Still Crazy After All These Years

I've recently been lucky enough to be involved in a new band project with a very good songwriter, whose musical influences run deep. Along with the wealth of original material, we've been working up a few select covers that compliment the original stuff. Usually the process is the opposite; figuring out where to pop in your original songs amidst the chaotic mess of various cover tunes, which often have little relevance to each other.

An early 60's promo shot of Artie & Paul.

When choosing which songs to cover, there are always some that might be good for the band, but turn out to be a lot more work than anticipated and wind up sounding either forced, tentative, or sloppy. There are others that you may feel very passionate about because the song means something special to you, but for one reason or another, the band just doesn't sound good playing it. The only solution to that is to park the song and let it go, although that's not easy. But, if you're lucky and have a good sense of where your original material lives, you will find songs that seem to fall right into your lap. In our case, the first one was Paul Simon's "Something So Right" from his 1973 album, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon".

It got me thinking about Simon's extensive and eclectic body of work. Paul Simon was a sophisticated writer and arranger even at a young age. Even the earliest Simon & Garfunkel songs are far more advanced than the work of most of their musical peers of the day. In many ways, I remember them as the collegiate musical darlings of their time because that's the audience I observed being their most enthusiastic fans. They were also very popular with those who had been Folk fans during its golden era in the early 60's, but had their party disrupted by the British Invasion.

But as I was saying, Simon, like Joni Mitchell, was writing way above the level of his contemporaries, and continued to do so as the 60's collapsed with a weary, stoned sigh into the 70's. By mid-decade, Paul Simon had established himself as a solo artist to be reckoned with. Using popular media vehicles like "Saturday Night Live", which was as hip as it got in those days, Simon endeared himself to a newly broadened audience. By the time Simon released "Still Crazy After All These Years" in 1975, he could do no wrong on the Pop charts, but his records still held enough musically interesting challenges that no one ever accused him of selling out.

Here's an interesting video clip of Simon during an appearance on Dick Cavett's show, presenting "Still Crazy After All These Years" in very rough draft form. The middle bridge section had not even been written yet! I can't imagine any currently popular musician going onto a national talk show and playing an unfinished new song. I would guess that it's just not possible, what with all the gear they'd have to schlep along with them. Such were the times.

Some time later, when the song was completed and the album had been released, Simon again performed "Still Crazy..." on national television. This time, it was on "Saturday Night Live". It was near Thanksgiving and as a joke, Simon sang the song while, reluctantly, wearing a turkey costume. The video clip of this performance appears to have been removed from YouTube. I'm not terribly surprised.

One thing I really enjoy about researching new material for this blog is the unexpected discovery of talented performers whose work I was not aware of. Such is the case with The Shadowboxers, hailing from Atlanta, Ga. This is no plastic teenybopper boy band. These guys are ALL about the vocals. They also have a genuine, soulful sound and aren't shy about using a horn section where needed. It's so refreshing to hear a new band that can really sing and play their own instruments well. As one reviewer wrote about their album "Red Room", "This CD is an absolute winner. Moving vocals with beautiful harmonies go hand-in-hand with accomplished musicianship. The album almost seems like it should be from a more seasoned group that has honed their craft for a decade or two." Every other review seems to correlate those sentiments.

You can hear more of The Shadowboxers on a fine session they did for Daytrotter. They've also demonstrated their fondness for the songs and musicians that influenced them by posting a series of cover videos on their YouTube channel. Here's The Shadowboxers with their arrangement of "Still Crazy After All These Years". I'm sure Paul Simon would be very pleased to hear this.

While you can certainly find The Shadowboxers music on Amazon, I will recommend that you visit their website, where you can find the "Red Room" album in assorted configurations. Yes, that means there's vinyl. When you buy direct from the artist, they get paid for their work, which allows them to keep making music for all of us to enjoy. Please join us in supporting independent musicians.

Of course, you can also find the entire musical catalog of Paul Simon at Amazon, along with the complete recordings of Simon & Garfunkel, which are a must for any self-respecting music library.