Ray Phiri

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

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Singer-songwriter Paul Simon had been on the cutting-edge of pop music throughout most of the 1960s and the '70s, first as half of the seminal folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, and then as a well-received solo artist. But the rise of 1980s rock and new wave saw a decline in Simon's commercial success, and the singer responded by experimenting with different musical styles--most notably, world beat--that culminated in his adventurous 1986 masterpiece GRACELAND. The album's fusion of American folk-rock songwriting and buoyant South African rhythms not only broke new ground in pop music, but became Simon's biggest-selling solo record. This episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series examines the making of Simon's groundbreaking work through interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, music videos, and live performances of album tracks such as "Boy in the Bubble," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," "You Can Call Me Al," and "Under African Skies."

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The singer's free concert in New York City when he performed songs from his albums Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints as well as older material, backed by the New York session musicians and the native musicians from South Africa and Brazil who had enlivened his solo work. Songs include Graceland, You Can Call Me Al, The Sound of Silence, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Kodachrome, The Boxer, America, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, Cecilia, and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.

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Singer Paul Simon and several African musicians perform a concert to benefit victims of apartheid in South Africa.

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