Paul Simon giving up music?

A Paul Simon and Billy Crystal documentary about hanging out and growing up Jewish in New York would be excellent! I'm sure both funny and enlightening.

Crystal is 68, so they're not that far apart in age.

These two are both superb storytellers who very much held onto their Jewishness.

I hate to see Simon hanging it up (I don't blame him at his age), but I would still like to see him...imparting his life and wisdom in some capacity.

 

Wonder if it was before or rather presenting a Grammy with him?

 

Why it's all right here:



Listening to this does make me feel a bit stalker-ish, as this tape is very personal and was not meant for public consumption by geeked-out fans, but... I guess it is "histroical" at this point....

It does indeed reveal that a lot more was going on from 1975-1980 than the "Double Fantasy"/"happy househusband" press kit would have you believe.

 

I believe Lennon also said something else or it was the dwarf thing, anyway Paul S said " hey I'm Paul Simon, c'mon".

 

He presented him the Grammy in '75, I believe, and the Dakota diary tapes he made were all from '77-'80.

 

Thanks. If he is aware it certainly won't have gone down very well!

 

I'll still be surprised if he completely retires. He strikes me as someone who won't be able to resist starting to write again when the next idea ( or ,as he often puts it, problem to solve) occurs. His slow writing/recording pace are obviously factors for a man in his mid 70's but , provided he remains in good health, I do not think Stranger to Stranger will be his swansong. However that may all just be wishful thinking , if the album does turn out to be his final one he will leave us with one of his great albums and conclude a career having never ( imo) made a bad or even average album.

 

I'll really miss all those years of walking into a store and saying "Oh look, it's a new Paul Simon album" and then buying something else.

 

He sounds sincere, knows he's not going to be around forever.

 

1971:



Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back / 1973
Some Nice Things I've Missed / 1974
Trilogy: Past Present Future / 1980
She Shot Me Down / 1982
Syms by Sinatra / 1982
L.A. Is My Lady / 1984
Duets / 1993

 

I believe John may have hung out with Garfunkel (Carly Simon, James Taylor) on occasion in the late 70s.
I could be mistaken. I know in 74/75 Lennon consulted Garfunkel about getting back together with "his Paul".

 

I beg to differ. Nobody is at my door waiting to shoot me. Fame doesn't kill everyone who's famous, but it did in Lennon's case.

 

I don't think giving up is an option for him.

He is a songwriter-musician: it's in his genes. He can no more stop creating/playing than he can stop breathing.

Of course, he might stop touring and releasing music.

 

Simon is currently the age Sinatra was in 1990. Hard to believe!

 

I think he meant in the sense that John didn't die because he felt trapped by fame and engaged in reckless/destructive behavior, ala Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison, etc. His fame had a part in his murder, but it didn't kill John because of John being famous and not being able to handle it.

 

Good lord, Paul is really confused and ossified in his beliefs, eh?

 

What you’re saying (valid) is not what Paul Simon was saying. Lumping Lennon’s murder in with the self-destructive fates of Elvis and Michael Jackson is completely wrong-headed.

 

Yawn!!! The blokes pissed. I hate pissed wafflers! Been there meself, though.

 

There aren't many popular songwriters that I would put on the same level as John Lennon, but Paul Simon is certainly one of them. When Lennon was sober, I doubt he thought so little of Simon as that.

 

He announced it in an interview, not a press release. Good for him, I hope he is extremely happy in his travels and retirement, he deserves it. There are many other musicians who need to do this, but won't. I won't mention any names or bands, I don't need the grief!

 

And his Hardys?

Agreed.

 

He's not on Columbia anymore. Concord like Sir Paul.

 

Come on Simon...
one more album with Artie.

 

Absolutely, here’s wishing good health and happy adventures to the guy, even if he does come off as sententious sometimes.

It’ll be interesting to compare the past ten years (pretty sedate public profile, three excellent albums) with the next ten years. It’s not exactly like he’s been trapped in a frantic career/schedule grind lately....

 

The NYT story wasn't an "announcement," it was an interview in a local paper with a news peg about upcoming shows in his hometown with kind of a nostalgic bent looking back on his career. He didn't even say he actually was retiring, he said he was thinking about it, and who knows what questions were asked to even get him on the topic. It was definitely the lead and one of the main focuses of the story, which obviously was a good idea since it's sparked all this interest in the story. But it was just an interview, not an announcement.