‘Graceland’ was an almighty gamble for Paul Simon, a costly, high-risk departure from the music he’d been making and a complex international venture. And a game-changing, worldwide triumph. When Ashley Kahn taught a course about it at New York University, Simon turned up to contribute. His book ‘Days Of Miracle And Wonder’ tells the story of what inspired the album, the way it was recorded and the global reaction when it arrived in 1986. We talk to him here about …

… the bootleg cassette of township jive that inspired the Graceland project

… fraying relations with Art Garfunkel and Carrie Fisher

... his habit of playing unfinished tracks to people – David Byrne, Philip Glass, Neil Diamond – while singing the vocal into their ear

… the extraordinary way he apologised for the failure of One Trick Pony

… how Bakithi Kumalo’s bass solo on You Can Call Me Al is a palindrome – “first half forwards, second half reversed!”

… the advice Quincy Jones gave him about South Africa’s cultural boycott

… the key role of Roy Halee, engineer and long-time creative collaborator

... the Johannesburg sessions that “started with rhythm and worked backwards”

… Kind Of Blue, A Love Supreme, other albums that merit a book to themselves

… the details you hear in the tracks’ last seconds

… and the Grammy telecast that cemented the album’s US success.

Order copies of ‘Days of Miracle And Wonder’ here: https://geni.us/DaysofMiracleandWonder

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Kate’s an old pal of ours from Word magazine who writes scintillating columns and profiles for the New Statesman and Observer. We loved her book ‘Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters With Rock Royalty’ – just out in paperback! – where she relives her meetings with a variety of legends, eccentrics and old lags whose music she finds particularly compelling and wonders what they all have in common. This typically funny and colourful conversation stops off at …

… the attractive fallibility of rock stars past their peak

… a lifetime’s devotion to Paul Simon

… “Olivia Dean is the Carole King of her generation”

… the ridiculous expectations we heap on musicians’ creativity

… why Arts Criticism is under threat

… when the first record you buy (aged five) is the Chicken Song

… “One-Hit Wonders have achieved infinitely more than most of us”

… Ray Davies and his “eternal sense of apartness”

… why George Michael is under-appreciated and the time he found someone living under his floorboards

… the days when Jeff Beck modelled PVC jackets for Rave

… the genius of Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion

… and the new acts who’ll still be huge in ten years’ time.

Order copies of ‘Men Of A Certain Age’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Men-Certain-Age-Encounters-Royalty/dp/1788705645

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Amid much parping of vuvuzelas, the week’s news stories sprint onto the pitch. And these make it to the quarter-finals …

… Dua Lipa’s mega-wedding and its echoes of Mick & Bianca

… when did publicity turn into “perpetual planetary attention”?

… Chris Martin “curating” the World Cup Final half-time show

… if you can’t stand the noise, move out of Soho!

… watching Rufus Wainwright do Judy Garland

… when Madonna was troubled by helicopters

… JBs’s Dudley, Mr Pickwicks, the Band On The Wall: who imagined old rock venues would be celebrated by the V&A?

… “Keep music away from sport!”

… is Taylor Swift really getting married in Madison Square Garden?

… and the Nation Blue, the Green Falcons, the Golden Lilies: starry-eyed indie act or World Cup team nickname?

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.