TCM is playing Paul Simon’s film One-Trick Pony (1980) at the moment. I was one of the few who found Simon’s film to be terrific. I should probably shorten that to say I was one of the few who found his film, period. I loved it, complete with the guest appearances of the Lovin’ Spoonful and Sam & Dave (below). Sam & Dave were barely talking to each other by this time, but they had a brief revival thanks to John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Here is a wake-up call for you and me.
Robert Hilburn’s biography of Simon reports that Simon felt insanely guilty about the money lost by the label on the movie-related album. Hilburn writes that Simon told Warner Bros. CEO Mo Ostin that he’d pay it back one day: “No other artist had ever even brought up the subject of paying back the company. The guilt over the album’s poor sales was one in a series of issues that caused Simon to go into the deepest depression since his struggles with fame and insecurity in the early 1970s.”
He wrote the screenplay, he starred in the film, and — one-upping Woody Allen — he wrote the songs featured in the film. I love the title track (video below) and several other numbers, including “Late In the Evening” and “How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns.” In the video Eric Gale is on lead, Richard Tee on keyboards, Tony Levin on bass, and Steve Gadd on drums.
