For Kathy or Chez

Rare home recording by Paul Simon for his girlfriend Kathy in 1964 guest starring Art Garfunkel and " Debbie " a neighboor.

'CHEZ' is a tape made by Paul in America in 1965 and sent Kathy in England. It was allegedly recorded in a New York hotel room but the atmosphere and its very title imply that Paul recorded it at his home. The result is a pleasant light-hearted affair and the sort of home tape that anyone might send his girl-friend. Paul performs on his own and later on is joined by Art Garfunkel who has just spent a very frustrating couple of hours obtaining a licence for his scooter. The only new tune to me was a guitar piece 'Charlotte' and the' highlight is an extended version of Davy Graham's 'Anji'. The record ends with Paul duetting Tom Paxton's 'Going To The Zoo' with Debbie, a little girl who lives nearby. The overall sound is poor and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Simon was frying bacon near a road drill when he made the recording.

This rare CD is a real treat for Paul Simon fans! It's a recording he made, in his apartment in 1965, for his girlfriend Kathy Chitty, to let her hear all his new songs he'd been working on - songs we know as classics today. He plays his guitar, sings songs, and speaks to his girlfriend as if she were there. Garfunkel arrives (after picking up his license plates, according to Paul)and he joins in on a few songs. It's fascinating to hear them harmonizing the first-ever versions of "I Am A Rock" and "The Sound Of Silence". Likewise with "Kathy's Song", before which he says "Here is the song I wrote to you about in the letter". Can you imagine what this girl must have thought, hearing these songs for the first time, including a stunningly beautiful song dedicated to her? Apparently, she held on to the tape, a wise move as it turned out. There are 18 tracks, some of which are untitled guitar instrumentals; lots of explaining songs and bantering with Garfunkel (which is pretty funny); and the following songs with titles as we know them today: Anji, Leaves That Are Green, Patterns, Kathy's Song, Benedictus, Sound of Silence, I Am A Rock, A Church Is Burning, Going To The Zoo. I think some of the instrumentals may be other songs, but Paul didn't have them titled at the time. Sound quality is not hi-fi by any means, but the CD version is much better than other formats and everything can be heard clearly. It's amazing this stuff survived 36 years in such listenable condition. It's very interesting to hear things people have made before they were famous, before they knew what or if anything important would happen, before their lives are changed forever by being famous. A lot of people have probably made tapes like this in their bedrooms, but in Simon's case this has serious significance because it's the creative beginnings of a musical genius

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