The Vinyl Project: Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon (1975)
A Trip Thru Your Grooves - Episode 8
Release Date: 25-October-1975
Genre: Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Producer: Paul Simon, Phil Ramone
Label: Columbia Records
Time: 36m 25s
Review Date: 16-November-2018
Format: LP
Side One
Release Date: 25-October-1975
Genre: Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Producer: Paul Simon, Phil Ramone
Label: Columbia Records
Time: 36m 25s
Review Date: 16-November-2018
Format: LP
Side One
- Still Crazy After All These Years
- My Little Town
- I Do It For Your Love
- 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
- Night Game
Side Two
- Gone at Last
- Some Folks Lives Roll Easy
- Have a Good Time
- Your Kind
- Silent Eyes
Review: One thing you'll see as I go through a review of my record collection is that I own a lot of music that was released in 1975. Not only was it a great year for music, but in 1975, Saturday Night Live launched, and it was my first exposure to a lot of music I had not heard previously.
Of course, everyone knew Paul Simon as the lead singer and songwriter of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, and the second episode of season one of SNL is devoted entirely to Simon. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you find it and spend an hour ingesting it. Not just for the music, but to see how much SNL has changed in the 43 years since its debut. Simon performs a number of songs from Still Crazy in that episode.
Additionally, Simon & Garfunkel had a bit of a reunion on this LP with My Little Town, a song which really drew me in lyrically when I was an awkward pre-teen trying to find my own identity in a hometown where everybody I knew seemed smarter, stronger, and more beautiful than me.
"Savin' my money, dreamin' of glory." Youthful innocence is often obscured when you feel like you just don't fit in with any one group of friends. No one trick pony, I was a nerd with straight A's who loved sports and wore my hair long enough to be labeled a burnout, yet found no comfort in the construct of any of those middle school cliques. I liked a lot of girls but was always too shy to attempt to wander outside the secure walls of the friend zone with any that I found the courage to converse with. "In my little town I never meant nothing I was just my father's son."
(Pre-teen me in 1975, striking an awkward, Simon-esque pose)
The big hit on this album is 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and I remember it playing on the radio all summer long, with my parents and many of my relatives singing along and laughing like they understood the meaning to some inside joke. When Still Crazy was released, Simon was still at the relatively young age of 33, and even though he had been making music for a large audience for over a decade, he continued to maintain his versatility as a songwriter over the course of these ten tracks. Simon had, in fact, just separated from his first wife, so 50 Ways is likely autobiographical.
Simon conveys that vibe throughout the album. The overall sound is somber and leans heavily on nervous depression, often utilizing volatile and delicate instrumentation on a number of tracks that deal with lost love, despair, and just getting through life. Even the upbeat Gone at Last delivers a decidedly funereal message. Phoebe Snow shares lead vocals with Simon on this track and the Jessy Dixon Singers provide guest vocals for the gospel-themed song.
The title track and the album's deeper cuts provide a raw and emotional glimpse into Simon at the time that is enough to make this LP a true front-to-backer. Pop enthusiasts will find there is just enough of an upbeat sound to endear a few of its singles to true mainstream listening. Simon garnered his second Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1976 with this release.
Best Songs: Still Crazy After All These Years, My Little Town, Gone at Last, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Have a Good Time
A Deep Cut You'll Love: You're Kind
An interesting note about this album: In Simon's acceptance speech in 1976 for the Album of the Year award, he jokingly thanked Stevie Wonder -- who had won the award the two previous years for the albums Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale -- for not releasing an album that year. Coincidentally, Wonder won the award again in 1977 for his double-album release Songs in the Key of Life.
Hey.... buy me an album from my wish list in the left sidebar and I'll review it! I thank you kindly in advance.
Of course, everyone knew Paul Simon as the lead singer and songwriter of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, and the second episode of season one of SNL is devoted entirely to Simon. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you find it and spend an hour ingesting it. Not just for the music, but to see how much SNL has changed in the 43 years since its debut. Simon performs a number of songs from Still Crazy in that episode.
Additionally, Simon & Garfunkel had a bit of a reunion on this LP with My Little Town, a song which really drew me in lyrically when I was an awkward pre-teen trying to find my own identity in a hometown where everybody I knew seemed smarter, stronger, and more beautiful than me.
"Savin' my money, dreamin' of glory." Youthful innocence is often obscured when you feel like you just don't fit in with any one group of friends. No one trick pony, I was a nerd with straight A's who loved sports and wore my hair long enough to be labeled a burnout, yet found no comfort in the construct of any of those middle school cliques. I liked a lot of girls but was always too shy to attempt to wander outside the secure walls of the friend zone with any that I found the courage to converse with. "In my little town I never meant nothing I was just my father's son."
(Pre-teen me in 1975, striking an awkward, Simon-esque pose)
The big hit on this album is 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and I remember it playing on the radio all summer long, with my parents and many of my relatives singing along and laughing like they understood the meaning to some inside joke. When Still Crazy was released, Simon was still at the relatively young age of 33, and even though he had been making music for a large audience for over a decade, he continued to maintain his versatility as a songwriter over the course of these ten tracks. Simon had, in fact, just separated from his first wife, so 50 Ways is likely autobiographical.
Simon conveys that vibe throughout the album. The overall sound is somber and leans heavily on nervous depression, often utilizing volatile and delicate instrumentation on a number of tracks that deal with lost love, despair, and just getting through life. Even the upbeat Gone at Last delivers a decidedly funereal message. Phoebe Snow shares lead vocals with Simon on this track and the Jessy Dixon Singers provide guest vocals for the gospel-themed song.
The title track and the album's deeper cuts provide a raw and emotional glimpse into Simon at the time that is enough to make this LP a true front-to-backer. Pop enthusiasts will find there is just enough of an upbeat sound to endear a few of its singles to true mainstream listening. Simon garnered his second Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1976 with this release.
Best Songs: Still Crazy After All These Years, My Little Town, Gone at Last, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Have a Good Time
A Deep Cut You'll Love: You're Kind
An interesting note about this album: In Simon's acceptance speech in 1976 for the Album of the Year award, he jokingly thanked Stevie Wonder -- who had won the award the two previous years for the albums Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale -- for not releasing an album that year. Coincidentally, Wonder won the award again in 1977 for his double-album release Songs in the Key of Life.
- Previous Review: The Pretenders Self-Titled Debut (1980)
- Up Next: Vol. 1 by the Traveling Wilburys (1988)
Hey.... buy me an album from my wish list in the left sidebar and I'll review it! I thank you kindly in advance.
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