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Paul Simon - 1964-1993 (1991)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. Leaves That Are Green Simon & Garfunkel 2:29
  2. The Sound Of Silence Simon & Garfunkel 3:02
  3. Kathys Song Simon & Garfunkel 3:17
  4. America Simon & Garfunkel 3:21
  5. Cecilia Simon & Garfunkel 2:50
  6. El Condor Pasa Simon & Garfunkel 3:04
  7. The Boxer Simon & Garfunkel 5:06
  8. Mrs Robinson Simon & Garfunkel 3:52
  9. Bridge Over Troubled Water Demo Simon & Garfunkel 2:33
  10. Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel 4:48
  11. The Breakup Simon & Garfunkel 2:18
  12. Hey Schoolgirl Tom & Jerry 2:13
  13. My Little Town Simon & Garfunkel 3:46
  14. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard 2:40
  15. Peace Like A River 3:13
  16. Mother And Child Reunion 2:54
  17. Congratulations 3:41
  18. Duncan 4:59
  19. American Tune 3:42
CD2
  1. Loves Me Like A Rock 3:15
  2. Tenderness 2:50
  3. Kodachrome 3:26
  4. Gone At Last 3:26
  5. Take Me To The Madi Grass 3:18
  6. St Judys Comet 3:15
  7. Something So Right 4:26
  8. Still Crazy After All These Years 3:47
  9. Have A Good Time 3:21
  10. Jonah 3:16
  11. How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns 2:45
  12. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover 3:06
  13. Slip Slidin Away 4:43
  14. Late In The Evening 3:52
  15. Hearts And Bones 5:37
  16. Rene And Geordette Madritte With Thier Dog.. 3:41
  17. The Late Great Johnny Ace 4:44
CD3
  1. The Boy In The Bubble 3:55
  2. Graceland 4:45
  3. Under African Skies 3:34
  4. That Was Your Mother 2:53
  5. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes 5:44
  6. You Can Call Me All 4:37
  7. Homeless 3:46
  8. Spirit Voices 3:52
  9. The Obvious Child 4:05
  10. Can't Run But 3:32
  11. Thelma 4:11
  12. Further To Fly 5:30
  13. She Moves On 4:57
  14. Born At The Right Time 5:08
  15. The Cool Cool River 5:44
  16. The Sound Of Silence 5:36

Notes

Artist-designed box-set retrospectives tend to be idiosyncratic, and this one is no exception. Take the title, which describes a 52-track, 200+-minute, three-disc set, the earliest recording from which actually was released in 1957 (that's Tom and Jerry's chart single, "Hey, Schoolgirl") and which contains no recordings from 1964 or from later than 1991. While Simon has included all of his biggest solo hits and most of those by Simon and Garfunkel (excepting "Homeward Bound" and "I Am a Rock") and has grouped the songs into three roughly chronological sections (1957-1973, 1973-1983, and 1986-1991), he has made song choices and sequencing decisions within each section more reflective of his own taste than any historical or audience-based consideration. The music is so good it almost doesn't matter, but with only one previously unreleased song (a 1991 outtake from The Rhythm of the Saints), Paul Simon 1964-1993 is little more than an abridged reshuffling of Simon's existing catalog, and one hopes for more from box sets than that. (Note also that Simon's tendency to edit his songs for use on compilations continues: "Loves Me Like a Rock" is 13 seconds shorter than the version on There Goes Rhymin' Simon, while "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" has lost 29 seconds from the Still Crazy After All These Years version.)