A good deal off HHers will probably think this to be outside the scope of "Unsung", but having bought it a couple of days ago, I think it deserves at least a passing mention.
This is Simon's first solo record, recorded in between the first two Simon & Garfunkel albums
and featuring primitive acoustic versions of quite a few songs which were later re-recorded in much more polished duo form ("I Am A Rock", "A Most Peculiar Man", "The Sound Of Silence). Personally, I quite like S&G, although this could be a childhood thing (my parents were big fans), but for many enthusiasts of 60s troubadours like Dylan, Fred Neil and Bert Jansch they represented the sanitised side of folk, highly confessional songs watered down with over-production for a post-collegiate yuppie audience.
"The PS Songbook" however, features no overdubs, no harmonies, nothing but voice and guitar. And in this instance, that's definitely a good thing, because the songs crackle with a degree of venom and pain that is quite disquieting to listen to. I'd never seriously paid attention to the lyrics of "I Am A Rock" before, but in this arrangement it becomes obvious that we are dealing with a seriously bitter and twisted song. "A Simple Desultory Phillipic" is also far nastier than the S&G version, and there are some highly righteous (if no longer quite so topical) pro-Civil Rights songs, too.
I suppose the point of my post is this - if you never liked S&G, preferring the comparative rawness of early Dylan and other solo singer-songwriters
you could do a lot worse than buy this. I did and was
v. pleasantly surprised. Might review it properly soon if I get the time.
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