aaamusic | On 30, May 2011

SONY COMMERCIAL MUSIC GROUP LAUNCHES
PAUL SIMON CATALOGUE PROJECT
WITH FOUR CLASSIC TITLES FROM THE 1970s

Definitive Editions of Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon,
Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin’, and Still Crazy After All These Years
Released Monday 13 June, 2011

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Sony Commercial Music Group have announced the first round of releases in the Paul Simon catalogue project with definitive editions of four of the artist’s essential solo albums – Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin’ and Still Crazy After All These Years – available on Monday 13 June.

News of the Paul Simon catalogue releases arrives as Simon, the quintessential American singer-songwriter-performer, tours Europe this summer with an eight-piece band in support of his soon to be released critically-acclaimed new album, ‘So Beautiful Or So What’ on Decca.

The new Sony Commercial Music Group editions of four classic Paul Simon catalogue titles marks the first set of releases since last year’s historic licensing agreement between the artist and Sony Music Entertainment brought Simon’s entire catalogue of recordings together under the one roof for the first time since the 1970s.

All the titles feature the re-mastered sound, bonus tracks and expanded packaging from their first CD incarnations. Recorded during Simon’s groundbreaking tours with Urubamba and the Jessy Dixon Singers in 1973-74, Live Rhymin’ includes two previously unavailable live tracks – “Kodachrome” and “Something So Right” – which have never appeared on the vinyl or CD editions of the album.

Originally released in 1972, Paul Simon, the artist’s first solo studio album without Art Garfunkel, peaked at no.1 in the UK while generating the signature hits “Mother and Child Reunion” (no.5 UK Singles Chart) and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” (no.15) and other classic tracks. CD bonus cuts include demos of “Duncan” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and an unreleased “Paranoia Blues.”

There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, released in 1973, showcased a pair of timeless summer car radio anthems – “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like a Rock” – and peaked at no.2 on the Billboard 200 and no.4 in the UK. The CD features non-album bonus tracks including work-in-progress “Let Me Live in Your City,” acoustic demos of “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” and “Loves Me Like a Rock,” topped off by an unfinished demo of “American Tune.”

1975’s Grammy-winning Album of the Year, Still Crazy After All These Years rocketed to no.1 in the US and no.6 in the UK with a hit-packed tracklist that included “My Little Town” (a one-track “reunion” with Art Garfunkel) and the no.1 US smash “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Bonus cuts on the CD include demos of “Slip Slidin’ Away” and “Gone At Last” (with The Jessy Dixon Singers).

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During his distinguished career Paul Simon has been the recipient of many honors and awards. A recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Simon has won 12 Grammys in totalwhich also include three Albums of the Year: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970), “Still Crazy After All These Years” (1976) and “Graceland” (1986). 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” a 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. Simon has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist.

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UK Tour Dates:
June
Thu 23rd NOTTINGHAM – The Royal Centre
Fri 24rd GLASGOW – SECC & Clyde Auditorium (The Armadillo)
Sun 26th GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL
Mon 27th BOURNEMOUTH International Centre (BIC)
Tue 28th LONDON – HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Thu 30th BIRMINGHAM – The NIA (National Indoor Arena)
July
Fri 1st LONDON – iTunes Festival: Roundhouse
Sun 3rd MANCHESTER – O2 Apollo