(SOUNDBITE OF PAUL SIMON SONG, "YOU CAN CALL ME AL")
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The 1986 album "Graceland" is considered Paul Simon's signature album. It introduced South African music to a global audience, and it revitalized Simon's stagnant career.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU CAN CALL ME AL")
PAUL SIMON: (Singing) A man walks down the street. He says, why am I soft in the middle now? Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so hard.
MARTÍNEZ: A new book explores how the album was made and its cultural impact. It's called "Days Of Miracle And Wonder: Paul Simon And The Trials And Triumphs Of Graceland." Writer Ashley Kahn says the album came just at the right time for Paul Simon, who in the mid-1980s was struggling artistically and commercially.
ASHLEY KAHN: Paul was coming off of a less-than-stellar performance by the album called "Hearts And Bones." It had not been a huge commercial hit. It was critically welcomed, but it wasn't exactly the album that he wanted.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEARTS AND BONES")
SIMON: (Singing) Love like lightning shaking till it moans. Heart and bones.
MARTÍNEZ: Seems like Paul Simon definitely was in a stage in his life and in his career where change was probably needed.
KAHN: Absolutely. You know, and change came to him in a very kind of offhand way. A bootleg cassette of South African music is what really inspired Paul in a totally new direction.
MARTÍNEZ: What was on that cassette?
KAHN: The cassette was called "Gumboots Accordion Jive Volume II." And there was one tune in particular by an accordionist named Johnson Mkhalali from South Africa.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHNSON MKHALALI'S "SUNSHINE BOOTS")
KAHN: And so that song inspired what would become "Gumboots" on the album "Graceland."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GUMBOOTS")
SIMON: (Singing) I was having this discussion in a taxi heading downtown, rearranging my position on this friend of mine who had a little bit of a breakdown.
MARTÍNEZ: It is the inspiration for that song "Gumboots." But I also hear "You Can Call Me Al." That's the song that I think most people would know from "Graceland." But it seems like the DNA from that cassette is in a lot of those songs.
KAHN: It's a music that was called mbaqanga. But the idea here is that Paul decided that he didn't want to recreate this music with New York studio musicians. His intent was to record it with the musicians who were on that cassette.
MARTÍNEZ: How did "Graceland" change the way Paul Simon composed music?
KAHN: Well, "Graceland" was pretty much a kind of a 90-degree shift for him as far as how he approached songwriting, building songs up, starting with a rhythm track, as opposed to starting with a lyric. One of the best examples has to be "You Can Call Me Al," a tune that was written about an old dinner party. And Paul was mistakenly referred to throughout the evening by one of the celebs at the party as Al.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
KAHN: And he took a tune that was a studio jam that really doesn't have shape yet.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
KAHN: And here's the album version.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU CAN CALL ME AL")
SIMON: (Singing) A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, the breakout star on the album was the South African choral group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. How did Paul Simon get to know that group?
KAHN: Well, Paul at first was very intimidated by the idea of working with them. Paul, of course, had a longtime love for vocal harmony, doo-wop, gospel. But the harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a 10-man Zulu choir, were something else.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES")
SIMON: (Singing) Sing, ta, na, na. Ta, na, na. Ta, na, na, na. She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes. Oh, wow, oh, wow. Ta, na, na. Ta, na, na. Ta, na, na, na. She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes. Oh, wow, oh, wow. Diamonds on the soles of her shoes. She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes.
KAHN: Paul flew them out to Abbey Road Studios in London and recorded with them there. And the tune "Homeless" was born. And from then on, the relationship blossomed. And the next thing you know, they're performing with him on "Saturday Night Live."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES")
SIMON: (Vocalizing).
MARTÍNEZ: Now, when "Graceland" came out, the U.S. and other nations were imposing sanctions on the apartheid government of South Africa. There was also a United Nations resolution demanding musicians support the cultural boycott of South Africa. And even though he highlighted South African artists, he was criticized for not speaking out more forcefully against apartheid. How did he respond to that criticism?
KAHN: That was definitely one of the most direct criticisms that he endured, was the fact that his songs recorded with South Africans did not clearly state an anti-apartheid message. And yet, every night that the "Graceland" tour was happening, at the very end of the evening, all the musicians would come up front to the lip of the stage and together sing "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," which was pretty much the anthem of anti-apartheid activity.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in non-English language).
MARTÍNEZ: Is it fair to call "Graceland" Paul Simon's signature album?
KAHN: It definitely is looked by Paul as being his signature album. At the age of 44, 45, when many pop stars are being thrown into the oldies bin, he was still able to create very vital, very new, very important music that was opening up minds and hearts and ears around the world.
MARTÍNEZ: Ashley Kahn is author of "Days Of Miracle And Wonder: Paul Simon And The Trials And Triumphs Of Graceland." Ashley, thank you very much.
KAHN: Thank you, A.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOMELESS")
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO: (Singing) Homeless, homeless. Moonlight sleeping on a midnight late. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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