''Still Crazy After All These Years'' is the fourth solo
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American singer-songwriter
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
, released on October 17, 1975, by
. Recorded and released in 1975, the album produced four U.S. Top 40 hits: "
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (No. 1), "
Gone at Last" (No. 23, credited to Paul Simon/Phoebe Snow), "
My Little Town" (No. 9, credited to
Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...
), and the
title track
A title track is a song that has the same name as the album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...
(No. 40). It won two
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s for
Album of the Year and
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...
in
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
.
Recording
"My Little Town" reunited Simon with former partner
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...
on record for the first time since 1970, while "Gone at Last" was a duet between Simon and
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simo ...
. Two tracks featured members of the
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or a ...
as a backing band.
Covers
The title track has been recorded by
Rosemary Clooney (on her 1993 album ''
Still on the Road''),
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
(on his 1993 album ''My World''),
Karen Carpenter (on her
self-titled solo album released posthumously in 1996) and
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
(on the soundtrack of the 2000 motion picture ''
Space Cowboys'').
"I Do It for Your Love" was covered by
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...
on his
self-titled 1976 album, as well as
Karen Carpenter, and
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
on his album ''
Possibilities
''Possibilities'' is the thirty-ninth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on August 30, 2005, by Hear Music and Vector Recordings.
Background
The album features a variety of guest musicians such as Trey Anastasio an ...
'' (2005).
Track listing
Personnel
* Paul Simon – vocals, acoustic guitar (2, 3, 4, 9), electric guitar (5), string arrangements (7), horn arrangements (7, 9)
*
Barry Beckett –
Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
(1), acoustic piano (2)
*
Bob James – woodwind arrangements (1), string arrangements (1, 3), Fender Rhodes (7, 8)
*
Kenneth Ascher – Fender Rhodes (3),
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
(4)
*
Sivuca –
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
(3), vocal solo (3)
*
Richard Tee – acoustic piano (6)
*
Leon Pendarvis – acoustic piano (10)
*
Pete Carr – electric guitar (2)
*
Joe Beck
Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 40 years.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...
– electric guitar (3, 8, 9)
* Jerry Friedman – electric guitar (3)
*
Hugh McCracken
Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...
– electric guitar (4, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (9)
*
John Tropea – electric guitar (4)
*
David Hood
David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
Hood was b ...
– bass (1, 2)
*
Tony Levin
Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...
– bass (3, 4, 5, 7–10)
*
Gordon Edwards – bass (6)
*
Roger Hawkins – drums (1, 2)
*
Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...
– drums (3, 4, 7-10)
*
Grady Tate – drums (6)
*
Ralph MacDonald
Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer.
His compositions include " Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the due ...
– percussion (2, 3, 4, 6, 8)
*
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...
–
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
(5)
*
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...
– tenor sax solo (1), saxophone (7)
*
Eddie Daniels – saxophone (7)
*
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...
– saxophone (7)
*
Phil Woods – alto sax solo (8)
*
David Mathews – horn arrangements (2, 8)
*
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...
– vocals (2)
*
Patti Austin – backing vocals (4)
*
Valerie Simpson
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946).
Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...
– backing vocals (4, 8)
*
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simo ...
– backing vocals (4), vocals (6)
*
The Jessy Dixon Singers – backing vocals (6)
* Chicago Community Choir – backing vocals (10)
Production
* Paul Simon – producer
*
Phil Ramone – producer, engineer
* Jerry Masters – engineer (2)
* Glenn Berger – recording
* Bert Szerlip – recording
*
John Berg – design
* Anthony Maggiore – design
*
Edie Baskin – cover photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1975 albums
Paul Simon albums
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Albums arranged by David Matthews (keyboardist)
Albums produced by Phil Ramone
Albums produced by Paul Simon
Columbia Records albums