Paul Simon - Graceland

25th anniversary of Paul Simon's Graceland celebrated with a special edition DVD Video & CD

Features "Under African Skies" documentary film

Original album plus bonus tracks including previously unreleased demos from the Ovation Studio sessions and new spoken word "The Story of Graceland" as told by Paul Simon

Full-length feature documentary film plus bonus scenes with extended interviews, plus The African Concert released on DVD for the first time

"Prior to Graceland, the music of South Africa was largely unknown outside the country, except to a small minority of world music fans ..." — Peter Gabriel

"Unmissable ... 'Under African Skies' is a cultural lightning bolt that soars on its music and an unshakable belief in the transcendence of art." — Rolling Stone

"Brilliant! Required viewing! Not to be missed! One of the best rock-docs ever made!" — Access Hollywood

There is certainly nothing else quite like famed singer-songwriter Paul Simon's landmark classic album Graceland, which is now offered in a special edition CD/DVD, giving you the acclaimed album and the full-length commemorative documentary.

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 proved more powerful and enduring than the political hotbed attending its creation. In 1986, the album sold 14 million copies worldwide, and received universal praise from critics around the globe. Simon, a 12-time Grammy Award-winner, and composer of then two Grammy-awarded albums of the year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years) traveled to South Africa to record with local artists. Simon and the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo subsequently performed on TV's Saturday Night Live and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. Graceland earned Simon another Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1987 as well as Song of the Year in 1988.

The universal appeal of the music of Graceland proved more powerful and enduring than the political hotbed attending its creation. As eclectic as any record Simon had made, it also delved into zydeco and conjunto-flavored rock 'n' roll while marking a surprising new lyrical approach. Simon abandoned a linear, narrative approach to his words, drawing instead on the highly poetic ("Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"), abstract ("The Boy in the Bubble") and satiric ("I Know What I Know"). An enormously successful record, Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured.

The story of the making of Graceland and the controversy it created, is told in "Under African Skies," a full-length documentary from two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger. "Under African Skies" travels with Paul Simon back to South Africa 25 years after his first visit. Simon revisits the making of the record, surveying from the vantage of history the turbulence and controversy surrounding the album's genesis. Simon's artistic decision to collaborate with African musicians created a new world musical fusion, combining American and African musical idioms while igniting an intense political crossfire. Simon was accused of breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the apartheid regime. The album generated three hit singles — in January 1987 "You Can Call Me Al" was played everywhere; while the title track won Song of the Year in 1988 — and it kept Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years.

The Graceland 25th Anniversary Edition Box Set 2 CD/2 DVD includes all the CD/DVD material plus two books and a collectible poster housed in a deluxe slipcase. The first book features new and archival photographs, new interviews with Paul Simon and complete telling of the Graceland story. The second book is a facsimile reproduction of Paul's handwritten lyrics pad for the album.

"Paul Simon's Graceland played a greatly significant role in removing the standoffish dread Western culture harbored toward South Africa during its internal struggle against apartheid, humanizing both a country's soul-searching hunger for liberation and its simultaneous outpouring of cathartic creative expression." — Timothy White, Billboard

 

Disc One – remastered Graceland CD

1. The Boy In The Bubble

2. Graceland

3. I Know What I Know

4. Gumboots

5. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

6. You Can Call Me Al

7. Under African Skies

8. Homeless

9. Crazy Love, Vol. II

10. That Was Your Mother

11. All Around The World or the Myth Of Fingerprints

Disc Two – Bonus Tracks

1. Homeless (demo)

2. Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes (alternate version)

3. All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints (early version)

4. You Can Call Me Al* (demo)

5. Crazy Love* (demo)

6. The Story of “Graceland” - as told by Paul Simon* *previously unissued

DVD 1 - UNDER AFRICAN SKIES PAUL SIMON’S GRACELAND JOURNEY

BONUS FOOTAGE: extended interviews with film participants

MUSIC VIDEOS

You Can Call Me Al

The Boy In The Bubble

Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes – From Saturday Night Live, November 22, 1986

DVD 2 - GRACELAND:

THE AFRICAN CONCERT Released on DVD for the first time

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