Paul Simon - Old Roman Amphitheatre, Caesarea, Israel, 5-7-1978

I consider Paul Simon to be one of a handful of the greatest songwriters of all time. But today I realized I haven't posted much of his music here, either from his solo career or from Simon and Garfunkel. Partially, that's because he doesn't have a lot of stray tracks (although he has some that I haven't posted yet). But also, his concerts typically feature his best known songs done in a similar manner to the album versions, so they're not that interesting to me.

That said, this concert has to be the best publicly available live recording of his 1970s solo career. I even prefer it to his 1973 album "Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'." The main problem I have with that album is that it's so short for a live album, at only about 50 minutes. (By contrast, this concert is an hour and 46 minutes long.) Plus, it came out at a time when he'd only had two solo albums. This contains every song he did from that album but one ("El Condor Pasa"), plus many more. It also has the same collaboration with the Jesse Dixon Singers, though Urubamba has been released by the harmonica player Toots Thielemans.

But what makes this concert stand out is the sound quality. As far as I can tell, it's the only full length concert of him from the 1970s that's a soundboard. I think that's because he simply didn't tour that much in the 1970s. According to setlist.fm, he only played about two dozen concerts for the entire decade (not counting some Simon and Garfunkel concerts in 1970). So we're lucky that we have even one soundboard, and a very good soundboard too.

By the way, I find it rather odd that this concert took place at all. Simon released his hit album "Still Crazy After All These Years" in 1975, then didn't release another album until "One Trick Pony" in 1980. The only thing he released in those five years was the hit single "Slip Slidin' Away" in 1977. During those years, he only played three concerts in 1976, two concerts in 1977 and this one in 1978. I'm guessing the reason the concert happened was because Simon is Jewish, and he'd never performed in Israel before. It wasn't that common for big name artists to play in that country back then. Perhaps an opportunity came up to play there and he took it. 

But it might as well has been a 1975 concert, since he played basically the same songs as he did then (plus "Slip Slidin' Away") with the same musicians, including the Jesse Dixon Singers and Toots Thielemans. When he toured again in 1980, he used a different bunch of musicians, so this was the last concert with his 1970s musicians.

Note that Simon had almost no banter between songs. It might be that those didn't make the recording, but I think it's more likely that he simply did want to talk much, for whatever reason. The only comments are the bare minimum of his introducing the musicians he played with.

Simon isn't known for playing cover songs much, since his own songs are so fantastic. But each of his guest stars get their own songs to shine with. Plus he sang the blues classic "Baby What You Want Me to Do." According to setlist.fm, this was the only time he ever sang the song on stage. He also finished off the concert with the classic covers "Bye, Bye Love" (by the Everly Brothers) and "Amazing Grace." 

01 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon)
02 Homeward Bound (Paul Simon)
03 Mother and Child Reunion (Paul Simon)
04 I Do It for Your Love (Paul Simon)
05 You're Kind (Paul Simon)
06 talk (Paul Simon)
07 Bluesette [Instrumental] (Toots Thielemans with Paul Simon)
08 Have a Good Time (Paul Simon)
09 Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon)
10 Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover (Paul Simon)
11 The Boxer (Paul Simon)
12 Mrs. Robinson (Paul Simon)
13 Slip Slidin' Away (Paul Simon)
14 Duncan (Paul Simon)
15 Something So Right (Paul Simon)
16 talk (Paul Simon)
17 Loves Me like a Rock (Paul Simon with the Jessy Dixon Singers)
18 Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy (Paul Simon with the Jessy Dixon Singers)
19 I Keep So Busy (Jessy Dixon Singers)
20 What Do You Call Him (Jessy Dixon Singers)
21 Bridge Over Troubled Water (Paul Simon with the Jessy Dixon Singers)
22 Gone at Last (Paul Simon with the Jessy Dixon Singers)
23 American Tune (Paul Simon)
24 The Sound of Silence (Paul Simon)
25 America (Paul Simon)
26 Baby, What You Want Me to Do (Paul Simon)
27 Bye, Bye Love (Paul Simon)
28 Amazing Grace (Paul Simon with the Jessy Dixon Singers)

https://www.imagenetz.de/bxrD6

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the cover art photo comes from this exact concert. I only know that it was taken in 1978, with the location unmentioned. But since this was his only concert appearance in 1978, logic says it's from this concert. It's too bad he didn't play during the daytime, because the Old Roman Amphitheatre is spectacular location, right on the ocean. As you can tell from the name, it's a Roman ruin.