POLL: Paul Simon or Elvis Costello

My understanding is that Clive Langer provided the (terrific) melody, and EC later turned it into a full song, with the lyrics and working out the rest of the song's structure.

EC has noted that Clive's suggestion for the lyrics was "perhaps something to do with the hours of the clock." Not sure the song would have had the same impact if EC followed that train of thought!

 

Although it's been fun to follow, the problem I have with this thread by its nature it lends to fans of one artist to feel a need to demean the work of the other. They both have pretty amazing catalogs, and as far as I know there is some serious mutual respect between them.

 

An easy all for me - Paul Simon. Elvis Costello is great, too, but I'll bet Simon songs will still get sung often 100 years from now, but I'm not so sure about Costello.

 

Both are incredible artists but it is Elvis Costello for me.

 

Elvis Costello.

 

already did earlier in the thread. You just must have missed them.

 

There's really no dispute that both men have raised the bar for the singer/songwriters that have come after. There's no wrong answer here.

 

I love Paul Simon's music. Master of introspection. Favourite album is Hearts and Bones.

Tim

 

So, has Post No. 46 says "more great songs period" and he doesn't have to back that up in anyway shape or form? OK, You guys are the boss. No problem.

 

I tagged 1977 as his first real year, so post-1986, definitely collapsed into mediocrity. I'd rate his career between 1977-1986 as one of the greatest runs in rock/pop history, but after that, it's like "what happened?!?"

 

I think EC has written and even recorded a handful of good songs since his last good, possibly great album Blood & Chocolate, but only a small handful, not even enough for a solid album. Graceland is a damn impressive late career achievement, about 20 years after his debut, but the next one was wildly uneven, and the two after that are disposable IMHO…so I was surprised when I heard his collaboration with Eno and his most recent one. To be fair, these are two albums recorded over the span of 10+ years, which probably helps - plenty of time to build up a decent cache of songs. They're not masterpieces, but the Eno collaboration has some pretty strong tracks, a welcome and surprising collaboration between two very different artists, and the first half of that last album is just as strong as anything Simon's done in his career.

 

Not voting. I'm personally more a fan of Costello. Love his first 3 albums and much of the 1977-86 ouevre and have seen him probably a dozen times. Paul Simon doesn't connect with my taste, but as his supporters in this thread have pointed out, his catalog will stand the test of time more than EC's -- Sound of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water alone assure that.

 

Well, Simon is a lot more mainstream so he will always be far more popular - I don't even think EC has a single platinum album, does he?

But I think EC's still the greater artist. The albums I like best and have always owned for both are:

MAIT, TYM, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, Imperial Bedroom, King of America, B&C (7)

and

Bridge Over Troubled Water, Bookends, S/T, Rhymin', Still Crazy, Graceland (6)

And I'd rather listen to those 7 from Costello than the 6 from Simon.

 

Oddly enough, The Juliet Letters was one of his better sellers, especially outside of the U.S. He is well-off financially because Jake somehow got him ownership of his remasters from day 1.

 

So how does that beget:

No hesitation: Elvis Costello has a way with words and a sharpness of observation that few can match, certainly not Paul Simon ?

 

Good. So what to make of your ranking?

 

I'm not a huge fan of either but I voted for Costello.

 

Not sure.

I wasn't implying that I liked Costello more than Simon just because I rate "Shipbuilding" above "America" ... if I had felt that I would have voted. I think my point was more that I admire both of them so much that their songs make a pretty exclusive list of the songs I rate as "Greatest". It's also significant because although both artists are favourites (with a lower case f), neither is in the absolute forefront of my taste. (If someone asked me "what sort of music do you like?" I wouldn't get to Costello & Simon until well into the conversation!)

 

Paul Simon wins this one. Never understood the appeal of Costello. And the guy had a whole lot of nerve calling himself "Elvis" in the first place. It just burns me up when I type in "Elvis CD" on Ebay and I get all this Elvis Costello nonsense.

 

Easy. Paul Simon.

Everything he did in the 70's + Graceland is better than any album Elvis Costello ever put out IMO.

 

No doubt for me. Simon!

 

Simon is good, Costello is better.

Tim

 

Simon