Paul Simon: 'In Restless Dreams' Doc

[rick]

Just finished watching (over two nights) the three-and-a-half-hour-plus documentary about Paul Simon called "In Restless Dreams." Quite a bit of it is about the making of his most recent (and likely final) album "Seven Psalms."

A few points I wanted to make here.

1) Linda Ronstadt often talks about growing up listening to AM radio and all of the stations she could hear from across the United States (and even from Mexico). In the documentary, Paul Simon talks about how his father worked in a band at Roseland in New York and how his father didn't get rock 'n' roll. Paul Simon listened to the radio and fell in love with the sounds of Elvis Presley and The Cleftones, among others. I think it's interesting that a boy growing up in Queens, New York, and a young woman growing up in Tucson, Arizona, were so heavily influenced by the varied songs/styles they heard over the radio. Paul Simon said that he would go over to Art Garfunkel's house and they would listen each week to the countdown of the best-selling records.

2) Many of the live performances used in the documentary are from Paul Simon's appearances on "Saturday Night Live." When it got to "Graceland," I expected to see video of Linda singing "African Skies" with Paul Simon. However, the documentary covers the controversy surrounding Paul Simon going to South Africa during apartheid. He hires Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba to perform on the "Graceland" tour. So the version of "African Skies" is the live version with Miriam Makeba in which "Tucson, Arizona" is swapped for Miriam Makeba's township in South Africa. Different feel. I understand why this choice was made.

3) Although I love the Linda Ronstadt documentary "Still Within the Sound of My Voice," I feel that it pretty much ends with Linda and Aaron Neville performing "Don't Know Much" and neglects the recordings Linda made after "CLAR." In a similar way, despite interweaving the making of Paul Simon's latest "Seven Psalms," the documentary makes it seem as if he didn't do much worth mentioning after "Rhythm of the Saints" (my favorite Paul Simon album). There's a lot of material to cover post-"Rhythm of the Saints," but it's left by the wayside.

[eddiejinnj]

I saw the "Rhythm of the Saints" cd at a yard sale I didn't get it as I was not sure if I had it plus if I'd like it. Now if I see it, I will get it. I remember Hugh Maskela's "Grazing in the Grass". The song is almost too catchy as it is one I will sing in my head for a long time after I hear it.

eddiejinfl

[alyn]

I think the cherry-picking in these kind of documentaries can leave a lot to be desired...if only they would enlist a panel of fans of the artist or band in question they might end up with a more even reflection on the careers in question, and the result would go some way to satisfying more people who are inclined to watch as fans as well as people just intrigued. There might not be so much on film from certain points from way back that can be used but at least the music is there and a full appreciation can be shown.

Obviously, we know Linda's music covered an awful lot of ground so we might have to 'suffer'* a six part documentary to make sure it's all in there :-) :-)

(*humour)

[eddiejinnj]

Sup, my friend, Alyn? I really thought that they could have been more comprehensive re: Linda's career up to the present. I know these projects can cost some bucks but like we said her doc ended pretty much at CLARHLTW. eddiejinfl