A farewell to the road for singer Paul Simon
Farewell tours don’t always mean farewell, but are a ripe time for appreciation and appraisal. Paul Simon’s concerts and a new biography offer the opportunity for both.
Simon’s Homeward Bound tour began last week in Vancouver and takes him across North America, to Europe and an eventual conclusion with three dates back home in New York City.
Simon, who’s 76, isn’t retiring. He has an album due out this fall and promises he’ll still occasionally appear on stage. Since he started writing songs as a teenager, it’s hard to imagine that impulse shutting off forever. He’s done with the idea of long concert tours, though, so if you live in Greensboro, North Carolina, Austin, Texas or Orlando, Florida, and want to see him perform, this is probably it.
The death of his lead guitarist and friend, Vincent N’guini, last December influenced his decision to step away, Simon said in a statement when the tour was announced. (He has declined interview requests).
“Mostly, though, I feel the travel and time away from my
wife and family takes a toll that detracts from the joy of playing,” he said.
The set list from the tour’s opener in Vancouver indicates he’s exploring the breadth of his career — from Simon & Garfunkel favorites such as “Mrs. Robinson” and “America” to touchstones from “Graceland” and recent fare “Dazzling Blue” and “Rewrite.” With a 16-piece band, he often searches for new ways to tell familiar stories.
“He was far more a curious
musician than a self-congratulatory, self- repeating pop star,” wrote Jon Pareles of The New York Times in his review of opening night.
Simon’s musical restlessness sets him apart from many peers, said Robert Hilburn, author of the justreleased book “Paul Simon: The Life.” Simon was interviewed by Hilburn for the book. Many of Simon’s contemporaries aren’t interested in pushing boundaries or have fans who resist if they
do. Simon’s last few albums have been adventurous, earning him critical and commercial success.
Many people forget Simon spent years as a mediocre writer searching for pop hits until his breakthrough song, “The Sound of Silence,” Hilburn said.
“Once he became this great songwriter, he realized right away that you’re always in jeopardy,” he said. “There are always these distractions and temptations. He had this determination and intelligence to know that music is the most important thing — that you could never master it and never take it for granted.”
Hilburn believes the desire to stretch himself musically was the biggest factor in Simon’s break with partner Art Garfunkel in 1970, not the famous prickly relationship between the childhood chums. “If he hadn’t left Simon & Garfunkel, he’d have burned out like all the others,” Hilburn said.
The two are more distant than ever after an unpleasant end to the “Old Friends” tour in 2012, and Garfunkel declined requests to be interviewed for Hilburn’s biography. So it would be wise not to expect another reunion soon.