Interview + Music 
Graceland is an album released in 1986 by Paul Simon. It was a big hit in the UK topping the charts at #1. It also reached #3 in the US. The album won the Album of the Year Grammy award, while title song won the Record of the Year Grammy award, for 1986 and 1987 respectively. The title track was inspired by a visit to Graceland, Elvis Presley's estate in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2006, the album was added to the United States National Recording Registry, along with another 24 significant recordings that year.
Background
Coming at a time when Simon's musical career was at something of a low ebb following
the disappointing public response to Hearts and Bones, the project was originally
inspired by Simon's listening to a cassette of the Boyoyo Boys instrumental
"Gumboots", lent to him by Heidi Berg, a singer-songwriter whom Simon
was working with (and who would later become an award-winning jingle singer
and writer). Simon later wrote lyrics to sing over a re-recording of the song,
which became the fourth track on the album.
Music
Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella,
isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Much of the album was recorded in South Africa
and featured many South African musicians and groups. Simon faced accusations
that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against
the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was in its final years at the time.
This view was not supported by the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee,
as the album showcased the talents of the black South African musicians while
offering no support to the South African government. The worldwide success of
the album introduced some of the musicians, especially the vocal group Ladysmith
Black Mambazo, to global audiences of their own. The album also features legendary
Ghanaian master drummer Okyerema Asante. Simon included American 'roots' influences
with tracks featuring Zydeco and Tex-Mex musicians. The Everly Brothers sing
harmony on the title track. Linda Ronstadt appears on the track "Under
African Skies", the second verse of which Simon wrote based on her childhood
experiences.
Controversy
The group Los Lobos appear on the last track, "All Around the World or
The Myth of Fingerprints." According to Los Lobos's saxophone player Steve
Berlin, Simon stole the song from Los Lobos, giving them no songwriting credit:[1]
"It was not a pleasant deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally — and in no way do I exaggerate when I say — he stole the songs from us... We go into the studio, and he had quite literally nothing. I mean, he had no ideas, no concepts, and said, "Well, let's just jam." ...Paul goes, "Hey, what's that?" We start playing what we have of it, and it is exactly what you hear on the record. So we're like, "Oh, ok. We'll share this song." ...A few months later, the record comes out and says "Words and Music by Paul Simon." We were like, "What the fuck is this?" We tried calling him, and we can't find him. Weeks go by and our managers can't find him. We finally track him down and ask him about our song, and he goes, "Sue me. See what happens."[2]
Release and aftermath
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in many years,
reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5xPlatinum
by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it the singer's
most commercially successful album. Critics welcomed its eclectic mix of sounds
and broad, quirky subject matter and it regularly shows up in critic polls and
"recommended" lists. The album also helped to draw worldwide attention
to the music of South Africa. The United World Chart listed Graceland as the
100th most successful album of all time.
In the Graceland Classic Albums video, Simon states that he considers the title track the best song he has ever written. A popular music video starring Simon and Chevy Chase was made for the hit song "You Can Call Me Al". Simon toured the album extensively, featuring many of the artists from the album in addition to exiled South Africans Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. Two concerts in Harare, Zimbabwe, were filmed in 1987 for release as "The African Concert". The audience was a multi-racial mix with many travelling from South Africa.
Rankings
Voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics
poll.
In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 56th greatest album of all time.
In 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at #84.
It was also ranked #84 in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel
4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.
In 1989, it was rated #5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest
Albums of the 80's.
It is #81 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All
Time.
The song "Graceland" was voted #485 in the list of Rolling Stone's
500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
According to AcclaimedMusic.net, a site which combines hundreds of best-of lists
from critics and musicians from around the world, Graceland is ranked at #67
on the greatest albums of all time. It is also ranked #13 for albums released
in the 1980s, and it is the second-highest ranking album of 1986, behind The
Smiths' The Queen Is Dead).
In 2002, Pitchfork Media named it the 85th best album of the 1980s.[3]
In 2006, Time named it one of the All-Time 100 Greatest Albums.
Tom Araya from Slayer once said in an interview with Guitar World magazine that
Graceland is one of his favorite all time records.
Track listing
"The Boy in the Bubble" - 3:59
"Graceland" - 4:48
"I Know What I Know" - 3:13
"Gumboots" - 2:44
"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" - 5:45
"You Can Call Me Al" - 4:39
"Under African Skies" - 3:37
"Homeless" - 3:48
"Crazy Love, Vol. II" - 4:18
"That Was Your Mother" - 2:52
"All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints" - 3:15
A 2004 CD reissue of the album includes three previously-unreleased bonus tracks:
"Homeless" (demo version) - 2:28
"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" (alternate version) - 4:43
"All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints" (early version)
- 3:17
Credits
Paul Simon - Acoustic Guitar (tracks 1 and 11), Guitar (tracks 5 and 7), Synclavier
(track 3 and 4), Six-String Electric Bass (track 6), Background Vocals (tracks
1, 2, 4, 6, and 9)
Ray Phiri - Guitar (tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, and 9)
Adrian Belew - Guitar Synthesizer (tracks 1, 6, and 9), Guitar (track 7)
Demola Adepoju - Pedal Steel Guitar (track 2)
Daniel Xilakazi - Lead and Rhythm Guitar (track 4)
Sherman Robertson - Guitar (track 10)
Cesar Rosas - Guitar and backing vocals (track 11)
David Hidalgo - Guitar, accordion, and backing vocals (track 11)
Conrad Lozano - Bass (track 11)
Alonzo Johnson - Bass (track 10)
Lloyd Lelose - Bass (track 9)
Bakithi Kumalo - Bass (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7)
Isaac Mtshali - Drums (tracks 5, 6, 7, and 9)
Vusi Khumalo - Drums (tracks 1 and 2)
Petrus Manile - Drums (track 4)
Alton Rubin, Jr. - Drums (track 10)
Louie Pérez - Drums (track 11)
Steve Gadd - Additional Drums (track 11)
Makhaya Mahlangu - Percussion (tracks 1 and 2)
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion (tracks 4, 6, 7, and 11)
Yossou N'Dour - Percussion (track 5)
Babacar Faye - Percussion (track 5)
Assane Thiam - Percussion (track 5)
Lulu Masilela - Tambourines (track 4)
David Rubin - Washboard (track 10)
Alton Rubin, Sr. - Accordion (track 10)
Jonhjon Mkhalali - Accordion (track 4)
Forere Motloheloa - Accordion (track 1)
Rob Mounsey - Synthesizer (tracks 1 and 6)
Barney Rachabane - Saxophone (track 4)
Mike Makhalemele - Saxophone (track 4)
Teaspoon Ndela - Saxophone (track 4)
Lenny Pickett - Tenor Saxophone (track 5)
Earl Gardner - Trumpet (track 5)
Alex Foster - Alto Saxophone (track 5)
Ronnie Cuber - Bass and Baritone Saxophone (track 6)
Jon Faddis - Trumpet (track 6)
Randy Brecker - Trumpet (track 6)
Lew Soloff - Trumpet (track 6)
Alan Rubin - Trumpet (track 6)
Dave Bargeron - Trombone (track 6)
Kim Cissel - Trombone (track 6)
Morris Goldberg - Pennywhistle (track 6), Soprano Saxophone (track 9)
Johnny Hoyt - Saxophone (track 10)
Steve Berlin - Saxophone (track 11)
The Everly Brothers - Additional Vocals (track 2)
The Gaza Sisters - Vocals (track 3)
Diane Garisto - Backing Vocals (track 4)
Michelle Cobbs - Backing Vocals (track 4)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Vocals (tracks 5 and 8)
Joseph Shabalala - Vocals (track 8)
Linda Ronstadt - Additional Vocals (track 7)
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1986 | Billboard 200 | 3 |
| 1986 | UK chart | 1 |
| 1986 | German chart | 2 |
| 1986 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1987 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart | 1 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1986 | Graceland | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 38 |
| 1986 | Graceland | Billboard Hot 100 | 80 |
| 1986 | Graceland | Billboard Hot 100 | 81 |
| 1986 | You Can Call Me Al | Adult Contemporary | 14 |
| 1986 | You Can Call Me Al | Billboard Hot 100 | 23 |
| 1987 | The Boy in the Bubble | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 15 |
| 1987 | The Boy in the Bubble | Billboard Hot 100 | 85 |
| 1999 | You Can Call Me Al | Billboard Hot 100 | 41 |
| Year | Album/Track | Award | Winner |
| 1986 | Graceland (album) | Album Of The Year | 6697 |
| 1987 | "Graceland" (song) | Record Of The Year | 7061 |