The musician Paul Simon crowned the true leader of the 1960s: “At least he tried”
The 1960s were an incredibly exciting time for music. It seems that you couldn’t turn the corner without bumping into an artist who was trying to reinvent sound.
One of these artists was Paul Simon. He was a true songwriting craftsman, both when working as a duo in Simon & Garfunkel, but also when he was writing music as a solo artist. He took his time when writing and tried to instil emotion and feeling into everything he did. With each passing album, he seemed to prove that he was one of the greatest songwriting minds on the planet.
He was inspired by a lot of the people who were making music at the time, as there were ideas floating around left and right, with different bands trying different things. Of course, it’s very hard to think about music in the ‘60s without thinking of The Beatles, given in the storm of these different ideas, the four lads from Liverpool sat at the heart of it.
They had already had some success in the UK, but things really kicked off for the band in 1964, when they first went over to America and managed to take the States by storm with a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Suddenly, everybody wanted to start a band with their friends, and those who were already in bands making music suddenly had a blueprint they could follow in order to be successful.
“There was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964,” said Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. “That was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche. It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual, The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles, and then there is everybody else.”
Of course, while it was an exciting time as a lot of different artists steadily started making a name for themselves, Paul Simon expressed somewhat of a level of disdain toward the period, not because of what people were making, but because they didn’t continue making it. He spoke on John Lennon specifically here, calling him the leader of the entire decade, but adding that a lot of the music he made in the ‘70s and onwards never lived up to the bar he had set.
“The tremendous disappointment of my generation is that there were so many gifted people who looked like they were going to fulfil their promise and did not,” said Simon. “Say, John Lennon; I didn’t think his last record was that great. But there was something about the voice he had, something about his ability and willingness to expose himself that was terribly moving. I didn’t agree with everything he said or his actions or conclusions, but he was a leader, more than any of the others.”
Simon puts this apparent lack of reaching his top potential down to a need to constantly try to reinvent himself. When The Beatles were coming to an end, it was no secret that John Lennon wanted to start making music that was a much more honest reflection of both his political and emotional beliefs. It was a noble effort, but Paul Simon believes the version of himself he left behind in the ‘60s had more promise. A controversial thought that will divide opinion, sure, but it’s still worth considering.
“He didn’t really reject The Beatles, but at least he tried,” said Simon, concluding, “He tried to reject that fame, that box you can’t get out of. You know, there are certain people who are inspirational, and there are influential people. There’s a difference.”
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