HOMEWARD BOUND: PAUL SIMON, LIVERPOOL AND THE PULL OF A MUSICAL CITY
The M&S Bank Arena has secured another massive coup with the booking of Paul Simon in May. I think you can safely say that he is one of a small number of artists still performing that can justify the title of ‘legend’ and we are so lucky to have him playing one of only a handful of UK dates.
Simon’s stature is such that it has recently been announced that in January he will be receiving a prestigious Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award from The Grammy’s in recognition of how he ‘has shaped modern music for more than six decades’.
I was lucky enough to see probably the last musical genius who played at the M&S Bank Arena when Bob Dylan came into town with his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. It was astounding in the way that only Dylan can be – barely a nod to the audience but he played a brilliant set with a wonderful band and then with his night’s work done he wandered off stage as though he had just finished a gig in a local bar.
The M&S Bank Arena is a great place to see a gig – and I’m not trying to do it down in any way here – but I think it is more than just the attraction of this particular venue and the lovely people who work there that attracts the likes of Dylan and Paul Simon to our fair city. Obviously, I am a bit biased but to my mind it has a lot to do with the pull of Liverpool and its amazing music heritage. Dylan has a long history with the city while Simon’s connection is perhaps even stronger. I’d like to think that this connection is the reason he is gracing us by bringing his Quiet Celebration Tour to Liverpool on May 7th rather than going to other cities such as Manchester or Birmingham. Indeed, Liverpool is one of only four UK cities that Simon is playing on this tour and the only English one outside of the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The story of Simon’s connection to Liverpool is a lovely one and like all good tales there are a number of versions with the truth probably lying somewhere in the middle of them all. Anyway, legend has it that the song Homeward Bound was written by Simon on Widnes Station platform while waiting for a train to take him on the next stop of an early English tour. It is a beautiful song which almost everyone will know through the version recorded with his long-term collaborator Art Garfunkel.
It all came about because around 1964/65 Simon (then in his early 20s) was playing folk clubs in the UK for what now seems like very small amounts of money. In September 1965 he famously played the Cross Keys pub in Liverpool City Centre and I’ve seen a photo of the ‘books’ from a Chester folk club for a gig that same month which show that he received the huge fee of fifteen English pounds for his troubles.
Reliable sources have also told me that Simon wanted to play The Spinners weekly folk night in town while he was in the city but was turned down because he was seen as part of a move towards ‘modern’ folk! The Spinners and their crowd where resolutely old school in their tastes.
While Simon was in the North West he was looked after by local folk legend Geoff Speed who presented Radio Merseyside’s Folk Scene show for 47 years. Geoff ran the Howff Folk Club in Widnes and on September 13th 1965 Paul Simon was paid £12 to perform there. Geoff then hosted Simon at his family’s house in Widnes for five days where the visiting musician apparently slept on a bunk bed. When it was time for him to move on Geoff drove Simon to Widnes station and that, according to folk lore, is where the song was written.
This is where it all gets controversial! Some stories say that if he did write the song at Widnes Station then it was the quickest song ever written as he was only waiting there for a couple of minutes. Geoff Speed himself allegedly said that he believed it was written at Birkenhead Station when he played a gig there the night before.
There are even some outlandish claims that it was written at Brentwood Station based on the fact that his girlfriend of the time Kathy Chitty was based there. The song is definitely about him missing Kathy but the evidence suggests that’s where the dubious Brentwood connection ends.
For me it is always going to be something that Widnes Station can claim and they quite rightly celebrate it with a plaque to mark the historic occasion when one of the most beautiful songs ever was written on an otherwise unremarkable train station platform.
Simon has been back to perform in Liverpool since these early days most notably at the Summer Pops in 2002 and 2008 and we should be grateful that at 84 years of age one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever is coming back to the city to grace us with his musical genius once more. The Quiet Celebration shows sound like a real treat for audiences featuring Simon performing his 2023 album Seven Psalms in full before a glorious set of his best-known hits alongside lesser known but equally wonderful rarities from his long career.
As the Grammy’s are acknowledging with their award, Paul Simon has left an enduring mark on popular music with classics such as Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sound of Silence and the landmark album Graceland. You don’t often get a chance to see a legend at work and when Paul Simon comes to town you can guarantee it will be a special night.
Kev Mcmanus
