There Goes Rhymin' Simon

There Goes Rhymin' Simon is the third solo studio album by American musician Paul Simon rush-released on May 5, 1973. It contains songs covering several styles and genres, such as gospel ("Loves Me Like a Rock") and Dixieland ("Take Me to the Mardi Gras"). It received two nominations at the Grammy Awards of 1974, including Best Male Pop Vocal performance and Album of the Year.

As foreshadowed by the feel-good lead single "Kodachrome" (which reached #2 on the Billboard charts, blocked by Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles"), There Goes Rhymin' Simon proved to be a bigger hit than its predecessor, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 chart (kept off the top spot by George Harrison's Living in the Material World), and #1 on Cashbox Magazine for one week on June 30, 1973. In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at #4. Subsequent singles were also the #2 single "Loves Me Like a Rock" (knocked off by Cher's "Half-Breed", but reaching #1 on Cashbox on September 29, 1973), and the Top 40 hit "American Tune". Also "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" was released in the UK reaching the Top 20.

The song "Kodachrome" is named after the Kodak film of the same name. Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark of Kodak. The song was not released as a single in Britain, where it could not be played on BBC radio due to its trademarked name. The song "Was a Sunny Day" has an interesting reference to early rock and roll in the line "She called him Speedo but his Christian name was Mr. Earl" which echoes the chorus from the 1955 song "Speedoo" by The Cadillacs: "They often call me Speedo but my real name is Mr. Earl," referring to lead singer, Earl "Speedo" Carroll.

Reception
Critical praise was practically universal for this album. The Denver Post's Jared Johnson called it "a brilliantly executed masterpiece, and surely the finest album in three years," citing such 1970 releases as Bridge Over Troubled Water and After the Gold Rush. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said, "Combining a variety of musical textures (from a touch of gospel to an infectious trace of Jamaican rhythm to a hint of the old Simon and Garfunkel grandeur), Simon's new album firmly establishes him as one of our most valuable and accessible artists." Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone praised the album as "a rich and moving song cycle, one in which each cut reflects on every other to create an ever-widening series of refractions."

However, Stereo Review's Noel Coppage, while giving the album an "excellent" rating, nonetheless felt that it was "deficient in spontaneity, excitement, strain", calling its arrangements "clean and sensible" but "oddly predictable".

Track listing
All tracks written by Paul Simon. The melody of "American Tune" is almost note-for-note written by Johann Sebastian Bach (St Matthew Passion), who was not credited on the album. In turn, Bach had imitated the melody of Mein G'mueth ist mir verwirret by Hans Leo Hassler.

Personnel

 * Paul Simon – vocals, guitar on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "Something So Right", "American Tune", "Was a Sunny Day", "Learn How to Fall", "St Judy's Comet", "Loves Me Like a Rock"
 * Pete Carr – electric guitar on "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" and "St Judy's Comet"
 * Jimmy Johnson – electric guitar on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
 * Cornell Dupree – electric guitar on "Tenderness"
 * Al Gafa, David Spinozza – guitar on "Something So Right",
 * Jerry Puckett – electric guitar on "Learn How to Fall"
 * David Hood – bass guitar on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", "St Judy's Comet", "Loves Me Like a Rock"
 * Gordon Edwards – bass guitar on "Tenderness"
 * Bob Cranshaw – bass guitar on "Something So Right", "American Tune", "Was a Sunny Day"
 * Vernie Robbins – bass guitar on "Learn How to Fall"
 * Richard Davis – bass guitar, double bass on "Something So Right"
 * Barry Beckett – piano, Fender Rhodes on "Kodachrome", Hammond organ on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (uncredited), vibraphone on "St Judy's Comet"
 * Paul Griffin – piano on "Tenderness"
 * Bob James – Fender Rhodes on "Something So Right"; harmonium, piano, keyboards on "American Tune"
 * Bobby Scott – piano on "Something So Right"
 * Carson Whitsett – Hammond organ on "Learn How to Fall"
 * Don Elliott – vibraphone on "Something So Right"
 * Roger Hawkins – percussion, drums on "Kodachrome", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor", "Loves Me Like a Rock"
 * Rick Marotta – drums on "Tenderness"
 * Grady Tate – drums on "Something So Right", "American Tune"
 * James Stroud – drums on "Learn How to Fall"
 * Airto Moreira – percussion on "Was a Sunny Day"
 * The Onward Brass Band – horns on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
 * The Dixie Hummingbirds – group vocals on "Tenderness", "Loves Me Like a Rock"
 * Rev. Claude Jeter – falsetto vocals on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"
 * Maggie and Terre Roche – backing vocals on "Was a Sunny Day"
 * Allen Toussaint – horn arrangements on "Tenderness"
 * Quincy Jones – string arrangements on "Something So Right"
 * Del Newman – string arrangements on "American Tune"
 * Uncredited - flute on "Something So Right", shaker on "Something so Right", Hammond organ on "Tenderness", horns on "Learn How to Fall" and "Kodachrome", strings on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras"