October 13: Rhymin’ Simon

Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon was born in New Jersey on this date in 1941. His parents were Hungarian immigrants, both musicians, who moved to Kew Gardens, Queens shortly after his birth. Simon began singing together in harmony with his friend Art Garfunkel at Forest Hills High School at the age of 13. After recording a song or two with Garfunkel, he spent the years between 1957 and ’64 writing and recording more than thirty songs with a variety of musicians. On October 19, 1964, Simon and Garfunkel released their first song with Columbia Records, “The Sound of Silence,” which became a number-one hit. They recorded five successful albums before splitting up in 1970. Paul Simon then began a remarkable career as a smart, philosophical, storytelling songwriter and a rhythmic, sophisticated musician who has incorporated many elements of world music into his creations. In 1985, he recorded his Graceland album in South Africa with accompaniment by Ladysmith Black Mambazo; in 1989, he recorded The Rhythm of the Saints in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2007, Simon was the first recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the U.S. Library of Congress. He has also won thirteen Grammy Awards. Ever since his early success, Simon has sponsored music education programs for children and mentored several teenage musicians. To see him performing “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, look below.

“We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune.” —Paul Simon