Further recordings were held in the United States, with guest musicians including Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers, Louisiana band Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters, and Mexican-American band Los Lobos. South African jazz musician Jonas Gwangwa criticized the notion that Simon was responsible for making South African music popular, asking: "So, it has taken another white man to discover my people? The pennywhistle solo featured on "You Can Call Me Al" was performed by Morris Goldberg, a white South African living in New York. [66][67][68], Advocates for Graceland feel its music transcends the racial and cultural barriers of its production. It was a powerful statement. The Great Depression and World War II brought increasing economic woes to South Africa, and convinced the government to strengthen its policies of racial segregation. Paul goes, "Hey, what's that?" In 1991, the government of President F.W. [69] Presenting the album in a modern context, Tris McCall of the Star-Ledger writes that "In a sense, Simon was ahead of his time: The curatorial approach he took to assembling full tracks from scraps of songs and pre-existing recordings is closer in execution to that of Kanye West than it is to any of his contemporaries. In 2012, the controversy was revived when Simon returned to London for a 25th-anniversary concert celebrating the album. By 1961, most resistance leaders had been captured and sentenced to long prison terms or executed. [2], New York Times writer Jon Pareles identified Graceland as an album that had popularized African rock in the west, alongside albums such as Peter Gabriel's So (1986) and Talking Heads' Remain in Light (1980). [4] Simon recalled, "In the middle of the euphoric feeling in the studio, you would have reminders that you’re living in incredibly tense racial environment, where the law of the land was apartheid. “From an ethical point of view vaccine passports are completely unacceptable. [4] He began improvising melodies over it as he listened in his car. In 1960, at the black township of Sharpesville, the police opened fire on a group of unarmed blacks associated with the Pan-African Congress (PAC), an offshoot of the ANC. "[61], What was unusual about Graceland is that it was on the surface apolitical, but what it represented was the essence of the anti-apartheid in that it was a collaboration between blacks and whites to make music that people everywhere enjoyed. It was completely the opposite from what the apartheid regime said, which is that one group of people were inferior. All Rights Reserved. These songs are astute and exciting, spit-shined with the gloss of production that bears a lot of hallmarks of the era but somehow has refused to age. There was no abuse. Apartheid (“apartness” in the language of Afrikaans) was a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa. Simon recalled his experiences with the record in 2013: There was the almost mystical affection and strange familiarity I felt when I first heard South African music. Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records.. [24] It has been estimated to have sold between 14 and 16 million copies to date. This forced states to "prevent all cultural, academic, sporting and other exchanges" with South Africa, and ordered writers, artists, musicians and "other personalities" to boycott it. See what happens. "[5] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice deemed it Simon's best record since his 1972 self-titled album, as well as "a tremendously engaging and inspired piece of work. [1], Following the 1970s, in which he had released a series of hit records, Simon fell on hard times. Saxophone player Steve Berlin felt they deserved writing credits: [Simon] quite literally—and in no way do I exaggerate when I say—he stole the song from us ... We go into the studio, and he had quite literally nothing. In June 2018, Sony Music and Legacy Records issued Graceland: The Remixes, featuring remixes of Graceland songs by artists including Paul Oakenfold, Groove Armada and Thievery Corporation.[76]. Their goal was not only to separate South Africa’s white minority from its non-white majority, but also to separate non-whites from each other, and to divide black South Africans along tribal lines in order to decrease their political power. [64], "That Was Your Mother" features the American zydeco band the Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. "Graceland" features the playing of bassist Bakithi Kumalo and guitarist Ray Phiri. "[40] In 2000 it was voted number 43 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. [8], Rosenthal used his connections to assemble the variety of musicians who had inspired Simon,[7] including Lulu Masilela, Tao Ea Matsekha, General M. D. Shirinda and the Gaza Sisters, and the Boyoyo Boys Band. It was protected by 800 policemen and went on without incident. BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!”. The United Nations General Assembly had denounced apartheid in 1973, and in 1976 the UN Security Council voted to impose a mandatory embargo on the sale of arms to South Africa. I was following my musical instincts in wanting to work with people whose music I greatly admired. [4] He said he had refused two offers to perform at Sun City,[4] and drew a distinction between going to South Africa to perform for a segregated audience, which he felt was unacceptable, and going to record. de Klerk began to repeal most of the legislation that provided the basis for apartheid. [5], Recording sessions took place at Ovation Studios. Van Zandt said he persuaded them that murdering Simon would not help them achieve their goals, and mollified them by saying he was attempting to "unite the music community" against apartheid. At a press conference, AZAPO said there was "potential for violence" if the show proceeded. The latter faced particular criticism that their 2008 debut album was too similar to Graceland, due to its origins in African music. [5] Afterward, he contacted Mexican-American band Los Lobos, with which he recorded "All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints" in Los Angeles. In the early 1980s, Simon's relationship with his former musical partner Art Garfunkel had deteriorated, his marriage to actress Carrie Fisher had collapsed, and his previous record, Hearts and Bones (1983), had been a commercial failure. https://www.history.com/topics/africa/apartheid. [5] The cover art was an Ethiopian Christian icon from the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum dating to around 1500. From 1961 to 1994, more than 3.5 million people were forcibly removed from their homes and deposited in the Bantustans, where they were plunged into poverty and hopelessness. Belafonte had mixed feelings and advised him to discuss the matter with the African National Congress (ANC). Racial segregation and white supremacy had become central aspects of South African policy long before apartheid began. "[62], Simon's choice to feature American singer Linda Ronstadt on "Under African Skies" was criticized, as three years earlier she had accepted $500,000 to perform at Sun City, a South African luxury resort. Racial segregation had long existed in white minority-governed South Africa , but the practice was extended under the government led by the National Party (1948–94), and the party named its racial segregation policies apartheid ( Afrikaans : “apartness”). Here is Mandela in his own words: excerpts from letters, ...read more, In 1971, General Idi Amin overthrew the elected government of Milton Obote and declared himself president of Uganda, launching a ruthless eight-year regime in which an estimated 300,000 civilians were massacred. Except for Paul Simon. It enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia, effectively allowing for passage from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without having to ...read more, During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority. He felt that the accordion, central to zydeco, would make a pleasing transition back to his own culture. [2] Nelson George of Billboard said her inclusion on Graceland was like “using gasoline to put out birthday candles”, and rock critic Robert Christgau wrote: "Even if the lyric called for total US divestiture, Ronstadt's presence on Graceland would be a slap in the face to the world anti-apartheid movement. In some cases, the legislation split families; parents could be classified as white, while their children were classified as colored. [2], According to Berlin, when he contacted Simon about the lack of credit, Simon responded: "Sue me. De Klerk’s government subsequently repealed the Population Registration Act, as well as most of the other legislation that formed the legal basis for apartheid. Simon includes thanks to Clegg, Juluka, and Juluka's producer Hilton Rosenthal in the "Special Thanks" citation in Graceland's liner notes. A sect of the militant Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) claimed responsibility for the attack. My typical style of songwriting in the past has been to sit with a guitar and write a song, finish it, go into the studio, book the musicians, lay out the song and the chords, and then try to make a track. By 1950, the government had banned marriages between whites and people of other races, and prohibited sexual relations between black and white South Africans. [14], Simon involved guest musicians, including American singer Linda Ronstadt and his childhood heroes the Everly Brothers. In 1976, when thousands of black children in Soweto, a black township outside Johannesburg, demonstrated against the Afrikaans language requirement for black African students, the police opened fire with tear gas and bullets.