Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon

Carlin, author of well-received biographies of Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen, here turns his eye on Paul Simon, with similar results: an admiring yet warts-and-all portrait, eminently readable, exhaustively researched, with astute musical analysis and just a dash of purple prose to keep things moving. Simon, the son of assimilated Jews, had an all-American boyhood in 1950s Queens. His father was an accomplished professional musician who nevertheless didn't want his son to follow in his footsteps. Meeting Art Garfunkel, a neighbor with a similar passion for 50s doo-wop, was the seminal event of his life; billing themselves as Tom and Jerry, they tasted success as a performing and recording act while still in high show more school. The story follows their embrace of early 60s folk and mid-60s rock, their success as Simon and Garfunkel, their break up and subsequent reunions, and Simon's various solo projects. Simon's relationship with Garfunkel has long been complicated, and Carlin does not try to simplify it. In Carlin's telling, Simon comes across as someone who does not like to feel beholden to anyone; thus, he alternates between gratitude and resentment at the role Garfunkel played in his success. (Garfunkel doesn't help matters with his passive-aggressive, sometimes inexplicable behavior.) Known as a perfectionist in the studio and a hard-headed businessman where his contracts are concerned, Simon is also generous with his time and money (but not songwriting credit) to studio musicians, and throughout his career he has shown a willingness to try new things and experiment with his sound. Despite occasional mistakes (Laugh-In was on NBC, not CBS), this is an enjoyable biography that, despite its length, moves quickly. Recommended. show less

Simon and Garfunkle was perhaps my favorite singing group, beginning in my teens and for years after that. I still have five of their record albums - three by the duo, and one each from Simon and Garfunkle separately, from their period after their first breakup. I have audio tapes as well. I got to see them perform. First in Forest Hills, Queens in August of 1969. (Carlin's book describes such a concert in August of 1970 - perhaps I will never reconcile those two facts.) Second during a reunion tour, probably 2004. I was so excited by this second chance to see them. I also saw two solo performances of Artie's, once before his voice problems began and the second just last October, when he could not even finish Bridge Over Troubled waters show more because of his voice issues. (Sad.) I have also watched the TV special of their Central Park big reunion concert. And so, I was very interested in reading Peter Ames Carlin's biography "Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon."

Carlin writes a very detailed narrative of Simon's life, with particular focus on the music. There seemed a paucity of detail about his private life, so I would guess that Paul did not cooperate with the author. There was a multitude of other sources, however. About the women in Paul's life, there was a bit more about Carrie Fisher, than the others, but even there, not too much. On the music side there is plenty of detail about every song, analysis of every album and very prominently a great deal of information about those he dealt with in the music business. I enjoyed learning about some obscure facts, at least to me, such as how Paul intersected with The Mystics, Bob Dylan, Carole King (another celebrity from Queens College), and Carly Simon when she was 16. And I never knew Paul Simon dated Bette Middler. And who knew that Billy Joel (the other musical genius of the era) attended Paul's wedding to Carrie Fisher. But when Carlin writes about the agents, publishers, producers and other professionals involved with Paul's music who are not famous, it is too much inside baseball for me and far less interesting.

Though not a hatchet job, Paul comes across as someone who takes advantage of quite a few persons in the music business, taking their music and not paying nor providing attribution for it. He is not presented in a flattering light, although his musical genius is very much acknowledged. Both friendship and conflict characterized Paul and Art's relationship from the time they were fifteen years old. Carlin calls them "once and again partners." Neither Paul nor Artie come across as warm and gracious human beings, but rather pretty self- centered and out for themselves above all else.

The writing was good and the anecdotes flowed well - from the teenage years and the success of Hey School Girl, when they called themselves Tom and Jerry, to Paul's movie called One Trick Pony, loosely based on his life, to Paul's dismal flop with the Broadway production of The Capeman and beyond, if you are a fan, you will be engaged by Carlin's story of this entertainer for over 50 years who has just turned 75 this week.

"Preserve your memories / They're all that's left you" show less

Like many gifted artists, Paul Simon seems driven by a mix of ego and insecurities. The core example of this dichotomy is his lifelong relationship with Art Garfunkel, which is richly covered by Peter Ames Carlin, from their days in grade school and early performances as Tom & Jerry to their many attempts at reconciliation through reunion tours and abandoned recording sessions.

The controversy at the heart of the landmark album Graceland is also here, with helps the reader understand how it's possible that Simon was both genuinely supporting the South African musicians whom he so admired, while also exploiting their talents. His "Graceland" studio session with Los Lobos is now infamous for similar reasons.

His attempts to win over show more Broadway audiences with "The Capeman" and Hollywood with "One Trick Pony" show Simon at his most vulnerable and defensive. He has been jealous of Bob Dylan for being revered as the poet of his generation, of Art Garfunkel for being seen as 'the sex symbol' of the duo, and yet he toured with Dylan in the 90's and generously supported Garfunkel spending time in Hollywood working on the film "Catch 22".

Carlin does a balanced job of presenting the many facets of Simon's personality, as well as giving a fair overview of his work as a writer and singer.

Toward the end of the book, Carlin encounters Simon at Emory University, where Simon is scheduled to do a symposium. Simon spots Carlin, gives him an icy stare, and then a dismissive wave. As this book is not authorized, Simon tells us all we need to know about how he feels about his warts-and-all career being presented on the page. That's as close as Carlin ever got to Simon. So, like all third party unauthorized biographies, there should be a huge grain of salt taken with "Homeward Bound". Simon may not be the kind of guy you'd want to have a cup of coffee with - truly, it sounds like it depends on the day. Some days, he's a real mensch, other days...not so much. But, you want him on that stage, you want him at his writer's desk, and in the studio. Because that's where he creates a transcendent magic that makes the rest of it little of our business. show less

Overdone - or maybe 'overblown' - and tedious. That's how I'd probably describe Peter Ames Carlin's new Paul Simon biography, HOMEWARD BOUND. Because by a hundred pages or so in, I began getting restless, if not outright bored by the overwhelming weight of details about Simon's childhood, his troubled friendship with Art Garfunkel, and the early days of their musical careers. And it became quickly obvious that this is not an 'authorized' bio, because by the halfway point of the book, I was beginning to like Simon less and less.

PEOPLE magazine calls HOMEWARD BOUND an "exhaustively researched portrait" of Simon, which is certainly accurate, and I fear readers will soon become 'exhausted' under the mountains of trivia contained herein, show more about Paul's family, his precociousness, his intelligence, what he wore, how he combed his hair (his early baldness), his tiny stature, his many insecurities, his bouts of deep depression, his genius, etc. Not to mention his professional ambition, selfishness, petty jealousies and perfidy. His first betrayal of Garfunkel came when they were only fifteen, and there were many more throughout their long and fractured partnership. And while it's pretty obvious that Carlin has done his homework, I was left feeling that Simon's closest friends, family and associates probably would not talk with the biographer, which may make for a rather one-sided, perhaps unfair, portrait.

The detailed dissections and explanations of Simon's songs - from the very first Tom & Jerry hit, "Hey, Schoolgirl," all the way through the tracks of the many albums both as a duo and as a single artist over the the next sixty years - also become - here it comes again - tedious.

Yes, every album gets taken apart here. All the musicians who performed on them get mentioned. Other celebrity names get dropped throughout the narrative. Simon is presented as a tortured genius, which he may well be.

Simon was married three times and was involved with other women before and in between these marriages, but there is precious little personal information here about the women, the girls, the marriages. Which suggests to me that even his ex-wives and ex-lovers were not very willing to talk about him to Carlin.

So, without quoting any of many, many, many details and facts in here, let me say this. I'm a fan of Simon and Garfunkel, and of much of Simon's solo work, and I have been from the beginning, since I'm almost as old as Paul and Artie. But I almost wish I hadn't read this book, because I'm not sure I like Simon much after reading all this stuff. At the same time, I'm not at all certain that we're getting the full story of just who Paul Simon is. Yes, he's been enormously successful in his professional life, has made some wonderful music, and has earned millions of dollars along the way despite disagreements and lawsuits. His private life has been kinda sad, but part of that might have been his own fault.

Reactions to this book will probably be mixed. Carlin is certainly a competent writer, but I just don't think he got the whole story. Paul Simon's personal secrets will probably stay secret. And he may have a lot of loyal friends to thank for that. I found the book only mildly interesting. I will recommend it to pop music fans, and certainly to Simon (and Garfunkel) fans, but with the reservations already mentioned.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

HOMEWARD BOUND: THE LIFE OF PAUL SIMON by Peter Ames Carlin.
I received an ‘Advance Reader’s Edition’ from Henry Holt and Company as part of Library Thing’s Early Review Program.
It is a lengthy book. 370+ pages include a Table of Contents; Notes; Acknowledgements; Illustrations and their credits; and an index.
This is a biography of Paul Simon, but it is also a treatise on the time period (1940s though the present day), the music industry and the Jewish experience. It is a phenominal reading experience.
Paul was born October 13, 1941 in Newark and grew up in the Kew Gardens Hills section of Queens. He always felt his size defined him and a lot of self-directed abuse began at a young age. He loved baseball, was a die-hard New York show more Yankees fan, and played many sports well. He was an excellent, very gifted student. His father, Louis, was a well-respected, hard-working musician who worked under the name, Lee Simms. His brother is an excellent guitarist.
Paul met Artie Garfunkel in elementary school. Art sang after school one afternoon to a group of students waiting for a late bus. He held the group spellbound. He was that good. Paul wanted that admiration for himself. He craved it. He worked ceaselessly for musical perfection the rest of his life.
Paul’s music career began his senior year of high school when he and best friend, Arthur ‘Artie’ Garfunkel recorded ‘Hey Schoolgirl’ - a pop song that they wrote and recorded themselves. It landed them a recording contract under the names of Tom & Jerry.
One could say that this was (simultaneously) the beginning and the end of a beautiful friendship and collaboration between the two. (Paul was dependent on Artie and this made him furious. This prompted decades of petty jealousies, resentments and control issues. It was a very intimate love-hate relationship.)
I can’t list all the facts and details of Paul Simon’s life. The book does that far better than I could.
I was impressed by many details.
Paul is so well-educated - accelerated classes at a youg age, Queen’s College, Law School. (He left Law School to pursue his musical dreams. Art Garfunkel is a PHD in Mathematics.)
Paul was so immersed in music - his father was an excellent musician, as was (is) his brother, Eddie. The father of a neighborhood friend, Charlie Merenstein, ran Apollo Records. Art Gunfunkel lived a block away. Paul was in and out of recording studios, writing songs, playing the guitar, part of the music scene in New York City, England and California. He played for money on street corners in Paris and London.
Paul’s many lyrics epitimize loneliness, solitude, melancholia yet are energetic, assured and confident. I like the descriptions of the song lyrics for Bookends (1968), where the lyrics have their roots in literature and philosophy, centering on despair, nothingness, desolation and generational conflict.
I liked the details of the production of The Graduate, Annie Hall and his skits on Saturday Night Live.
I liked Paul’s pursuit of the perfect chord, the perfect progression of notes - pursuits that led him to many different countries and types of music.

Opening up the box that is Paul Simon reveals a brilliant man - well-educated, with a musical sense that defies comparison. He is hard-working, profoundly creative. A musician, a lyricist, a singer, a producer. He has been called a poet and a prophet.
There is also a dark lining to the box - woven of resentments, jealousies, control issues and not-too-nice treatment of partners or peers. He is an extremely complex personality.
I certainly don’t know Paul Simon personally, but his music has affected and influenced my life. The Bridge Over Troubled Water album (1970) was some of the only music I had any kind of access to when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer on a remote Micronesian atoll in the early 1970s. This music still defines me today and I adore it. Thank you, Paul Simon. show less

This is a detailed life overview of Simon up to 2016 or so. In this examination, Simon comes off as self-centered, greedy, and inconsiderate. Beyond his fractious relationship with Garfunkel, a couple of things stand out to me that rather diminishes my opinion of this otherwise talented and important artist:

1) Taking credit for other people's art. Two examples include "Scarborough Fair" and Martin Carthy and that Paul stole “Myth Of The Fingerprints” from Los Lobos.
2) Getting inspired to go for South African music by advice seeking Heidi Berg who already had plans to record the sounds herself that he ran without giving her due credit for her inspiration.

I don't think it's the author's fault that I came away from this book not liking Paul Simon very much, although I still like his music. I found the book most interesting when Paul and Artie began singing together as Tom and Jerry and then later Simon and Garfunkel. There was some good background information on the songs Paul wrote, but mostly it was a lot of the nitty gritty of the music business. Near the end, I skimmed more than read the book.