Graceland (46) is the seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released in August 1986, by Warner Brothers Records.
In the early 1980s, Simon’s relationship with his former musical partner Art Garfunkel had deteriorated, his marriage to actress Carrie Fisher had collapsed, and his previous record, Hearts and Bones (1983), had been a commercial failure. In 1984 after a period of depression, Simon agreed to produce a record by a young singer-songwriter, Heidi Berg. Berg, who had played in the house bands for Saturday Night Live and The New Show, was introduced to Simon by television producer Lorne Michaels. As a reference for how she wanted her record to sound, Heidi loaned Simon a bottlegged tape of mbaqanga, street music from Soweto, a black township in Johannesburg. Simon described it as “very good summer music, happy music” that reminded him of 1950s rhythm and blues. He began improvising melodies over it as he listened in his car.
Simon asked his contacts at his label, Warner, to identify the artists on the tape. Through South African record producer Hilton Rosenthal, Warner confirmed that the music was South African and played by either the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo or the Boyoyo Boys. Simon considered buying the rights to his favourite song on the tape, “Gumboots”, and using it to write his own song, as he had with the song “El Condor Pasa” in the 1970s. Instead, Rosenthal suggested that Simon record an album of South African music, and sent him dozens of records from South African artists. He and Halee visited Johannesburg, where they spent two weeks recording with South African musicians. Further recordings were held in the United States, with guest musicians including Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers, Louisiana band Good Rockin’ Dopsie and the Twisters, and Mexican-American band Los Lobos.
Graceland features an eclectic mixture of genres, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiyaand mbaqanda. Simon wrote songs inspired by the recordings made in Johannesburg, collaborating with African and American artists. He received criticism for breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa because of its policy of apartheid. Following its completion, Simon toured alongside South African musicians, performing their music and songs from Graceland.
Graceland became Simon’s most successful studio album and his highest-charting album in over a decade; it is estimated to have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. It was lauded by critics, won the 1987 Grammy for Album of the Year, and is frequently cited as one of the best albums of all time. Rolling Stone lists it as No.46 in its ‘500 Great Albums of All Time’. In 2006, it was added to the United States’ National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important”.
