Paul Simon
Latest about Paul Simon

Paul Simon teams up with Sabrina Carpenter for Simon & Garfunkel classic during SNL's 50th anniversary special
By Janelle Borg published
The star-studded event also featured Jack White's rendition of Neil Young's Rockin’ in the Free World, Adam Sandler on acoustic, Bonnie Raitt joining forces with Coldplay's Chris Martin, and Paul McCartney serving Beatles classics

He’s been sampled by Kanye, and played with Paul Simon – yet Delicate Steve is still the best-kept secret in indie guitar
By Matt Parker published
Steve Marion tells us why his career highlights include a severely negative Pitchfork review, making an album he hated and Kanye sampling him… then not releasing the track

How Bakithi Kumalo’s swung, fretless bassline helped create one of Graceland’s defining sounds
By Chris Jisi published
Like much of Paul Simon’s Graceland, the 1985 session for The Boy In The Bubble took place at Ovation Studios in downtown Johannesburg

Paul Simon is one of the all-time great songwriters, but he’s a remarkable guitar player, too
By Stuart Ryan published
There is a case to be made that Paul Simon is one of the most underrated players ever, but maybe that's because he always foregrounds the song. This lesson shows just what a clever player he is

“I was forced to play fretless because it was the cheapest bass available”: Paul Simon’s Graceland bassist Bakithi Kumalo defined the 1980s fretless bass sound – but the session pro says he knew nothing about it before making the album
By Matt Parker published
The South African bassist helped create one of the most distinctive tones and techniques of the era, but maintains the decision was a very happy accident

“Doug really knew his way around that bass. Billy built the band around him”: How Paul Simon's advice and Doug Stegmeyer’s swinging bassline transformed Billy Joel’s Only The Good Die Young
By Brian Fox published
Doug Stegmeyer was a student of the Beatles and Motown – and his bassline on Only The Good Die Young is a masterclass

“I play the guitar every day. It’s where I go for solace”: Paul Simon shares the challenges of his unexpected hearing loss
By Jonathan Horsley published
The legendary songwriter said he was beginning to accept his condition but is actively investigating how he can tour and perform his new album, Seven Psalms, onstage

Richard Davis, legendary jazz bassist who worked with everyone from Van Morrison to Charles Mingus, dies at 93
By Nick Wells published
He recorded with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon, but it was Davis’ bass playing on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks that was described as “the greatest bass ever heard on a rock album”

Paul Simon: “People have tried to cop that bass solo, but it’s physically impossible” – how engineer Roy Halee created the iconic bass break on Call Me Al
By Gregory Isola published
Bakithi Kumalo: “Listening back, I didn’t know what happened – I thought it was from God, you know?”
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