Track Listing

1. Late in the Evening
2. That's Why God Made the Movies
3. One-Trick Pony
4. How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns
5. Oh, Marion
6. Ace in the Hole
7. Nobody
8. Jonah
9. God Bless the Absentee
10. Long, Long Day
11. Soft Parachutes [#][*]
12. All Because of You [#][*][Outtake]
13. Spiral Highway [#][*]
14. Stranded in a Limousine [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11224 in Music
• Brand: SIMON,PAUL
• Released on: 2004-07-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .16 pounds

Album Description
This energetic 1980 studio release contains many of the songs featured in the film Simon wrote and starred in. Contains the hit single "Late In The Evening," as well as four previously unreleased bonus tracks, including the non-album track "Soft Parachutes" from the film.

Customer Reviews

Underrated, understated, and sophisticated
After years of success in the folk-pop genre with Garfunkel and his own solo career, Paul Simon decided to get into acting. Bad move. I saw One Trick Pony in the theater and on video. As a movie, despite some very nice little scenes and live performances, it drags. Honestly, it is a little depressing.

However, the songs written for the movie are another matter entirely. Paul Simon took some study in musical composition, and this began to bear fruit in Still Crazy After All These Years and One Trick Pony. Everything here is pop music at the highest level, tinged with a bit of jazz -- the presence of jazz guitarist Eric Gale and keyboardist Richard Tee, the ultra-clean and always innovative drumming of Steve Gadd are an essential part of the superb mix. But the songs are heavenly, melodic, meaningful, poetic, mostly meditative, and well-crafted.

I'd have to say this is my favorite Paul Simon album. Others come close -- Still Crazy, and Rhythm of the Saints. I find this one the most consistent and most worthy of repeated listening. (Not counting the bonus tracks, which may be nice to have, but do not fit in with the original album as a whole. Most of the time you'll want to skip the bonus cuts.)

Quiet, Thoughtful, and Suprisingly Expressive
This album is a sleeper: one rarely goes to One Trick Pony when a Paul Simon mood hits you; certainly his first solo album stands as a testament to his songwriting abilities, and the many hits along the way often draw you to other albums in his catalogue.

But One Trick Pony really stands the test of time: tasteful, beautiful songwriting, a clear, effective concept album sustained through song after song, and superior songcraft and performances (jazz guitarist Eric Gale, keyboardist Richard Tee, drummer Steve Gadd) add an organic, naturally high level of sophistication to the arrangements. Some of the album tracks buried in here are among Simon's finest: "Jonah" is a great track, crying out to be covered again and revived by another artist; the closer "Long Long Day" perfectly captures the mood and feel of the album, "God Bless the Absentee" tastefully describes the drudgery and toil of the working man, sacrificing, putting in time for his family and a dream.

If you were put off by the rather weak film, or have not picked this up lately, you will be surprised. It takes active listening, but there are many rewards here to be found, and you will find yourself returning to the quiet joys of One Trick Pony.

His best album concept, start to finish.
Never saw the film, but from the moment I purchased this album new in 1980 it has always been one of my favorite LPs. The effervescent first track, "Late in the Evening," is both descriptive and not, for "One Trick Pony" is a late-in-the-evening kind of record, but one you'll remember less for its three upbeat numbers than for its seven mellow session tracks performed with a terrific ensemble and some of Rhymin' Simon's most soulful writing this side of "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War." Indeed, I rarely play it before midnight anymore, and I sometimes sing the lyrics with Paul as a sort of late-night meditation. You purchase the Rhino version with the bonus tracks at your own risk, for the 10 tracks on the original are so complete, so satisfying taken as a whole, that I see no need to tamper with them.