Paul Simon

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon has worked most of his career as a solo artist and yet, despite his many individual accomplishments, may always be best remembered for his collaboration with Art Garfunkel. The two discovered early on, as fellow Forest Hills, NY sixth graders, that they harmonized well. Although Simon was always the creative force powering the pair, it was Garfunkel's distinctive harmonies that were the group's "hook." In 1957, they recorded Simon's song "Hey, Schoolgirl" and billed as 'Tom and Jerry' had a Top Fifty hit, leading to an appearance on "American Bandstand." When subsequent 'Tom and Jerry' records failed to capture an audience, the two drifted apart, both trying unsuccessfully to establish themselves independently before reuniting and releasing (as Simon and Garfunkel) the LP "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." (1964). The following year, a remixed version of "The Sounds of Silence," adding electric guitar, bass and drums to Simon's acoustic guitar, became the Number 1 single in the United States and launched them in earnest.1966 saw three of their singles ("Homeward Bound," "I Am a Rock" and "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme") make the Top Five, and Mike Nichols' 1967's movie "The Graduate" featured Simon's songs sung by the duo. The single "Mrs. Robinson" reached Number 1 and together with the soundtrack album earned Simon and Garfunkel their first Grammy Awards. The album "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970) took almost two years to complete, as the two began to go their separate ways, but once released rose rapidly to Number 1 and rode the charts for over a year and a half, eventually collecting six Grammys. (In 1997, it also received the British Britannia Award as Best International Pop Album of the past 25 years and the equivalent award for the single). The title song, naturally a Number 1 hit, was the biggest seller of their career, allowing them to disband on an incredibly high note. They would reunite periodically for live concerts in the coming years (perhaps most notably for their Central Park performance to 500,000 people in 1981), but with the exception of "retro" albums, little new music would come from the pair. (Although they did record the single "My Little Town" which placed Number 9 in 1975.)Simon's first solo album after their breakup, "Paul Simon," yielded two hit singles ("Mother and Child Reunion" Number 4, "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" Number 22) and featured jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli on one cut. He followed that with an even greater commercial success, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" (1973), which boasted as hits the gospel-tinged "Loves Me Like a Rock" (Number 2, with 'The Dixie Hummingbirds' singing backup) and "Kodachrome" (also Number 2). "Still Crazy After All These Years" (1975) delivered the Number 1 single "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and earned Simon Grammys for Best Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Although he had already drawn from reggae, salsa, jazz, gospel, blues and the New Orleans sound, Simon broke new ground with "Graceland" (1986), which featured African music and musicians like Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It earned him another Grammy for Album of the Year, and his championing of African artists led to his being the first international performer to appear in South Africa after the lifting of the UN's 11-year cultural boycott of the country. Since "The Graduate," Simon's songs have figured prominently in many movies, and he also composed music for Hal Ashby's "Shampoo" (1975). Though he played a non-singing role in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" (1977), his starring turn in "One-Trick Pony" (1980), for which he wrote both screenplay and music, earned a tepid response, perhaps causing him to steer clear of acting except for an occasional cameo as himself (i.e., "Dave" 1993). Among his numerous TV credits were multiple appearances on "Saturday Night Live" as both music guest and host, stops on "The Muppet Show" (1980) and PBS' "Sesame Street, Special" (1988), a role as Simple Simon in the HBO movie "Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme" (1990) and various specials and concert performances, including "MTV Unplugged" (1992).

Seven years in preparation, Paul Simon's "The Capeman" began previewing on Broadway in 1997 (and opened on January 8, 1998). With some lyrics contributed by Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott, "The Capeman" told the true story of Salvador Agron, a near-illiterate immigrant jailed for murder in 1959. Dubbed 'The Capeman' by New York tabloids because he wore a blue nurse's cape with red satin lining, Agron became, at 16, the youngest person sentenced to death in New York state. Eventually saved form the electric chair by a campaign for clemency supported by Eleanor Roosevelt, Agron learned to read and write in prison and later published poems admired by THE NEW YORK TIMES. After 20 years in jail, he lived the rest of his life quietly in the Bronx where he died of a heart attack in 1986. Directed and choreographed by Mark Morris with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley, "The Capeman" starred Ruben Blades, Marc Anthony and Ednita Nazario.