Music : The Paul Simon Songbook

Rating: - Poet and a one man band
You could describe this album as "S&G without Garfunkel" or "Paul Simon unplugged before he was famous" (leaving aside the early "Tom and Jerry" incarnation).

If you want to hear more S&G material than you can find on the interminable re-packages of greatest hits, you could buy one of their studio albums (or, for a very fair price, "Collection", which gives you all of them). This album is a lesser-known alternative.

It was recorded in London in 1965, during the hiatus between the initial failure of "Wednesday morning 3 am" and the re-vamping of "Sound of Silence" which took S&G to stardom.

All the songs are better known as S&G recordings, apart from "A church is burning" and "The side of a hill", though the lyrics of the latter were later incorporated into "Scarborough Fair".

The album was recorded in three short sessions, and it shows. The recording quality is reasonable, except where voice or guitar suddenly go off-mike. Simon's vocals and guitar are not as polished as they were for the S&G versions of these songs. All this is not surprising, as the album was probably done on a shoestring; much more care could be invested in S&G recordings after the success of "Sound of Silence". It remains a fascinating insight into Paul Simon's music before the onset of fame. It is in mono, but none the worse for that.

This album was off-catalogue for decades, so it is worth buying while you have the chance.

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Rating: - A Classic
This album completely sums up everything Paul Simon has ever done as a solo artist. Whether you're listening for the first time or re-living a memory, this album is a must have for any music collection.

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Rating: - A valuable and enjoyable document
Recorded in England following the failure of the first Simon and Garfunkel album, TPSSB is the sound of voice and solo guitar recorded in mono on a single mike. All things considered it sounds pretty good. All but one of the songs ('The Side of a Hill' which, if songs had feelings, would probably be feeling somewhat rejected) would go on to be re-recorded with Art Garfunkel in far more opulent circumstances. So, what are these early, solo versions like? Quite good, as it happens. At times you miss Art beautiful tones, but Paul was always a good singer in his own right. The tone is perhaps a bit more naive and sentimental than the later versions, but they hold their own. They are not as good as the duo versions, those harmonies were crucial to the success of the S&G records, but they make a worthwhile and enjoyable addition to the Paul Simon catalogue...

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Rating: - At last!!
Every year before Christmas, I enter the words "Paul Simon Songbook" into the Amazon searchbox. And this year I got a result! I have the album on lp, which I copied to cassette tape years ago. Last year I made a copy of the tape onto CD, but the sound qulity is fairly poor. Finally, here is the CD version. It is a wonderful, simple and very sincere album, the first one I ever bought. It reflects the magic of those years in the sixties. And it is great to hear early accousitc versions of later hits.

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Rating: - An excellent little album
I would be very envious of anyone coming to the PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK who had never heard the Simon & Garfunkel versions. As it is, like one previous reviewer has said, if the guitar picking of Paul Simon (especially in the days of his pounding Martin D-18 guitar before he swapped it for something smaller) and his soft tenor voice are the draw of S & G, then you will not be disappointed. One thing that impresses me is that Paul Simon never felt the need to alter the songs in anyway when they appeared on subsequent S & G albums; in such a young songwriter, I find that degree of self-assuredness and confidence in his material quite amazing. But then he'd first cut a record in 1957, so he'd had plenty of experience by 1965. The title of the album is highly important: these were the songs that he was cultivating at the time, and given that 'The Sound of Silence' was on three albums (WEDNESDAY MORNING 3 A.M.; PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK; SOUNDS OF SILENCE) clearly shows that this was something of a personal favourite. The reason why I made the point about hearing this before the S & G albums is that the solo songs actually do in some cases sound a bit hollow after my being so used to Art Garfunkel's vocals, slightly distracting the listener; and Paul Simon sometimes does sound as if he had been recording in the London Dungeon, circa 1365. I was surprised at this reaction in myself and conclude that Art Garfunkel was quite important after all. All that having been said, this album is well worth getting hold of. It's very much an album of the times: how did he get away with a one-off? No five record deal with CBS? It shows that Paul Simon was assiduous and full in self-belief to succeed, compared to say poor Jackson C. Frank Paul Simon really did work hard to get where he was, and created his own luck.

The reason why I haven't given five stars is that I feel the inclusion of two bonus tracks was a mistake: so what if Paul uses a six-string guitar instead of a twelve-string one on 'A Church Is Burning' or whether he stamps his foot on 'I Am A Rock [Take #6]'? The choice of these two songs means that should you wish to play the album more than once in succession it means within the space of five tracks you get these two songs twice a piece, which takes a bit of sticking - 'A Church Is Burning' is not the strongest song in Paul Simon's repertoire. The liner notes are little bit dated - and Paul Simon does portray himself somewhat pretentiously, and the protest songs are probably the weakest in the set. But it's all relevant to the feel of the album and no reason for disappointment; after all, the album is nearly 40 years old.

All that aside, the listener will relish those songs that show Paul Simon at his best, namely: 'Kathy's Song' (the girl on the front cover apparently being the aforementioned Kathy); 'Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall', 'April She Will Come', 'A Most Peculiar Man', 'He Was My Brother', 'Patterns', and a rather impressively solid version of 'The Sound of Silence', complete with foot-tapping. It is certainly worth getting the album for these songs, and you won't feel that you have duplicated previous S & G versions; rather you've been privy to a unique snapshot of a great songwriter, and a slightly overlooked guitar player, not to mention singer.