I was in crazy motion 'til you calmed me down

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

12/08/73 : There Goes Rhymin' Simon - Paul Simon


We've had a couple of solo albums from Paul - I'm imagining this will be more like his debut from 1972 than it will be like the one that everyone likes.

And yeah, it is - it's pretty lightweight, but sometimes that's what you need.  In particular, "Something So Right" and "American Tune" are both beautifully laid back - perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.  I can't say it's overly memorable, but there's nothing wrong with it - I'm trying to think of more I can say about it, but inspiration isn't striking I'm afraid!  It's a very odd album cover though...

We're at #12 in his twelfth week of a 20 week run, having peaked at #4.  The top five this week were Peters & Lee  Bowie, Bowie, The Carpenters and Perry Como.  And guess who's at #7 - why yes, It's Bowie!  The highest (and only) new entry this week is Roy Wood (#38) - who was an interesting character and no mistake.  And it's nice to see two women in the top five again, but we're still stuck at only having seen seven women all year - the last new one was Carole King a month ago and she's (just) hanging in there.

Back to Rhymin' Simon, Wikipedia tells me that the critics liked it, although I can't help but feel that "a brilliantly executed masterpiece, and surely the finest album in three years" is possibly slightly over the top.  It did well commercially though getting to #2 in the US, selling a million copies.  There's an interesting note about "Kodachrome" which was released as the lead single in the US, but couldn't be released here - because Kodak demanded the track be trademarked, which meant that the BBC couldn't actually say its name.  Different times, and no mistake.  

"Customers also listened to" James Taylor, Randy Newman and Carly Simon - all fine songsmiths and extremely competent, if not always thrilling, musicians.  I won't be rushing back to this, but I hope I remember it for when I just want something soothing to go to on a sunny afternoon (so yeah, looking out the window, I definitely won't be rushing back to it)

03/08/73 - I'll admit it's skilful
19/08/73 - Surprisingly enjoyable

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