well as sourced material, Hilburn chronicles Simon's early days in Queens, NY; his complicated relationship with Art Garfunkel, the extraordinary musical and cultural journey that led to Graceland and its reception, his occasional career setbacks, and ultimately his most recent work that still demonstrates the powers of a visionary artist. Hilburn documents the recording of specific albums, provides insights and analysis of the writing and lyrics of individual songs, and touches on Simon's personal life and family, all including the musician's own reflections. VERDICT As Simon prepares to bid farewell to touring later this year, Hilburn's well-researched book will be vital reading for his fans and to devotees of popular music of the past 50 years. [See Prepub Alert, 11/27/17.]--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

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