Paul Simon - Graceland - 25th Anniversary Edition (Limited Edition, 180 Gram) (LP)

180 gram vinyl LP pressing with download card. Digitally re-mastered and expanded 25th Anniversary edition of this groundbreaking album from the iconic singer/songwriter. In 1986, Graceland sold 14 million copies worldwide and garnered both the Album and Song of the Year Grammy in 1987. Simon and the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo performed on Saturday Night Live and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. It generated three hit singles and it kept Paul Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years. It's music was heard across the globe. Today, it's music and it's reputation still reach generations of music enthusiasts yet so many are unaware of how pivotal that one album was during the 1980 s, how it helped birth the idea of World Music and revived the career of one of America's most important songwriters. How it influenced the political progress of South Africa a country divided by institutionalized racism, causing and then transcending years of controversy. How in fact the album came to be in the first place.

With Graceland, Paul Simon hit on the idea of combining his always perceptive songwriting with the little-heard mbaqanga music of South Africa, creating a fascinating hybrid that re-enchanted his old audience and earned him a new one. It is true that the South African angle (including its controversial aspect during the apartheid days) was a powerful marketing tool and that the catchy music succeeded in presenting listeners with that magical combination: something they'd never heard before that nevertheless sounded familiar. As eclectic as any record Simon had made, it also delved into zydeco and conjunto-flavored rock & roll while marking a surprising new lyrical approach (presaged on some songs on Hearts and Bones); for the most part, Simon abandoned a linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic ("Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"), abstract ("The Boy in the Bubble"), and satiric ("I Know What I Know") portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. An enormously successful record, Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured. 

Personnel includes: Paul Simon (vocals, guitar); Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, General M.D. Shirinda, The Gaza Sisters, Joseph Shabalala (vocals); Adrian Belew (guitar, syntesizer guitar); Chikapa "Ray" Phiri, Daniel Xilakazi (guitar); Demola Adepoju (pedal steel); Forere Motloheloa, Jonhjon Mikhalali (accordion); Alex Foster (alto sax); Lenny Pickett (tenor sax); Ronnie Cuber (baritone saxophone); Earl Gardner, Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff, Alan Rubin (trumpet); Rob Mounsey (synthesizer); Baghiti Khumalo (bass); Vusi Khumalo (drums); Lulu Masilela (tambourine); Youssou N'Dour, Makhaya Mahlangu Ralph McDonald, Babacar Faye, Assane Thiam (percussion).
Los Lobos: Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar); David Hildago (vocals, guitar, accordion); Steve Berlin (saxophone); Conrad Lozano (bass); Louie Perez, Steve Gadd (drums).

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Folk / Rock