Audio Recording
Over the last week we've been marking the 70th birthday of Paul Simon with a boffo Simon & Garfunkel hit and a big Broadway flop.- and part one of our audio special. To conclude the festivities, here's Part Two of our podcast, featuring more rare material from the Steyn archives. Paul talks to Mark about his approach to songwriting - melody, harmony, rhythm and lyrics - with illustrations from "Still Crazy After All These Years", "You Can Call Me Al", "Mrs Robinson" and many more. Plus Paul Simon picks up his guitar and demonstrates live the original ska version of "Mother And Child Reunion", and muses on Truman Capote's detection of a homosexual subtext to "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard". You can listen to the podcast by clicking above.
In Part One, Steyn talks to Paul Simon about his early days growing up in New York. Paul drives Mark round Queens and shows him his childhood home and the supermarket outside of which he first heard Elvis - and he sings Mark the first song he ever wrote.