My Little Town by jomel77

jomel77 - My Little Town

jomel77

Jun 09, 2024 08:09am

"My Little Town" is a 1975 song by the American duo <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Simon & Garfunkel</a>. It was written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paul Simon</a>, who produced the track along with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Garfunkel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Art Garfunkel</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ramone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Phil Ramone</a>. The song was included on the 1975 solo releases from both Simon (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Crazy_After_All_These_Years" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Still Crazy After All These Years</a>) and Garfunkel (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakaway_(Art_Garfunkel_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Breakaway</a>). It would not appear on any of the duo's albums until the 1997 anthology <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_set" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">box set</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Friends_(1997_Simon_and_Garfunkel_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Old Friends</a> and the 1999 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilation_album" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">compilation album</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Simon_and_Garfunkel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Best of Simon and Garfunkel</a>. It was the first single release credited to the duo since the 1972 release of "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(Simon_%26_Garfunkel_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">America</a>", released in conjunction with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_and_Garfunkel%27s_Greatest_Hits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits</a>.In 1970 Simon and Garfunkel decided to part ways and record their own solo material. In June 1972 they were asked to sing at a political benefit concert for United States <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_(government_title)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">presidential</a> candidate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George McGovern</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Madison Square Garden</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York City</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> During this hiatus, Garfunkel worked as a teacher in Connecticut, a draftsman in New York and a math tutor in Los Angeles, before working on a solo album himself, coincidentally, at the same time as Simon.In early 1975, Simon had decided to prepare material for a new solo album and the music was a bit more personal, but one song was written in particular with Garfunkel specifically in mind. He has been quoted as saying: "It originally was a song I was writing for Artie. I was gonna write a song for his new album, and I told him it would be a nasty song, because he was singing too many sweet songs. It seemed like a good concept for him."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-Hyatt-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> After playing the song for Garfunkel, the two decided to collaborate again in the studio on this one track.Simon has stated that the song is not autobiographical; instead he says it is about "someone who hates the town he grew up in. Somebody happy to get out."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-Hyatt-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> Garfunkel has explained that the song was about his own childhood, how he "grew up in an area where a career in music was not seen as either desirable or exciting". Garfunkel's parents insisted he gain some qualification aside from his singing (he earned a bachelor's degree in art history in 1965, and a master's degree in mathematics in 1967).In an interview with Bill Flanagan for the book "Written In My Soul: Conversations With Great Songwriters," Simon says he was "actually picturing a town. I was thinking about Gloucester, Massachusetts. A friend of mine comes from Gloucester and he used to talk about what it was like to grow up there...That song was entirely an act of imagination...There's no element of me in there at all."The song references the lines of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_(poetry)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ted Hughes poem</a> (quoted in liner notes to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Crazy_After_All_These_Years" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paul Simon's release of the song</a>: "To hatch a crow, a black rainbow/Bent in emptiness/over emptiness/But flying"), the song relates the town's sameness suggesting even the colors of the rainbow there are black.The song begins with a piano solo by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Beckett" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barry Beckett</a> and drums from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Hawkins_(drummer)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roger Hawkins</a>. Paul Simon provides acoustic guitar, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Carr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pete Carr</a> plays electric guitar; bass is provided by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hood" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Hood</a> and percussion by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_MacDonald" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ralph MacDonald</a>. Horns and backing vocals are present in the last verse.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a> described the song as "a good, nostalgic Americana style song that builds throughout."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-bb-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_Box" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cash Box</a> said it has "catchy piano beneath historic harmony growing into a brass hook ending" and that "you’ll remember the melody by the third time you hear it."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-cb-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_World" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Record World</a> called it a "richly hued ballad with their distinctive harmonies melting over a rhythmic base supplied by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_Shoals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Muscle Shoals</a> Swampers."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-rw-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a>On October 18, 1975, Simon hosted the second episode of the premiere season of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC</a> comedy sketch program <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Saturday Night Live</a>. During the musical numbers, Garfunkel performed with him, and together they sang three songs: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boxer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Boxer</a>"; "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair_(ballad)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scarborough Fair</a>", and their new collaboration, "My Little Town".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Town#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> The buzz surrounding the surprise reunion of the two singers helped to generate anticipation for each of their solo albums, which were released within a few weeks of the performance on SNL.