Kodachrome (Paul Simon) (LP 3770 - 3777)

Paul Simon  The Paul Simon Songbook (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1965) ****  

Paul Simon  Paul Simon (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1972) ***** 

Paul Simon  There Goes Rhymin' Simon (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1973) *****  

Paul Simon  Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1974) *****  

Paul Simon  Still Crazy After All These Years (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1975) ***  

Paul Simon  Hearts and Bones (Vinyl, Warner Bros, Records, 1983) ****  

Paul Simon  Graceland (Vinyl and CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1986) ****  

Paul Simon  Rhythm of the Saints (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1990) *** 

Genre: Folk, folk-rock, pop

Places I remember: Spellbound Wax Company (The Paul Simon Songbook), Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Train in the Distance (Hearts and Bones)

Gear costume: You Can Call Me Al (Graceland); Kodachrome (There Goes Rhymin' Simon); My Little Town (Still Crazy After All These Years)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I know the first thought is for Simon & Garfunkel (they're next), but luckily alphabetically Paul Simon comes first. Luckily, because The Paul Simon Songbook was his debut solo album in 1965 - a year after the first Simon & Garfunkel album (Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.) which I don't own.

The Paul Simon Songbook is just Paul - guitar and vocals recorded in England after he had moved there. He does a couple of songs from Wed. A.M., but mostly he demos/workshops other songs that would appear either on Simon & Garfunkel albums or as part of his later solo albums. I love it. He sounds young and fresh and vital.

Paul Simon was his first solo album after the split with Art Garkunkel. It's an incredible collection of Paul singing warm, funny, observational songs. The big songs were Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard , Mother and Child Runion, and Duncan, but there are no duds on this album. Quality control was on high.

There Goes Rhymin' Simon is another terrific collection of songs and another 5-star masterpiece. That quality control was consistently set on high. Choosing a song or two to represent Paul Simon's solo work is nearly impossible! Every song on this album is a masterpiece.

Live Rhymin' was another superb album. Paul is in fine form throughout.  He is joined by Urubamba for a couple of songs: El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could), Duncan, and The Boxer. All songs benefit from fresh arrangements. He repeats the trick with the Jessy Dixon Singers for the rest of the concert, before ending with a terrific solo version of America.

Cracks starting appearing with Still Crazy After All These Years. There are some great moments (Gone at Last, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and especially My Little Town - his reunion with Art), but there is some weak material as well. 

The jazz pop style thanks to the New York session musicians is all a bit too cozy and I really don't like the smug Have a Good Time. Still, the album was a big commercial hit - topping the charts and winning a clutch of Grammy awards.  

I sat out his next album - One Trick Pony. I came out while I was working at Marbecks Records and I listened to it a bit but the jazz sheen didn't move me at the time. So the next album is his break up album with Carrie Fisher - Hearts and Bones.

This is an extraordinary album and along with There Goes Rhymin' Simon - my two favourite Paul Simon albums. It didn't sell but that just means a lot of people missed out on Paul Simon's most personal collection - the anatomy of a love affair. 

Along the way are some of his most inventive music, thanks to ending his flirtation with jazz pop. Train in the Distance, the title track, and René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War are my personal favourites and the song for John Lennon is the only way he could end this underrated album.

Graceland has developed an aura around it since its release. In my house it's famous for being the record my eldest son, as a toddler (he's now age 40), found in my collection and used as a skateboard. I had to buy a replacement - no big deal, but the story has entered family folklore as a result.

It's a very eclectic mix (like Paul Simon and There Goes Rhymin' Simon) with pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, and South African styles being used against his poetic imagery. It's a winning combination - with this album he was back big time in commercial terms.

The Rhythm of the Saints was the follow up and it was bound to forever live in Graceland's shadow.

This time Paul turns to Brazilian music for inspiration and texture. It's not as melodic as Graceland (it was a deliberate follow up - so it's hard not to compare them) and therefore less accessible. I can't recall the songs after they have just played which means I don't linger on his lyrics - that are in that same fragmented mode he used on Graceland.

That's it for Paul Simon - next up Simon and Garfunkel.

Where do they all belong? I haven't been lured by the albums post The Rhythm of the Saints. I've heard some of them and I have kind of considered them lesser to his previous work. This might be unfair so I will dip into them via Spotify to see if I've missed anything as good as Hearts and Bones.