One-Trick Pony
By Paul Simon
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Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Late in the Evening 4:03
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background vocals
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electric guitar
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acoustic guitar
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bass
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percussion
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horn arrangements
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- A2 That's Why God Made the Movies 3:38
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classical guitar
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acoustic guitar, slide guitar
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bass
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percussion
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piano
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electric guitar
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synthesizer
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- A3 One-Trick Pony (Live) 3:53
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electric guitar
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lead guitar
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bass
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piano, vocal
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- A4 How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns 2:49
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classical guitar, string arrangements, horn arrangements
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electric guitar, classical guitar
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bass
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piano
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- A5 Oh, Marion 4:00
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background vocals
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piano
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bass
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electric guitar
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flugelhorn
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- B1 Ace in the Hole (Live) 5:43
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background vocals, electric guitar
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lead guitar
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bass, background vocals
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piano, vocal, tambourine, background vocals
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- B2 Nobody 3:33
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background vocals
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electric guitar
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acoustic guitar
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bass
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piano
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- B3 Jonah 3:31
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classical guitar, string arrangements, horn arrangements, percussion
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bass
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percussion
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piano
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acoustic guitar
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- B4 God Bless the Absentee 3:15
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electric guitar
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acoustic guitar
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bass
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piano
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string arrangements, horn arrangements
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- B5 Long, Long Day 3:48
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background vocals
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acoustic guitar
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bass
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piano
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vocal, background vocals
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electric guitar
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background vocals
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string arrangements, horn arrangements
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- Total length: 38:13
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12 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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One-Trick Pony [p] 33 rpm, Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One-Trick Pony Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One-Trick Pony 33 rpm, Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One-Trick Pony 33 rpm, Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One-Trick Pony 33 rpm, Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One-Trick Pony Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One Trick Pony Motion Picture Soundtrack
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One Trick Pony Bonus Tracks, Motion Picture Soundtrack, Remastered
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One Trick Pony Bonus Tracks, Motion Picture Soundtrack
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23 Reviews
Why is One-Trick Pony less appreciated than Paul Simon (1972) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)? Is the music seriously less good? I don't think so. Has it got something to do with the film (which I, naturally, haven't seen)? Perhaps. Is there something more to it? I think so. Take a look at the release year. It says 1980; it was the year of Back in Black and Closer, a whole new decade. But Paul Simon was apparently still on his early and mid-1970s trip, with all those folkie sounds, night club vibes, electric pianos, all that stuff. It is often supposed that when a musical-cultural 'innovation' appears, it should be embraced by all musicians, excluding those who have got nothing to do with the genre in which the 'innovation' happens. The elitist music enthusiasts are mad about The Beach Boys not sounding like Nirvana or even RHCP on the 1992 album Summer in Paradise, so how could they or why should they love Paul Simon without any influence of punk rock, new wave, post-punk, even disco or hard rock on his 1980 album?
Fortunately, things are less ambiguous, less black and white in the wider sense of reality. 1980 was more like the late 1970s than any kind of 1980s. I would suggest a play list including "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)", "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", "Goin' On" (or "Oh Darlin'"), "Guilty" (or "Woman in Love"), "Happy New Year" (or "Andante, Andante"), "I Love You", "Romeo and Juliet", "Time" and "You're Supposed to Keep Your Love for Me" – in alphabetical order, respectively. A hazy, even slightly lazy Paul Simon performance wouldn't be so much out of place. Furthermore, the percussion-heavy "Late in the Evening" was going to show the way towards Simon's later world music albums, Graceland (1986) and The Rhythm of the Saints (1990). Can it really be so difficult to understand that not everyone was so impressed by the new wave (let alone disco) and this, exactly this, was going to lead to a few succeeding 'innovations'?
After writing down this version of a story, it would be wonderful to conclude that One-Trick Pony is a true lost classic. Unfortunately that isn't true either. I like it; it is better than Paul Simon in my opinion. But There Goes Rhymin' Simon still remains my favourite (solo) Paul Simon album. Tracks like "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns" and "Nobody" are just not as good as they should be, and I consider "Ace in the Hole" overlengthy. Beside "Late in the Evening", "That's Why God Made the Movies" (did this one almost lend The Beach Boys an album title?), "One-Trick Pony" and "Oh, Marion" are all very nice, and "Jonah" even has ingredients of a small masterpiece. So, One-Trick Pony is good, it deserves better ratings and a better artistic reputation. But seriously, there are loads of better albums on earth.
Fortunately, things are less ambiguous, less black and white in the wider sense of reality. 1980 was more like the late 1970s than any kind of 1980s. I would suggest a play list including "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)", "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", "Goin' On" (or "Oh Darlin'"), "Guilty" (or "Woman in Love"), "Happy New Year" (or "Andante, Andante"), "I Love You", "Romeo and Juliet", "Time" and "You're Supposed to Keep Your Love for Me" – in alphabetical order, respectively. A hazy, even slightly lazy Paul Simon performance wouldn't be so much out of place. Furthermore, the percussion-heavy "Late in the Evening" was going to show the way towards Simon's later world music albums, Graceland (1986) and The Rhythm of the Saints (1990). Can it really be so difficult to understand that not everyone was so impressed by the new wave (let alone disco) and this, exactly this, was going to lead to a few succeeding 'innovations'?
After writing down this version of a story, it would be wonderful to conclude that One-Trick Pony is a true lost classic. Unfortunately that isn't true either. I like it; it is better than Paul Simon in my opinion. But There Goes Rhymin' Simon still remains my favourite (solo) Paul Simon album. Tracks like "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns" and "Nobody" are just not as good as they should be, and I consider "Ace in the Hole" overlengthy. Beside "Late in the Evening", "That's Why God Made the Movies" (did this one almost lend The Beach Boys an album title?), "One-Trick Pony" and "Oh, Marion" are all very nice, and "Jonah" even has ingredients of a small masterpiece. So, One-Trick Pony is good, it deserves better ratings and a better artistic reputation. But seriously, there are loads of better albums on earth.
Published
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From what I see in the ratings, this seems to be Paul's lowest rated album. I don't really see why. I think it is a great album. It must be a curse based on it's ranking: ranked #666 for 1980. Ouch.
Regardless, his contains some very underrated tunes. The songs have a soft-rock, jazzy r&b kinda feel. It's a similar type sound that he did with Still Crazy after all these Years, but he steps it up a notch. The songs are more upbeat and a bit catchier in my opinion. My favorite numbers here are "That's why god made the movies", "Oh, Marion" and "Long, Long Day".
It's possible that this album isn't recognized as much is because the movie didn't do to well (I think), but overall, it is a solid and very enjoyable album. It's great to relax to and it provides a great atmosphere. It's not a Paul Simon album to dismiss or pass over. Check it out.
Regardless, his contains some very underrated tunes. The songs have a soft-rock, jazzy r&b kinda feel. It's a similar type sound that he did with Still Crazy after all these Years, but he steps it up a notch. The songs are more upbeat and a bit catchier in my opinion. My favorite numbers here are "That's why god made the movies", "Oh, Marion" and "Long, Long Day".
It's possible that this album isn't recognized as much is because the movie didn't do to well (I think), but overall, it is a solid and very enjoyable album. It's great to relax to and it provides a great atmosphere. It's not a Paul Simon album to dismiss or pass over. Check it out.
Published
An unfairly dissed album in my opinion , much of that is down to the movie associated with it being a total flop .
The record has a lovely flow to it , its smooth but elegant playing and beautifully written lyrics make it a pleasure to listen to . The layered percussion and horn ideas on the bouncy "late in the evening" (probably the best known track) are proof positive that simon had not lost it .
Elsewhere some truly beautiful songs lurk "thats why god made the movies" being a real fave of mine , electric piano,some haunting slide guitar and a perfect string arrangement . it really socks home .
"ace in the hole" drags like others have already mentioned but do check out the shuffling title track ,"how the heart approaches" the creeping jazz guitars on "oh marion" and the exquisitely jaded "jonah" and you will see why this is currently my most played paul simon album .
Its more than the sum of its parts .
The record has a lovely flow to it , its smooth but elegant playing and beautifully written lyrics make it a pleasure to listen to . The layered percussion and horn ideas on the bouncy "late in the evening" (probably the best known track) are proof positive that simon had not lost it .
Elsewhere some truly beautiful songs lurk "thats why god made the movies" being a real fave of mine , electric piano,some haunting slide guitar and a perfect string arrangement . it really socks home .
"ace in the hole" drags like others have already mentioned but do check out the shuffling title track ,"how the heart approaches" the creeping jazz guitars on "oh marion" and the exquisitely jaded "jonah" and you will see why this is currently my most played paul simon album .
Its more than the sum of its parts .
Published
heavily underrated!! possibly only so bc of it’s association w/ the film of the same name - i’ve never seen it, so i can’t comment on it’s quality. all i kno is that this is essentially paul simon’s incredible songwriting and voice put to use on a billy joel or steely dan type jazz pop album. legit stunning - not a bad track here, w/ the whole record carrying this wonderful breezy, yet groovy energy. an easy listen, but not easy listening. color me surprised!!
Published
Five years after Still Crazy, and Paul Simon is continuing the soft-rock ideas after all these years. Perhaps this seeming lack of growth from his previous lead to such poor reception on release - unfortunate, because ultimately this is another great Paul Simon album, complete with his ever-brilliant lyricism and ear for hooks and melodies. A spiritual successor in some ways to Still Crazy that's sometimes just as moody, but not always as consistent.
8/10
8/10
Published
I do mean to watch the movie of which this Paul Simon album forms the soundtrack and will do so soon, but this album does stand up on its own outside the film which spawned it.
It's a good enough record with some decent songs but the thing that struck me most about it was how similar it sounded to his previous album "Still Crazy After All These Years" which he'd recorded a full five years earlier. He uses the same producer, practically the same band and frankly the material sounds at least five years old too.
The dominant sound for me is Richard Tee's electric piano which has the general impact of softening every track on which it appears, driving the music so close to the middle of the road it should be watching for oncoming traffic. It's certainly a crack band of top musicians but there's definitely the feeling of cosiness and over-familiarity about the playing as you wait in vain for some spark of brightness or originality which might have lifted the album.
So you get ten tracks, all pretty much bathed in the same hazy afterglow of sameness. It gets off to a bright start with the would-be carnival atmosphere of the hit single "Late In The Evening" with Simon reminiscing nostalgically about his formative years, but after that the rot of mundanity seems to set in.
There's a little wry humour in some of the lyrics particularly the story of his birth in "That's Why God Made The Movies", the detail of the rejected phone-box coin in "How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns" and the approaching blasphemy in the first verse of "Ace In The Hole".
Musically, I like the piano motif which adorns "God Bless The Absentee" and the two live cuts the title track and "Ace In The Hole" crackle a little even if they neither quite pop but the rest you could easily throw a blanket over.
I'm not really expecting "One-Trick Pony" the movie to transport me either and I can't really think of a single track here I'm anticipating within it, but taken as a whole, as a record, it's probably an improvement on the somehow-Grammy-winning "Still Crazy" album, which to be fair, isn't really saying a lot.
It's a good enough record with some decent songs but the thing that struck me most about it was how similar it sounded to his previous album "Still Crazy After All These Years" which he'd recorded a full five years earlier. He uses the same producer, practically the same band and frankly the material sounds at least five years old too.
The dominant sound for me is Richard Tee's electric piano which has the general impact of softening every track on which it appears, driving the music so close to the middle of the road it should be watching for oncoming traffic. It's certainly a crack band of top musicians but there's definitely the feeling of cosiness and over-familiarity about the playing as you wait in vain for some spark of brightness or originality which might have lifted the album.
So you get ten tracks, all pretty much bathed in the same hazy afterglow of sameness. It gets off to a bright start with the would-be carnival atmosphere of the hit single "Late In The Evening" with Simon reminiscing nostalgically about his formative years, but after that the rot of mundanity seems to set in.
There's a little wry humour in some of the lyrics particularly the story of his birth in "That's Why God Made The Movies", the detail of the rejected phone-box coin in "How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns" and the approaching blasphemy in the first verse of "Ace In The Hole".
Musically, I like the piano motif which adorns "God Bless The Absentee" and the two live cuts the title track and "Ace In The Hole" crackle a little even if they neither quite pop but the rest you could easily throw a blanket over.
I'm not really expecting "One-Trick Pony" the movie to transport me either and I can't really think of a single track here I'm anticipating within it, but taken as a whole, as a record, it's probably an improvement on the somehow-Grammy-winning "Still Crazy" album, which to be fair, isn't really saying a lot.
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Kind of a forgotten hodgepodge of an album due to it being the soundtrack for a flop film, but there is some absolutely stellar material on here. Late in the Evening is one of Paul's best rousing numbers and How the Heart Approached What It Yearns is an incredible showcase of his gifts as a writer. Which are considerable. The whole album is very listenable.
Published
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A1
Late in the Evening
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A2
That's Why God Made the Movies
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A3
One-Trick Pony (Live)
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A4
How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns
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A5
Oh, Marion
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B1
Ace in the Hole (Live)
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B2
Nobody
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B3
Jonah
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B4
God Bless the Absentee
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B5
Long, Long Day
Paul Simon Album Review Series—The Solo Years #4: One-Trick Pony
Pauls continues to explore light jazz fusion, with mixed results
Background
By 1979, Paul wanted to expand his artistic creativity beyond the recording studio. His former friend and colleague Art Garfunkel had established a semi-successful acting career in the early 1970s. Therefore, perhaps Paul felt it was about time he was going to flex his acting muscles. However, not content with merely acting in someone else's picture, Paul also took out his pen and wrote his own screenplay. Paul's story concerns the fictionalised account of the struggles faced by a once-popular folk-rock singer as he navigates the challenges of the music industry, personal relationships and artistic integrity. While Paul resisted the lure of making the film strictly autobiographical, he couldn't resist incorporating certain aspects of his experiences in the music industry into the narrative.
Accompanying the movie at its release in 1980 was the album of the same name.
Context
One Trick Pony is one of Paul's lesser albums. The album, published to coincide with the premiere of the movie of the same name, in which Paul Simon also wrote and starred, is not (according to the sleeve notes) a soundtrack, despite the fact it includes many of the songs from the movie. Yet, there's no denying that the songs are not written from Paul's point of view; rather, they are the thoughts of the protagonist from the movie, Jonah, a struggling musician. This serves as one of the album's weaknesses, for if, like this reviewer, you haven't seen the movie, many of the songs lack context.
A second weakness if the lack of stylistic variation between songs. Jazz-pop and light jazz fusion is the predominant genre of this album, with mid-tempo songs glittered with electric piano dominating much of the work. 'Late in the Evening' and 'God Bless the Absentee' provide some much needed energy, otherwise, many of the songs feel tepid and, dare it be said, boring ('Nobody', 'Jonah' and 'Long, long day' particularly suffer in this respect).
The mid-tempo electric piano laden sound works well for 'How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns', however, and the use of an acoustic piano is a welcome addition to 'God Bless the Absentee.
'One-Trick Pony' and 'Ace in the Hole', both faster paced songs were recorded live (for some reason) and sonically standout for not possessing the thoroughly (and overly) polished sound of the other tracks.
Verdict: 3/5
One Trick-Pony might just be Paul's most 'clean' sounding album, one that displays no hint of his folk rock past. In many ways, this shows his willingness to expand his career beyond his prior established sound.
Best songs:
Late in the Evening
One-Trick Pony
Overlooked songs/deep cuts:
God Bless the Absentee
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