40 Year Itch: Paul Simon Kicks off Live Rhymin' Tour

On May 6, 1973, one day after releasing There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon launched his Live Rhymin' tour in Boston. It was his first tour without Garfunkel.Simon warmed up for the tour in London where he introduced audiences to the South American group Urubamba and the gospel sounds of the Jessy Dixon Singers. Both would join him on the US tour.

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Yes, there were a few calls of "Where's Art?" from the audience but Simon had put together a strong set. His Simon and Garfunkel tunes were "Homeward Bound","El Condor Pasa", "The Boxer", "The Sounds of Silence"( heard below) and a gospel-infused  "Bridge Over Troubled Water".






There Goes Rhymin' Simon ranks among my favorite albums of all time. It's one of the soundtracks to my childhood and that of my own children. Two songs were inspired by newborn Harper Simon ( "St Judy's Comet" and "Learn How To Fall"). Half of the tunes ( the #2 "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor", "Saint Judy's Comet" and the #2 "Loves Me Like a Rock" -- featuring the Dixie Hummingbirds) were recorded with "The Swampers" in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Allen Toussaint handled arrangements on "Mardi Gras"; Quincy Jones on "Something So Right". Maggie and Terre Roche appear on "Was A Sunny Day".

  Although the album seems to celebrate domestic bliss, "Tenderness" suggests not all is well.

You say you care for me 
But there's no tenderness
 Beneath your honesty

 Shortly after the tour, Simon moved out of the family home and channeled his misery into Still Crazy After All These Years.