{"product_id":"the-paul-simon-song-book","title":"The Paul Simon Song Book","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first album to use this title is one of the most mysterious in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/paul-simon-mn0000031685\"\u003ePaul Simon\u003c\/a\u003e's output and almost belongs more with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-garfunkel-mn0000038936\"\u003eSimon \u0026amp; Garfunkel\u003c\/a\u003e's discography, given its 1965 recording date. Following the failure of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-garfunkel-mn0000038936\"\u003eSimon \u0026amp; Garfunkel\u003c\/a\u003e's first, all-acoustic folk revival-style album, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/album\/wednesday-morning-3-am-mw0000191731\"\u003eWednesday Morning, 3 AM\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-mn0000031685\"\u003eSimon\u003c\/a\u003eheaded off to England to see about pursuing music over there. While he was in London, he found himself in demand as a visiting American \"folksinger\" (though \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-mn0000031685\"\u003eSimon\u003c\/a\u003e's credentials in this area were rather limited), began building up a following in the coffeehouses, and was eventually pegged for a performing spot on the BBC. Suddenly, there were requests for \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/paul-simon-mn0000031685\"\u003ePaul Simon\u003c\/a\u003e recordings, of which there were none -- as a result of his being signed to Columbia Records in America, however, he was brought into the London studios of British CBS and recorded this album with only his acoustic guitar for backup. The resulting album is spare, almost minimalist, as \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-mn0000031685\"\u003eSimon\u003c\/a\u003e runs through raw and unaffected versions of songs that he was known for in London, including \"The Sounds of Silence,\" \"The Sun Is Burning,\" \"I Am a Rock,\" \"A Simple Desultory Philippic\" (in its earliest form, and far nastier than the version later done by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-garfunkel-mn0000038936\"\u003eSimon \u0026amp; Garfunkel\u003c\/a\u003e), and \"Kathy's Song.\" The notes are very, very strange, but a bigger problem is the production by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/reginald-warburton-mn0001824303\"\u003eReginald Warburton\u003c\/a\u003e and Stanley West, which isn't terribly sympathetic; the sound isn't very natural, being very close and booming, but the album is a fascinating artifact of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-mn0000031685\"\u003eSimon\u003c\/a\u003e's work during the interregnum in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-garfunkel-mn0000038936\"\u003eSimon \u0026amp; Garfunkel\u003c\/a\u003e's career. And there is one fascinating number here, \"The Side of a Hill,\" which eventually resurfaced as the countermelody song in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-garfunkel-mn0000038936\"\u003eSimon \u0026amp; Garfunkel\u003c\/a\u003e version of \"Scarborough Fair\" (a song curious by its absence here, considering that \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.allmusic.com\/artist\/simon-mn0000031685\"\u003eSimon\u003c\/a\u003e was doing it in his coffeehouse appearances) two years later. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sony Music","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50465415659851,"sku":"1038236","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_d7312e06_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1731561480","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/the-paul-simon-song-book","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}