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Graceland - Paul Simon (1986)


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Graceland - Paul Simon (1986)

Frustrated by the experience of writing good songs that didn't come to life in the studio, Simon set out "to make really good tracks," as he later put it. "I thought, 'I have enough songwriting technique that I can reverse this process and write this song after the tracks are made.' " Simon risked severe criticism by going to South Africa (then under apartheid) and working with the best musicians from the black townships. With the fluid energy and expertise of guitarist Ray Phiri and the vocal troupe Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Simon created an album about isolation and redemption that transcended "world music" to become the whole world's soundtrack.

Total album sales: 5 million

Peak chart position: 3

http://www.rollingstone.com/features/featuregen.asp?pid=2227

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  • 3 years later...

Simon included American 'roots' influences with tracks featuring Zydeco and Tex-Mex musicians. The Everly Brothers sing harmony on the title track. Linda Ronstadt appears on the track "Under African Skies", the second verse of which Simon wrote based on her childhood experiences. The group Los Lobos appear on the last track, "All Around The World or The Myth Of Fingerprints." A popular music video starring Simon and Chevy Chase was made for the hit song "You Can Call Me Al".

Simon toured the album extensively featuring many of the artists from the album plus exiled South Africans Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. A concert in Harare, Zimbabwe was filmed for release as "The African Concert".

In 2006, the album was added to the United States National Recording Registry, along with other 24 significant recordings that year.from Wikipedia.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Paul Simon's Gracelands Concert in Zimbabwe. Hugh Masakela on Trumpet.

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I enjoyed this for a while, but I too, haven't listened to it in a long time. It was exploratory for me at the time. I liked Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes. Ithink that's what it was called.

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