All of Paul Simon's solo albums ranked

No. 4 - THERE GOES RHYMIN’ SIMON (1973)

If Paul Simon (the album) served notice that Simon was going remain a force as a solo artist, the follow-up, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon fully delivered on the promise. Once again, he kicks things off in grand style with “Kodachrome,” which made it number 2 on the US charts. Then there are classics upon classics.

The gorgeous “Take Me to the Mardi Gras,” the bluesy “One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor,” the gospel-fueled “Loves Me Like a Rock,” and the simple grandeur of “American Tune.” These became touchstones for all 1970’s music.

Simon put together an all-star cast of collaborators. Gospel icon Claude Jeter sings on “Take Me to the Mardi Gras.” Quincy Jones arranged the strings on the beautiful “Something So Right.” Allen Toussaint did the same with the horns on “Tenderness,” where he also used Jeter’s former vocal group The Dixie Hummingbirds. Two of the Roche sisters sing on “Was a Sunny Day.” He gets great support from keyboard player Barry Beckett who makes great contributions on ”One Man’s Ceiling…” and lends a beautiful vibraphone to one of Simon’s earliest songs about parenting, “St. Judy’s Comet.”

Paul Simon probably deserved Grammy nominations, but Simon would have to wait for There Goes Rhymin’ Simon to earn his first nominations as a solo artist. He would lose Album of the Year to Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, prompting one of the greatest lines in any acceptance speech several years later.