Still Crazy After All These Years Explained

Still Crazy After All These Years
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Paul Simon
Cover:	PaulSimonStillCrazyAfterAllTheseYearsCover.jpg
Border:	yes
Released:	^[1]
Recorded:	May and June 1975
Studio:	A&R Recording, New York City^[2]
Genre:	Folk rock, pop rock, soul
Length:	35:24
Label:	Columbia
Producer:	Paul Simon, Phil Ramone
Prev Year:	1974
Next Title:	Greatest Hits, Etc.
Next Year:	1977

Still Crazy After All These Years is the fourth solo studio album by Paul Simon. 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), and the title track (No. 40). It won two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1976.

"My Little Town" reunited Simon with former partner Art Garfunkel on record for the first time since 1970, while "Gone at Last" was a duet between Simon and Phoebe Snow. Two tracks featured members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as a backing band.

The title track has been recorded by Rosemary Clooney (on her 1993 album Still on the Road), Ray Charles (on his 1993 album My World), Karen Carpenter (on her self-titled solo album released posthumously in 1996), Willie Nelson (on the soundtrack of the 2000 motion picture Space Cowboys), and Robert Ellis (on his 2016 self-titled solo album).

Personnel

• Paul Simon – vocals, acoustic guitar (2, 3, 4, 9), electric guitar (5), string arrangements (7), horn arrangements (7, 9)
• Barry Beckett – Fender Rhodes (1), acoustic piano (2)
• Bob James – woodwind arrangements (1), string arrangements (1, 3), Fender Rhodes (7, 8)
• Kenneth Ascher – Fender Rhodes (3), organ (4)
• Sivuca – accordion (3), vocal solo (3)
• Richard Tee – acoustic piano (6)
• Leon Pendarvis – acoustic piano (10)
• Pete Carr – electric guitar (2)
• Joe Beck – electric guitar (3, 8, 9)
• Jerry Friedman – electric guitar (3)
• Hugh McCracken – electric guitar (4, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (9)
• John Tropea – electric guitar (4)
• David Hood – bass (1, 2)
• Tony Levin – bass (3, 4, 5, 7–10)
• Gordon Edwards – bass (6)
• Roger Hawkins – drums (1, 2)
• Steve Gadd – drums (3, 4, 7-10)
• Grady Tate – drums (6)
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion (2, 3, 4, 6, 8)
• Toots Thielemans – harmonica (5)
• Michael Brecker – tenor sax solo (1), saxophone (7)
• Eddie Daniels – saxophone (7)
• David Sanborn – saxophone (7)
• Phil Woods – alto sax solo (8)
• David Mathews – horn arrangements (2, 8)
• Art Garfunkel – vocals (2)
• Patti Austin – backing vocals (4)
• Valerie Simpson – backing vocals (4, 8)
• Phoebe Snow – 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

Chart (1975–76)	Position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart^[3]	39
Canadian RPM Albums Chart^[4]	8
Dutch Mega Albums Chart^[5]	11
Finnish Albums Chart^[6]	29
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart^[7]	18
New Zealand Albums Chart^[8]	24
Norwegian Albums Chart^[9]	8
Swedish Albums Chart^[10]	9
UK Albums Chart^[11]	6
United States Billboard Pop Albums^[12]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)	Position
Canadian Albums Chart^[13]	82
Chart (1976)	Position
Canadian Albums Chart^[14]	64
U.S. Billboard Year-End^[15]	14

Notes and References

1. Web site: BPI.
2. Web site: New York, New York 1975: Oh What a Year!. mixonline.com. October 2015 .
3. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
4. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4097a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=lo0152od4caliufjkgh3mkphk6 Library and Archives Canada.
5. Web site: dutchcharts.nl Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years. dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. 2011-08-28. ASP. nl.
6. Book: Pennanen, Timo . 2006 . Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 . 1st . Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava . Helsinki. 978-951-1-21053-5 . 263 . fi .
7. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.
8. Web site: charts.nz – Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. ASP. 2011-08-28.
9. Web site: norwegiancharts.com Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin' Simon. ASP. 2011-08-19.
10. Web site: swedishcharts.com Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years. Sverigetopplistan. ASP. 2011-08-28.
11. Web site: The Official Charts Company – Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years. UK Albums Chart. PHP. 2011-08-19.
12. Allmusic – Still Crazy After All These Years> Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
13. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1975. RPM. 2011-10-10. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130724035414/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?file_num=nlc008388.6489a&brws_s=&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. 2013-07-24.
14. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1976. RPM. 2011-10-03. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140224000534/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5175&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. 2014-02-24.
15. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234354/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=855691. Top Pop Albums of 1976. 2007-09-26 . 2007-09-26.