"They either dealt with classical or what they called 'legit pop acts' such as Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis. "That was very fortunate, because at the time Columbia didn't have any rock & roll artists, per se," Halee remarked when I first interviewed him back in 1997. Paul Simon with collaborators Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the Graceland tour 1987. Eventually growing tired of this work, he was transferred from the editing cubicle to the studio, where his first session was Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone'. When CBS relocated its TV production to Hollywood, Halee was the victim of a union layoff, yet a walk across the street to Columbia Records resulted in his spending the next 18 months editing pop and classical recordings, while also mixing down three-track tapes to stereo and mono in preparation for mastering. The Early YearsĪ native of Long Island, New York, who initially studied to be a classical trumpet player, Roy Halee began working for CBS Television in Manhattan during the late 1950s, positioning cameras and boom mics before handling the audio of live network shows such as The $64,000 Question. Nevertheless, it is Halee's historic body of work with S&G - recording all of their albums, co-producing a couple of them, and also co-producing and/or engineering many of Paul Simon's solo records - that has justifiably earned him his legendary status. The list is an eclectic one, and it goes on and on with regard to a Grammy-winning production/engineering career that has spanned more than 40 years. Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Barbra Streisand, Blood Sweat & Tears, Moby Grape, the Yardbirds, the Lovin' Spoonful, Neil Diamond, Edie Brickell, Boz Scaggs, Willie Nelson, the Roches, Laura Nyro, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Journey, Rufus and Chaka Khan. Roy Halee hasn't only worked with Simon & Garfunkel, you know. The man responsible for putting it all together, both sonically and physically, was Simon's long-time engineer Roy Halee. World Music: It's from the Graceland album after all.Paul Simon's Graceland album combined a huge mixture of musical styles and was recorded in studios all over the world.Weirdness Magnet: The men wonder why they feel bad or why certain things happen to them.That Syncing Feeling: Chevy Chase lip-syncs the entire song's music video. Special Guest: Then-guitarist of King Crimson Adrian Belew plays the guitar synthesizer on the track.Performance Video: Parodied, Chevy Chase lip syncs while Paul Simon plays the instruments.Chevy Chase lip syncs to Paul's vocals, with Paul coming in for a bit in the chorus. Lyrical Dissonance: It sounds rather cheery, yet details an existential crisis in the lyrics,.Minimalist Cast: Again, the video only consists of Simon and Chase.Bottle Episode: More like Bottle Video, as it's just Paul Simon and Chevy Chase in one room.Big Guy, Little Guy: The marked height difference between 6'4" Chevy Chase and 5'3" Paul Simon is played for laughs.If you be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost troper. The song's title is famously inspired by an incident at a 1979 party wherein a composer accidentally introduced Simon and his then wife Peggy Harper as "Al and Betty". The music video was directed by Gary Wesis and stars Simon and Chevy Chase. Like the rest of the album, the single was recorded in South Africa and was written based on personal experiences Simon had, as he self-described it as "'Really the story of somebody like me, who goes to Africa with no idea and ends up having an extraordinary spiritual experience". You Can Call Me Al is a song by American folk singer Paul Simon, released as the lead-off single from Graceland.
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