Album review: Graceland.

Graceland is a studio album by Paul Simon, one half of the American music duo, Simon and Garfunkel. It was released in 1986. It also happens to be in my top ten list of favourite albums so it is up there with Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The first time I came across it was when I visited my uncle in London. He was listening to it a few days before his eldest daughter was born. I remember my eight-year-old self dancing around the room as soon as the music from the album played. I didn't know the name of the album then but I knew I liked it and wanted to get it for myself.

Graceland is heavily influenced by South African musicians such as Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu. Moreover the album featured South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo as well as other South African artists and groups. No surprise there as most of the tracks from the album were recorded in South Africa. The album received critical acclaim and was a commercial success. It was a hit worldwide. In 1987 the album won a well-deserved Grammy for Album of the Year and in 1988 the song Graceland won a Grammy for Record of the Year.

One of the most popular songs from Graceland is "You Can Call Me Al" which was a hit in the UK. I like this song as it has a jazzy feel to it and it has a flavour of a typical African song. When I was little I was exposed to Ghanaian music and so I grew fond of Paul Simon's single. My favourite track is "I Know What I Know". It is one of several songs which are embedded in my head year after year. You know when you first listen to a song and it has such an impact on you that it keeps playing in your head over and over again. That is one example for me. I also like the following track "Gumboots" which is one of the shortest songs in the album. As for the title song Graceland, it was inspired by Simon's road trip to Elvis Presley's world famous mansion in Memphis. The song also features vocals by the Everly Brothers. In my opinion the album is fantastic and I think that it is Simon's masterpiece. It contains a marvellous blend of folk music, pop music and South African music and the three genres work very well together.

The album Graceland did a great job in introducing the world to the brilliance of South African music. It was created when Paul Simon visited South Africa and he was so marvelled by the music that he wanted to share it with the rest of the world. Another example of African music that has been gaining popularity in recent years is Afrobeats. Two years ago I went to the BT River of Music Festival where they played African music and I enjoyed it. Personally I think that it would be great if music from other African nations have a lot of exposure and garner a lot of appreciation in other countries.


Comments

  1. Abena Sɛwaa20 October 2014 at 01:50

    I love that call me all song too. Nice welcoming piece and nice start to the day

    ReplyDelete

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