Steve Berlin of Los Lobos remembers working with Paul Simon...and it was NOT good.

I've read some Townshend stuff where he openly admitted that he has had trouble handing over some things that he thought was VERY personal over to Roger's tonsils. I guess he's learned to deal with it by either getting distance on it or discipling himself that it was for the good of the band and the fans.

I remember reading that there was a song on one of the later lps that Roger flat out refused to sing and forced Pete to do it. Pete had said in an interview that much later he understood Rogers' decision and agreed with it.

 

T-Bone Burnette produced Los Lobos' "One Night in America" LP. I understand that he was really upset that the band gave away that song to Paul Simon, as they needed it to finish their own record. Berlin's story rings true to me. Los Lobos should have sued Simon, they totally got ripped.
Didn't Simon nick the arrangement of "Scarborough Fair" from Martin Carthy? I understand that Simon finally apologized recently for it.

 

That's your opinion and not one I would disagree with, as a fan and person on this forum. But I'd agree with Mark--Bridge has been covered by everyone, crossed over to where adults knew it in the 70's, got and probably now gets more airplay in the US than any other S&G song. Mrs Robinson for me is (culturally) a signpost of the times. It stands with the movie and "Plastics" as a representative shortcut for 'the swinging sixties'.

 

Graceland/Los Lobos misery

Howdy-

Steve Berlin himself here- I was forwarded this thread and I would most definitely like to hear Paul's side of this sad tale, as no doubt would my band members. To answer those who ask why we didn't act more decisively, well we had this thing called La Bamba that happened not too long after, and frankly we were very poorly served by our managers, lawyers and label, for which we take complete responsibility. We took as gospel those around us who said it was being dealt with, that we should just be quiet about it and it would all come out ok. Keep your eyes and ears open kids- at least our career didn't die immediately thereafter.

 

Read the thread?

 

Welcome to the forum Steve.

 

Thanks for your contribution, Steve. I've met you twice after shows and want to say again how glad I am you guys hang out after shows. I, for one, would never care if I ever heard you guys do La Bamba again.

 

No doubt, Bridge has had a huge impact. However, I just don't see Paul being dwarfed by it.

 

I understand that band politics can be complicated. Sometimes someone saves something for a solo project. Sometimes the band resents that. Sometimes there is no solo career yet and the very thought of holding something back can be threatening. I guess I can definitely cut Simon a little slack on BOTW issue. On the other hand...singing pretty IS what Artie brought to the table.

 

The amount of recording that Art Garfunkel did towards the aborted "Simon & Garfunkel-Think Too Much" album has been exaggerated.

It began as a Paul Simon solo project,then Paul Simon tried to turn it into a Simon & Garfunkel album. Simon & Garfunkel were never in the studio at the same time. Garfunkel laid down background vocals for 3 songs,and a brief middle-eight lead vocal for one song, then Garfunkel halted work on the album.

Garfunkel then stalled Paul Simon off for many months about returning to the studio to finish his parts. Simon then got tired of Garfunkel's prima donna stalling, and realized that the only way to get the album finished was to go back to the original idea of a Paul Simon solo album.

Simon is portrayed as the villain of the situation, but this is not correct. Garfunkel got what he deserved. Simon, understandably, wasn't going to take any crap from him.

 

Dark Matter aka Steve Berlin,

It is a distinct honor to have you on the Forum. And here is my opportunity to tell you how many years upon years of inspired musical pleasure Los Lobos has provided me with. You and the band have never quit peaking creatively IMO. I certainly hope now that you are on board, you will give us an insider's look at the Wolves and their stellar musical accomplishments.

 

Hi Steve, welcome to our forum. All I can say is "Ouch!" in response to your (dis)Graceland experience, but on a happier note, I'd like to suggest that we start a "Welcome Steve Berlin" thread for anyone who would like to ask you a question about Los Lobos, or any your production work or any of your other outside session work.

Me, I'd love to hear about recording your saxophones on R.E.M.'s song "Fireplace" -- you sax parts really make the song one of my favorites on the their Document album

 

The Who song that Roger Daltrey refused to sing is "However Much I Booze".

Also,Art Garfunkel wrote the middle section lyric for "America"("Laughing on the bus,playing games with the faces....) and got no credit.

 

That melody, which is in the Lutheran (and probably other denominations') hymnal under the title "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," came from Hans Leo Hassler, a German composer from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, about 100 years before Bach. The hymn itself, which was spliced to Hassler's pre-existing melody (a common practice until the 20th century), predates Bach by a generation at least; the German words were written by Paul Gerhard, a prolific German Lutheran hymnist, in 1656.

So even if there had been a refined copyright system in the era, the melody would have been in the public domain by the time Bach used it -- five times, in different keys and settings -- in the St. Matthew Passion.

 

No it hasn't. Think Too Much was, for all intents and purposes, completed.

I can see how one might get that impression based upon the circulating rough mixes.

My guess is that the label rejected the album because it wasn't Simon and Garfunkely enough. That's just speculation on my part though.

 

I guess the credits on a GRACELAND song represent a good amount of money.

IIRC, in an interview Maria McKee thanked the Dixie Chicks for covering just one of her songs. One song on one Dixie Chicks album was a windfall, the equivalent of writing all the songs for an album that "only" goes platinum.

 

I remember reading Tom Verlaine said he lives a comfortable life because David Bowie covered "Kingdom Come" on his Scary Monsters album.

 

Where did you hear that? Every account I've ever read of it said that Simon got fed up waiting for Garfunkel to record his vocals (and by that time had changed his mind about wanting Art on it anyway).

I've never heard the label rejected the record (especially since it was never finished).

 

Sorry, if the story is true, Berlin needs to do *anything* but take a chill pill.

He should shout it from the rooftops.

As a professional writer, I am outraged. Two years ago I took on an advisor with a military background for a piece I later sold.

He was purely an advisor. I put together the pitch, and, upon its sale, wrote every word of of the subsequent script.

Given the guy was a very recently retired elite special forces guy, we chose a pseudonym for him. And I gave him full fifty-fifty credit and financial participation in the piece.

At the end of the day, although I wrote the script, and was solely responsible for its structure, I knew in my heart that I couldn't have properly executed it without this guy's help.

I felt a sense of obligation to honor that.

Paul Simon's first album is one of my favorite albums of all time. But with this story, coupled with the business that came out years ago with regard to the African artists, I am profoundly disgusted.

 

I hear the sound of gortsteps.

 

I hope not. Let's not turn this into an ugly Simon Bashfest '08. I'm very glad to have Mr. Berlin join us here. So let's keep an open mind and keep the discussion going, please?

BTW - Welcome to the forum, Steve! I think your version of La Bamba was killer! Don't let some of the less tactful forum members chase you away.

 

Like I said before, several of those guys played with Paul on the Graceland tour, and on subsequent albums, and got songwriting credits on the album. So he doesn't seem to have screwed everyone over who was involved.

 

I think Berlin's characterization of Simon was fairly accurate for that point in time.

"One Trick Pony" was a movie that did horribly at the box office.

Put it right up there (in terms of commercial success) with that Mariah Carey movie.

OK... I know Paul Simon isn't a movie star (and I happen to LIKE that
movie - a LOT)... but it was still a pretty ugly black eye.

That being said...

I think there is somewhat of a stupid side to Berlin's story in that he
admits that Los Lobos is (or was) incapable of jamming.

That being said - the pairing was doomed from the start.


The way I read the story - Los Lobos pretty much gave Paul a song
just so they could escape the situation. Yeah - its tacky that Paul
all of sudden acted like he wrote it... but I suspect that there
had to have been some sort of communal creative process. Did
they hand Simon a lyric sheet ? Or did they just start playing
a song that they had been working on and Simon added words to it?

If Simon took the song 100% (music and words) from Los Lobos, they
have a legit gripe... if they didn't like the guy and surrendered a
song just so they could run back to Los Angeles (I'm assuming the
recording was done in NY), that was their decision.

 

My feelings exactly!

 

The album was most assuredly completed , a cover designed and played in-full at the Warner's quarterly sales meeting that year.
Most likely the failure of "Hearts and Bones" can be attributed in part to the Warners sales folks being bummed out the did NOT get the S&G version of what was pretty much the same record. Shame we will never hear the "Think too Much" version.