In honor of Paul Simon's 75th birthday on October 13 and a career that spans five decades, I've put together a top picks post based on a survey of four people whose tastes in music helped to shape and influence my own.
With tracks such as "Diamonds on the Sole of Her Shoes," "Boy in the Bubble" and "You Can Call Me Al," Graceland is first on my list. Paul Simon's experiment with world music introduced audiences to Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Graceland is available in other formats.
Next on my list are two Simon and Garfunkel albums. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme features the powerful sound collage "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night."
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is available in other formats.
The Concert in Central Park features my father's favorites: "America," "Late in the Evening" and "Still Crazy After All These Years." It also has the song "Slip Slidin' Away," which was mentioned by three of the four people I surveyed. One of my friends had just finished singing his new niece to sleep with this song shortly before I texted.
The Concert in Central Park is available in other formats.
Finally, end your celebration with something new, Stranger to Stranger, just released this year.
Written long before I was old enough to start reflecting on my life, the first line of my favorite song, "Kodachrome," rings just as true to me as it did for those in the early 1970s.
What's your favorite Paul Simon or Simon and Garfunkel song? Let us know in the comments.
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