"Graceland" - Paul Simon

Paul Simon's "Graceland" may just be my favourite album of all time. Other candidates include The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" and The Beatles "Abbey Road". Certainly not controversial choices, but there you go. Anyways, for me this is one of the most consistent of all the great albums. On "Pet Sounds" for example, there are a couple of tracks which are just not as great as others (such as "I Know There's An Answer" or the title track). On "Graceland" every track is uniformly great, so much so that I couldn't really name a favourite track off the album. On a personal level, this album has been part of my life for probably the entire 25 years since its release. My parents had a copy of this album on cassette, which they must have purchased not too long after the album's release. I heard this album many dozens of times on road trips afterwards and it soon became a favourite of mine.

What is amazing about the album is its musical diversity. While of course it is well known that Paul Simon went to South Africa and recorded with South African musicians for most of the album, it must not be forgotten that he recorded one track with Good Rockin' Dopsie And The Twisters (a Zydeco band) and another with Los Lobos (a Hispanic Roots Rock band). It is very much a 'world album'. And the world is made that much richer by its existence.

"The Mississippi delta is shining like a national guitar" is the opening line of the title track, and that line has always resonated with me, even more since I visited the Mississippi Delta and Graceland in 2003. The music on this particular track is even a bit Countryish (or as Countryish as you'll get with South African musicians) and I did not realize until quite recently that The Everly Brothers are doing backup vocals towards the end of the song.

If by some bizarre and cruel twist of fate you DON'T have a copy of this album, then I highly recommend that you pick up the double-disc 25th anniversary edition. The reason that it is so essential is the inclusion of the phenomenally moving documentary "Under African Skies" which goes over the vast controversy which this album engendered upon its release, given the UN cultural boycott which was in effect against South Africa at the time due to the odious policies of Apartheid. It made the album that much more of a fascinating trip.