There Goes Rhymin' Simon

There Goes Rhymin' Simon is the third solo studio album by American musician Paul Simon rush-released on May 5, 1973. It contains songs covering several styles and genres, such as gospel ("Loves Me Like a Rock") and Dixieland ("Take Me to the Mardi Gras"). It received two nominations at the Grammy Awards of 1974, including Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male and Album of the Year.

There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Studio album by
Paul Simon
ReleasedMay 5, 1973
RecordedSeptember 1972 – January 1973
StudioColumbia Studios, New York City, A&R Recording, New York City,
Malaco Recording Studios, Jackson, Mississippi,
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama
Morgan Studios, London
GenrePop rock
Length35:19
LabelColumbia, Warner Bros.
ProducerPaul Simon, Phil Ramone, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Paul Samwell-Smith, Roy Halee
Paul Simon chronology
Paul Simon
(1972)		 There Goes Rhymin' Simon
(1973)		 Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'
(1974)
Singles from There Goes Rhymin' Simon
  1. "Kodachrome"
    Released: 1973
  2. "Loves Me Like a Rock"
    Released: July 19, 1973
  3. "American Tune"
    Released: 1973
  4. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
    Released: 1973
  5. "Something So Right"
    Released: 1973
  6. "St. Judy's Comet"
    Released: 1973

As foreshadowed by the lead single "Kodachrome" (which reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts, behind Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles"), There Goes Rhymin' Simon was a bigger hit than its predecessor, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart (behind George Harrison's Living in the Material World), and No. 1 on Cashbox Magazine for one week from June 30, 1973.[1] In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at No. 4. Subsequent singles were also the No. 2 single "Loves Me Like a Rock" (knocked off by Cher's "Half-Breed", but reaching No. 1 on Cashbox on September 29, 1973), and the Top 40 hit "American Tune". Also, "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" was released in the UK reaching the Top 10.

The song "Kodachrome" is named after the Kodak film of the same name. Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark. The song was not released as a single in Britain, where it could not be played on BBC radio due to its trademarked name.

Reception
Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[7]
The Guardian[8]
Record Collector[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Uncut[11]

Critics praised the album. The Denver Post's Jared Johnson called it "a brilliantly executed masterpiece, and surely the finest album in three years," citing such 1970 releases as Bridge Over Troubled Water and After the Gold Rush.[12] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said, "Combining a variety of musical textures (from a touch of gospel to an infectious trace of Jamaican rhythm to a hint of the old Simon and Garfunkel grandeur), Simon's new album firmly establishes him as one of our most valuable and accessible artists."[13] Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone praised the album as "a rich and moving song cycle, one in which each cut reflects on every other to create an ever-widening series of refractions."[14]

However, Stereo Review's Noel Coppage, while giving the album an "excellent" rating, nonetheless felt that it was "deficient in spontaneity, excitement, strain", calling its arrangements "clean and sensible" but "oddly predictable".[15]

In 2000 it was voted number 421 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[16]

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Simon. The melody of "American Tune" is taken almost note-for-note from the St Matthew Passion, written by Johann Sebastian Bach, who was not credited on the album. In turn, Bach had imitated the melody of Hans Leo Hassler's Mein G'mueth ist mir verwirret.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Kodachrome"3:32
2."Tenderness"2:53
3."Take Me to the Mardi Gras"3:27
4."Something So Right"4:33
5."One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor"3:46
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."American Tune"3:43
7."Was a Sunny Day"3:41
8."Learn How to Fall"2:44
9."St. Judy's Comet"3:19
10."Loves Me Like a Rock"3:31
2004 remastered reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Let Me Live in Your City" (work in progress)4:21
12."Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (acoustic demo)2:31
13."American Tune" (unfinished demo)4:03
14."Loves Me Like a Rock" (acoustic demo)3:24

Personnel

Charts

References
  1. Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Ruhlmann, William. "There Goes Rhymin' Simon – Paul Simon". AllMusic. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. Powers, Ann (November 2006). "Back Catalogue: Paul Simon". Blender. No. 53. New York.
  4. Kot, Greg (October 14, 1990). "The Evolution Of Simon's Diverse Solo Career". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Paul Simon: There Goes Rhymin' Simon". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Simon, Paul". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  7. Browne, David (January 18, 1991). "Rating Paul Simon's albums". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  8. Sweeting, Adam (August 6, 2004). "Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  9. "Paul Simon: There Goes Rhymin' Simon". Record Collector. London. p. 97. There Goes Rhymin' Simon saw him turn his attentions to soul and New Orleans-tinged R&B, while casting and eye over a country battered by Vietnam and Watergate...
  10. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Paul Simon". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside Books. pp. 736–37. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. Torn, Luke (October 2004). "St. Paul's Gospel". Uncut. No. 89. London.
  12. DENVER POST, "Roundup" section, May 27, 1973, p. 17.
  13. DENVER POST, "Roundup" section, July 29, 1973, p. 20.
  14. Holden, Stephen (June 21, 1973). "There Goes Rhymin' Simon". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  15. STEREO REVIEW, October 1973, Vol.31, #4, p. 112.
  16. Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 156. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  20. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Paul Simon". infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2012.Note: user must select 'Paul SIMON' from drop-down
  21. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  22. "norwegiancharts.com Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin' Simon". Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  23. Billboard – July 14 – 1973. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  24. Billboard – July 7 – 1973. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  25. "The Official Charts Company – Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin' Simon". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  26. Allmusic – There Goes Rhymin' Simon > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  27. "Les Albums (CD) de 1973 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 27, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  28. "Top Pop Albums of 1973". billboard.biz. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  29. "American album certifications – Paul Simon – There Goes". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  30. "British album certifications – Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin' Simon". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type There Goes Rhymin' Simon in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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