Ii, a tape of township jive music popular with south african blacks, simon traveled to johannesburg in 1985 to investigate. And lorne played a couple of songs for me and then told me, pauls unhappy with this first video. More than any other music, those 11 tracks transport me back to our rickety volkswagen bus. The tape intrigued simon, and his interest led him to south africa, despite apartheid, to learn more about the music and to.
To get the sounds he heard on the bootleg accordion jive tape, he knew he. In search of inspiration, simon began listening to south african music, spurred on by a cassette called gumboots. She had been listening to it for months and in one of her weekly sessions with the apalling one, she said she wanted her album to have some of the same accordion feel as this weird tape. Accordion jive hits vol ii the secret of paul simons graceland. Paul simon brings graceland back to london, 25 years after apartheid boycott row. The story goes that simon heard a tape called gumboots. Part of the criticism was heres this white guy from new york, and he ripped. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, that producer heidi berg gave to paul simon morella 235. Accordion jive hits, volume ii which included local generes such as isicathamiya and mbaqanga, paul simon ventured to the motherland to work with top local musicians and ultimately record the classic that is graceland. A friend had given him an unmarked cassette of an sa compilation album, gumboots.
Big mouth, escape, one love, funky beat, and freindsare just a few of the hits from this 3 man crew. Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by american singersongwriter paul simon. Vv simon was musically rejuvenated by a bootleg called gumboots. Listening to gumboots, an instrumental track by the popular south african band the boyoyo boys, simon began singing improvised lyrics over the music while he drove. All of sudden his new albums werent selling and a divorce was underway. Accordion jive hits, volume 2 was huge, but it would be misleading. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, in mid1984 and he would listen to it in his car, driving between long island and. Paul simon discovers his graceland in south africa. As detailed in the liner notes, simon was inspired to record in south africa after a friend gave him a cassette entitled gumboots. It sounded vaguely like 50s rock n roll out of the atlantic records school of simple threechord pop hits.
Hectic city hectic city 15 paths to graceland hectic city. After immersing himself in more african music, he traveled to johannesburg in early 1985 to simply jam with the groups he had heard. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, a cassette a friend had given him in 1984 that sounded remarkably like the 1950s rocknroll hed grown up on in. Gumboots by paul simon song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart.
While driving his car in late 1984 in this state of frustration, simon listened to a cassette of the boyoyo boys instrumental gumboots. A fully produced, finished record for real record label in south africa. Its not true it was months before he went to south africa but it is the most spontaneous thing the worlds most rational songwriter is even rumored to have done, and that sense of liberation and adventure. Accordion jive hits, volume ii and immediately hopped a flight to soweto to learn more about the township jive called mbaqanga.
Accordion jive volume ii which had been lent to him by heidi berg, a singersongwriter he was working with at the time. Berg, who wanted simon to produce her debut album, loaned him a tape of south african music called gumboots. In 1984, a year before i was born in cape town, simon first heard a tape called gumboots. Accordion jive hits volume ii ladysmith black mambazo. He recorded the song, retitled gumboots, with the boyoyo boys, but more significantly, he spent about two. Paul simon gumboots whispering bells royal albert hall london 1987 graceland tour size. How paul simon introduced american pop to world music with graceland. Golden accordion hits volume 1 by lucien drewicz on amazon. But the big change on graceland was not that simon was working with ethnic musicians. Paul simons oneandonly graceland is the defining album of my childhood.
The rhythms and sounds of the accordions and drums and the overall feeling was very similar to the influences she had grown up with, ie. Song hits of the roaring twenties book 2 vintage paperback sheet music jazz. Play download imaginary accordion jive hits vol ii the secret of paul simons graceland. A must for afropop enthusiasts, at twelve tracks, this is a concise measure of the pulse of the regional radio and clubs of soweto in the late 70s and early 80s. The gift was a bootleg tape from the townships of south africa called gumboots. Now, if you know anything about the muchballyhooed graceland album, youll know that it was inspired by a cassette tape of south african township music, entitled gumboots. How paul simon introduced american pop to world music with. British comedy troupes movies and wrote numerous childrens books. Accordion jive hits, ii release that influenced paul simon. To get the sounds he heard on the bootleg accordion jive tape, he. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, caught simons attention as he drove back and forth between long island and new york city. The real book all new vol ii, spiral plastic binding rare. If rundmc didnt blow up like they did, whodini would have reached that level. She discovered a tape of south african accordion music called gumboots accordion jive hits.
Posted on march 26, 2014 march 14, 2018 by architorture. Simon spent the rest of the year seeking out similar black african music and, thoroughly inspired by his researches, went to south africa in february 1985 to spend 17 days recording with. Accordion jive hits, volume ii and immediately hopped a flight to soweto to learn. Through south african record producer hilton rosenthal, warner confirmed that the music was composed by either the south african vocal group ladysmith black mambazo or the boyoyo boys. Graceland album wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. In the summer of 1984, a friend gave me a cassette of an album called gumboots. Heidi referenced the tape to paul as a direction for her record. In 1984, simons friend heidi berg gave him a tape of south african recordings called accordion jive hits no. They sang on two songs from 1986s graceland diamonds on the. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, tao ea matsekha and the tenmember singing group ladysmith black mambazo.
He instructed contacts at warner to track down the artist responsible for the tape, titled gumboots. Paul simon brings graceland back to london, 25 years after. I was having this discussion in a taxi heading downtown rearranging my position on this friend of mine who had a little bit of a breakdown i said, hey, you know. On 29 march 1985, largely because he had heard the track gumboota, on the south african compilation gumboots accordion jive hits, volume ii, simon started two weeks of working in johannesburg with local musicians. I especilly like the part about slamming into a brick wall. Check out daves music database books and more at or david l. Accordion jive hits, volume ii, and sought them out in the mid 80s.
Paul simons graceland 25th anniversary edition is out. Simply put, its fusion of south african styles with simons ear for a melody and memorable lyric resulted in a masterclass of modern pop music. South african accordion jive 1972 a boisterous stomping good time is being had by football lovers in south africa. Greatest hits of the 60s best of 60s songs duration. Accordion jive volume ii living to music paul simon graceland by greg wilson on january 31, 2012 in cds digital, documentaries, hear, living to music, records, the eighties, video. Any chance of getting hold of volumes 1 and 2 and would the second volume by any chance be the gumboots. In the mid1980s, simon acquired a cassette of the south african pop compilation gumboots. In durban the beachfront promenade is one big festival of fun which is also what south african jive music is mostly all about. Gumboots accordion jive vol ii, and bravely decided to incorporate such styles into his work.