Product Description

The story of Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album, Graceland. Recorded in New York and South Africa, Graceland not only sold 14 million copies, but it was also named Album of the Year at the 1986 Grammy Awards. It brought the sound of South African music to audiences around the world. This acclaimed film shows how a career setback for Paul Simon precipitated the inspiration for Graceland, how he learned so much from the South African musicians he met, and how, in collaboration, a triumphant album was created. 75 minutes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117523 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-11-02
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 76 minutes

Customer Reviews

Graceland: A classic documentary on a classic album
I for one am really happy they decided to release this program to the public. Originally aired on public television stations, I was glued to the set from the moment I saw Paul Simon sitting behind the huge mixing console. I watched as he intimately and revealed the meaning of each verse of the song Graceland and disected the mix piece by piece to the delight of my wondering eyes and ears. I have never seen anything like it in a music documentary. And then after reconstructing it for us,listening carefully, as if it were the first time, Simon confesses, it is the most perfect song and album he has ever done. This coming from a man who has produced a huge catalog of loved and respected tunes resonated and gave tingles when I heard him say it. The 70 minutes of the documentary insightfully covers the history of Paul Simon's mental state at the time he began the Graceland project through the tours that followed its release. The interviews with the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo are particularly interesting as they reflect on their struggle to mesh their dance and harmonies with Simon's musical ideas. They are all gentle men who speak with such a softness joy and lack of guile that you can scarcely believe people like this exist. Listening to their mutual respect for each other is quite moving Mambazo's hypnotic movements are fascinating to watch. Equally delightful is watching the African studio musicians breakdown the development of the now legendary rifs and harmonies that makeup the album. I found the whole documentary to be outstanding and time well spent for anyone who has spent hours listening to Graceland over the years. It is a testimony to the greatness of the songs that people don't want to hear them interupted. But to trade some of the great never before seen moments shared in this documentary with full length renditions of the songs and videos seems unrealistic. And ultimately a bad trade in light of the fact that you can buy Graceland: The African Concert on DVD as well. This documentary is a rare gift to fans that I have never seen the like of and my world would be a slightly sadder place if it was not made.

Paul Simon and others describe their experiences
The disc is a 70-minute overview of the making of Graceland and the unique way Simon approached the task.

Contents include interview snippets from the major South African musicians, the recording engineer, longtime Simon associate Philip Glass, and of course Paul Simon himself. There is some very interesting footage from the original jam sessions with Simon and a variety of South African band members.

Also features pieces from the various music videos from Graceland (although not a single video is shown in its entirety), some concert footage, and Saturday Night Live appearances.

A highlight for me was Paul Simon's verse-by-verse explanation of the enigmatic song "You Can Call Me Al".

Video quality is mediocre but the sound is quite good, and that's what counts here, right?

It is the "Making of the Album"
For God's sake people, the Classic Album series by Eagle Eye Media is a series of DVD documentaries about the *making* of classic albums. These are not DVDs of videos and music. This series will probably be of highest interest to musicians and recordist. And it's an excellent series with quality production.