Paul Simon - Graceland with Ashley Kahn

This week we hear the story of the classic Graceland by Paul Simon.

It started with a cassette titled Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits, Volume II, which is given to Paul Simon in the Summer of 1984.

He plays it on drive to Montauk, New York where he is renovating a house with his then wife Carrie Fisher.

Paul Simon is coming off the 1983 album Hearts & Bones & was looking for a new direction in some respects.

He makes the decision to travel to South Africa in order to make this music as authentically as possible.

Arriving at Ovation Studios in the summer Johannesburg in the summer of 1985 the process of making the record begins.

The record is completed back in the US with the African musicians travelling to finish the record.

The final tracklisting features appearances by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers & more.

The cover artwork is a late-15th-century Ethiopian painting of St George on horseback found in an exhibition catalogue from the Peabody Essex Museum.

The record was a slow burn success & its only after winning Best Album at the 1987 Grammy Awards that a new video for You Can Call Me Al is commissioned featuring Chevy Chase.

The subsequent tour is very expensive to put together but proves hugely popular.

Graceland has sold approximately 16 million copies to date & its influence has been hailed by Joe Strummer, Peter Gabriel, Ezra Koenig & more.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.