(RockAndMetal.com) (07/05/04)

By Michael Bennett

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Warner Bros. Records salutes one of the greatest Folk/Rock singer/songwriters of the last 50 years with the newly released, limited edition slipcase, "Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972-2000."

The new box set includes all nine of Simon's Warner Bros. solo albums, each digitally re-mastered for the first time ever and expanded with two to four previously unreleased bonus tracks.

The box set offers six never-before-released PAUL SIMON songs, and each of the CD's will also be made available individually in two batches -- the first five albums on July 13th, the last four on July 27th.

Simon's platinum 1972 solo debut, "Paul Simon," won the Grammy for Album Of The Year, and features the hits 'Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard' and 'Mother And Child Reunion.'

The reissue adds demos of 'Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard' and 'Duncan,' as well as an alternate version of 'Paranoia Blues.'

1973's "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" contains the hits 'Kodachrome' and 'Loves Me Like A Rock,' plus the classics 'American Tune' and 'St. Judy's Comet.'

Bonus cuts include acoustic demos of 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras' and 'Loves Me Like A Rock,' as well as an unfinished demo of 'American Tune' and a "work in progress" called 'Let Me Live In Your City,' which eventually became the track 'Something So Right.'

1975's "Still Crazy After All These Years" topped the Billboard charts, and won Simon two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Male Vocal.

It is expanded here with a demo version of the hit single 'Slip Slidin' Away,' and the original demo of 'Gone At Last' with The Jessy Dixon Singers.

The companion album to Simon's feature film of the same name, 1980's "One Trick Pony" features the hit 'Late In The Evening,' with the reissue adding 'Stranded In A Limousine,' the outtake 'All Because Of You,' and the soundtrack recordings 'Soft Parachutes' and 'Spiral Highway.'

1983's "Hearts And Bones," perhaps Simon's most personal album, is expanded with an unreleased song, 'Shelter Of Your Arms,' and acoustic demos of 'Train In The Distance,' 'Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War,' and 'The Late Great Johnny Ace.'

1986's Grammy-winning and quadruple platinum-selling "Graceland" also includes the original demo of the song 'Homeless,' an unreleased version of 'Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes,' and an early version of 'All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints.'

1990's "The Rhythm Of The Saints," featuring the hit 'The Obvious Child,' now includes an acoustic demo of 'Born At The Right Time,' the outtake 'Thelma,' and works in progress 'The Coast' and 'Spirit Voices.'

1997's "Songs From The Capeman" presents material from the Paul Simon-composed Broadway musical "The Capeman," starring Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades, both of whom are featured on this recording, along with Simon and other cast members.

This expanded version boasts a demo of 'Born In Puerto Rico' with JosŽ Feliciano, 'Shoplifting Clothes,' and a demo of 'Can I Forgive Him.'

Simon's most recent solo venture, the meditative "You're the One"Ê(2000), includes favorites 'You're The One,' 'Love,' and 'Look At That,' and is augmented here with live versions of 'That's Where I Belong,' 'Old,' and 'Hurricane Eye.'

The "Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972-2000" limited edition brick carries a suggested list price of $149.98 at retail, with the upcoming individual CD's sporting suggested list prices of $17.98 and $18.98.

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