This stunningly researched book will satisfy the most disconcerting Paul Simon fan. Filled with insights into his song composition, personal life, and impact on the music world. I loved Elizabeth Taylor’s comment to him during the Kennedy Center Honors. Aretha Franklin was supposed to perform “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” but had to cancel. Alicia Keys performed the song adequately but without the brilliant soulful take Aretha would have brought to the song. Liz whispers to Paul “What do you think when someone fxxks up a version of your song?” ( )

From English department faculty at the U of Virginia I learned two very different styles of biography: the interminable collection of facts offered in Joseph Blotner's Faulkner and Douglas Day's intimate, speculative psychoanalytical examination Malcolm Lowry. Veteran LA Times pop music critic and Simon confidante Robert Hilburn offers more the former than the latter in his thoroughly researched biography. It offers a detailed portrait of Simon's entire life and career without really helping us warm to the man creating the amazing music.

Hilburn has devoted untold hours to interviewing Simon and almost everyone who has ever lived with or made music with him (over 100 interviewees are cited in the book's 20 pages of notes and bibliography). In nearly 400 pages the author examines every phase of Simon's 60-year career, from '50s doo-wop to '60s folk gold to the acclaimed solo albums of the '70s to the revolutionary world music forays in the '80s to the thirty years of relatively less well known songs that followed. The chronological organization and encyclopedic index make it easy to zero in on a particular song or year or relationship, as the reader plays "I remember when . . . "

Hilburn vividly and sensitively depicts Simon's insecurities, his obsessive dedication to his craft, and his checkered record of relationships with lovers, wives, and (perhaps most of all) his long-time partner Garfunkel. Several touchstones emerge: New York, baseball, family, depression, competitiveness, hard work, innovation. Most chapters quote at length some key lyrics from the Paul Simon songbook, sometimes with an attempt at analysis though rarely with much comment about the memorable music. Rather than building a strong through-line of his own insights and opinions, the author excels at orchestrating a chorus of voices reflecting on Simon's life and work. Some rare musical revelations come from Simon himself: e.g., "Mostly I use sharp keys, which are all great for guitar. On the piano, it's more flat keys, which are easier on the ear" (197). Hilburn's narrative reveals the sine-curve shape of Simon's career, dwelling on the spectacular disappointments in film (1980's One-Trick Pony) and on Broadway (1998's The Capeman) as well as the chorus of accolades for his ever-evolving musical styles: twelve Grammy wins, three Albums of the Year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy, Graceland), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center Honor, Library of Congress Gershwin Prize.

The last quarter of the book is less rich and interesting than the early celebrations of better known Simon music. Hilburn presents Simon in these later years as continuing his workmanlike trade of exploring, composing and crafting new music, though with relatively little public recognition. And he invites the reader to appreciate Simon's versatility, drive, and clear-eyed self-examination. Thanks to Hilburn I know much more about this masterful composer of the soundtrack of my life, without feeling that I have come to know Paul Simon much better at all.

Biografie van de Amerikaanse zanger Paul Simon (1941-…) ( )

A well-documented look at Simon's artistic life, and the first authorized book on the musician. Simon's cooperation with Hilburn somewhat ensures that many of the stories told here - feuds with Garfunkel, the Graceland/South Africa controversies, the possible slighting of Los Lobos - are shown from a viewpoint that favors Simon. (Read Peter Ames Carlin's "Homeward Bound" for a somewhat more critical take on Simon). I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between the two biographies.

The anecdotes are fascinating, and there are insights as to many of Simon's artistic and lyrical decisions on songs throughout his career. Hilburn chronicles the fear and freedom of embarking on his own after splitting with Garfunkel, the disappointments of One Trick Pony, Think Too Much, and The Capeman, and the triumphs (and challenges) around Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints, and his 70's output. If there's a disappointment (and it's a personal one, as many readers may not care), it's that two of his better albums of recent years (2006's Surprise and 2012's So Beautiful Or So What) receive lighter analysis here, though both show the musician and lyricist at the top of his game.

Still, this is a solid overview of Simon, and a reminder that this often overlooked troubadour is one of our greatest national treasures, with perhaps only Bob Dylan making greater contributions to the poetics of popular music in the 20th century.

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Not nearly as good as his Johnny Cash biography, which I'm reading now. Too much tiptoeing around negative side of the still-living subject; I can see that it's a lot easier to write about those who have passed on. ( )