Product Description
Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland (Hardcover)
Author: Ashley Kahn
Format: Hardcover
The definitive story of the making and legacy of Paul Simon’s Graceland
In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His marriage was failing, his career was in danger of declining and the music scene was shifting to a world of synths, drum machines and music videos. But a chance encounter with the sounds of South Africa created a spark, recalling the joy of the early rock and roll days and inspiring a bold new direction.
Simon travelled to Johannesburg in 1985 to record with South African musicians, a bold and risky step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana and London, culminating in Graceland, a global phenomenon that won multiple Grammys, sold millions of records and helped redefine popular music.
Days of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story, offering a richly detailed account of artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange, alongside the controversies that the album raised and which remain today. It sheds light on a rare cultural moment when America opened its doors to global sounds and a masterpiece emerged from a complex and divided world.
‘Represents a pinnacle of its form: a syncretic work of art’ — DAN CHARNAS
‘An impeccably constructed examination of an album that boosted the profile of South African music and reinvigorated Simon’s career’ — UNCUT
‘Made me appreciate the album’s intricacies and paradoxes all the more’ — NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
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