The Rhythm of the Saints

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox album

The Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990, by Warner Bros. In much the same way that Simon's previous album, Graceland, released in 1986, drew upon South African music, this album was inspired by Brazilian musical traditions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="McAlley">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Like its predecessor, the album was commercially successful and received mostly favorable reviews from critics.

In 1992, The Rhythm of the Saints earned two nominations for the 34th Grammy Awards – Album of the Year and Producer of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="34GN">Template:Cite web</ref>

Background

Simon had traveled to Brazil on five different occasions between 1988 and 1989, taking particular interest in the sounds coming from various street musicians that he encountered. He was encouraged to visit Brazil after Eddie Palmieri told him that "the journey of the drum goes with the slave trade, from West Africa to Brazil, then up the Caribbean."<ref name="Adrianson">Template:Cite news</ref> During his time in the city of Salvador, Bahia, he encountered the music ensemble Grupo Cultural Olodum after hearing that they were rehearsing there. Simon was impressed with their playing and recorded the ensemble two days later for "The Obvious Child", which became the opening track to Rhythm of the Saints.<ref name="Adrianson"/>

On Rhythm of the Saints, Simon decided to build many of the tracks around polyrhythmic percussion patterns.<ref name="Gallo">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He said that the rhythms influenced some of the melodies and lyrics that later accompanied the compositions.<ref name="Adrianson"/> Simon constructed chord changes around these rhythms and described the chord progressions on Rhythm of the Saints as "more adventurous" than the work on his previous album, Graceland.<ref name="Gallo"/>

Simon began to promote Rhythm of the Saints in August 1990 by inviting members of the press to the recording studio, where he sang material from his forthcoming album over the existing instrumentation, which had yet to be finalized at this stage. The album release date was originally set for September of that year, although less than three days before the album was planned for distribution to retail stores, Simon pushed the release date back over his belief that the mixes and track sequencing were not satisfactory. Simon also used this time to redo some of the vocals and said that "if you gave me the record for another week, I could take it up a pretty good notch."<ref name="Publicity">Template:Cite magazine</ref> On November 15, Simon announced on the Saturday Night Live sound stage that he would be embarking on the 41-date "Born At The Right Time Tour" with a 17-piece touring band beginning on January 4, 1991 in Tacoma, Washington.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Reception

Template:Music ratings

The Rhythm of the Saints peaked at No. 4 on the US album chart, while Graceland had peaked at No. 3, ranking them both among Simon's most commercially successful albums. The album was also successful across the Atlantic, reaching No. 1 on the UK album chart. However, with the exception of "The Obvious Child", none of its three singles—including "Proof" and "Born at the Right Time"—charted or received substantial radio play. "The Obvious Child" also failed to reach the US top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 92,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> although it reached No. 15 in the UK.<ref name="Publicity"/> Within one month of its release, Rhythm of the Saints had sold over 1.3 million copies.<ref name="Publicity"/>

Certain radio stations declined to give the album substantial airplay, with a DJ from KLOS commenting that "we played it once, but we abandoned it when we got to that drum thing".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Casey Keating from KPLZ-FM opted not to play the album, expressing their belief that strong album sales and concert attendance did not guarantee airplay on the radio.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On the difficulties of achieving airplay with Rhythm of the Saints, Simon recounted the reasons he heard from radio programmers on their reluctance to play the album. "They say, more apologetically now – we can't program it. They say it's 'too exotic' for AOR, it's 'too hard' for AC, it 'doesn't sound like the format' of CHR." He also reckoned that he heard Simon & Garfunkel music on the radio more consistently than his material from Rhythm of the Saints.<ref name="Publicity"/>

Central Park concert

Alongside various musicians, Simon performed live versions of many of the songs from the album at a free concert in Central Park, New York City on August 15, 1991, in front of an audience of around 500,000 people. The performance was recorded and later released as the album Paul Simon's Concert in the Park.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Paul Simon, except "The Coast" (music by Simon and Vincent Nguini) and "Spirit Voices" (Portuguese lyrics by Milton Nascimento).

  1. "The Obvious Child" – 4:10
  2. "Can't Run But" – 3:36
  3. "The Coast" – 5:04
  4. "Proof" – 4:39
  5. "Further to Fly" – 5:36
  6. "She Moves On" – 5:03
  7. "Born at the Right Time" – 3:48
  8. "The Cool, Cool River" – 4:33
  9. "Spirit Voices" – 3:56
  10. "The Rhythm of the Saints" – 4:12

Bonus tracks (2004 reissue)

  2. "Born at the Right Time" (acoustic demo) – 3:50
  3. "Thelma" (outtake) – 4:14
  4. "The Coast" (work-in-progress version) – 5:13
  5. "Spirit Voices" (work-in-progress version) – 3:49

Notes:

  • "Thelma" previously appeared on Paul Simon 1964/1993.
  • According to Robert J. Reina of Stereophile magazine, Simon's original track sequence was changed when "the boys in Warners' front office insisted the album's lead single, 'The Obvious Child' be given pride of place."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> To hear Simon's preferred track order, the current release would have to be re-sequenced as 3-6-4-7-8-1-2-9-5-10. At least two sleeves reflecting this track listing are known to exist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personnel

Template:Div col

  • Paul Simon – vocals, guitars (1, 3, 7, 8, 9), horn arrangements (1, 2, 3, 5–10), guitar arrangements (1, 5–8), backing vocals (4)
with

Keyboards

Guitars and bass

Drums and percussion

Reed and brass instruments

Vocals

Template:Div col end

Production

  • Paul Simon – producer
  • Marco Mazzola – basic rhythm track production (2–10)
  • Phil Ramone – original Olodum recording supervisor (1), Transamerica sessions supervisor (2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
  • Roy Halee – engineer
  • Rich Travali – assistant engineer
  • Luiz "Mequinho" Felipe – assistant engineer (1)
  • Vanderley Loureiro – assistant engineer (2–10)
  • Geraldo Tazares – assistant engineer (2–10)
  • Bruce Keen – assistant engineer (4, 7)
  • Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
  • Danny Harrison – album coordinator
  • Marc Silag – album coordinator
  • Dolores Lusitana – associate coordinator
  • Yolanda Cuomo – art direction, design
  • Miguel Rio Branco – front cover photography
  • Bruno Barbey – back cover photography
  • Sylvia Plachy – photograph of Paul Simon

Charts

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon
Chart (1990–91) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 3
Austrian Albums Chart<ref name="atchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 4
Belgian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 6
Canadian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart<ref name="nlchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 2
European Top 100 Albums<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1
Finnish Albums Chart<ref name="FINchart">Template:Cite book</ref> 7
French SNEP Albums Chart<ref name="fracharts">Template:Cite web</ref> 22
German Media Control Albums Chart <ref name="GER1">Template:Cite web</ref> 11
Hungarian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 13
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart<ref name="Jachart">Template:Cite web</ref> 87
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart<ref name="norcharts">Template:Cite web</ref> 6
New Zealand Albums Chart<ref name="nzchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 6
Spanish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 17
Swedish Albums Chart<ref name="sechart">Template:Cite web</ref> 8
Swiss Albums Chart<ref name="chchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 3
UK Albums Chart<ref name="UKchart">Template:Cite web</ref> 1
US Billboard 200<ref name="USchart1">[[[:Template:AllMusic]] Allmusic – The Rhythm of the Saints > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums]</ref> 4
Zimbabwean Albums Chart<ref>* Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000</ref> 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1990) Position
Australian Albums Chart<ref name="AUSYearend">Template:Cite web</ref> 36
Canadian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 26
Dutch Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 29
European Albums Charts<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 94
UK Albums Chart<ref name="UKYearend">Template:Cite web</ref> 13
Chart (1991) Position
Canadian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 22
U.S. Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 22

Certifications and sales

Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom Template:Col-end

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Paul Simon

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=The_Rhythm_of_the_Saints&oldid=249995"