Graceland at 25: Acclaimed and still influential

Graceland at 25/ Still rightly acclaimed and controversial, too

I read with interest recently the news of the 25th anniversary of Graceland, Paul Simon's groundbreaking album, that will be commemorated with musical and film celebrations this year.

On June 5, Graceland 25th anniversary editions will be released to commemorate the anniversary of the acclaimed and influential 1986 album that continues to inspire generations of music fans. Simon will headline the Hard Rock Calling festival in London July 13-15. A film, Under African Skies, which documents the story of the album and its attendant controversies, screens Wednesday in Toronto.

Peter Aspden, a culture columnist for the Financial Times of London, wrote two weeks ago about how Graceland was rightly acclaimed on its release in 1986. Yet, it was also dogged by political controversy, too.

Paul Simon

You see, in collaborating with a talented group of South African musicians that included the a cappella singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Simon was accused of having broken the cultural boycott against the nation's apartheid regime. As Aspden commented, "it was a mess of an argument and it continues to be so today."

Much of Graceland was recorded in South Africa and it featured many South African groups and musicians. And, while Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott that was imposed by the rest of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which at the time was in its final years, it was a view that was not supported by the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee. This was because the album featured the talents of black South African musicians while offering no support to the white South African government led by State President P.W. Botha.

As Aspden opined: "No one was in any doubt as to Simon's intentions, which were entirely benign. The album brought a relatively obscure musical tradition to the ears of the world (it sold 14 million copies). The South African musicians on the album went into the project with eyes wide open. 'We used Paul as much as Paul used us,' said the guitarist Ray Phiri, one of Simon's collaborators. This was not an obvious case of cultural exploitation."

According to Aspden, Simon had his detractors. They included Jerry Dammers, who wrote the political anthem "Free Nelson Mandela." While Dammers believed it was wrong for Simon to go South Africa in the 1980s, he said it's in the past. "It's the time not to forgive and forget but to remember and forgive." And, added singer/songwriter Billy Bragg: "He was on the wrong side of the argument despite his good intentions. The cultural boycott was part of the economic boycott that brought South Africa to heel."

In traveling to South Africa when it was not politically correct to do so, Aspden said Simon "found an artistic community that was tired of being ostracized and hungry for the outside world." He created an album devoid of anger. "Not because he didn't find any there but because he believed, in that time and place, in art's power to transcend politics."

Graceland became not only Simon's most commercially successful album ~ it reached No. 3 in the national Billboard charts ~ it also drew praise and accolades for its mixture of African polyrhythms, pop, rock, Zydeco and Tex-Mex as well as the South African Zulu isicathamiya and mbaqanga singing styles. Rolling Stone called it "lovely, daring and accomplished." And, Simon said he considered the title track the best song he's ever written.

"Actually, the achievement of Graceland and what it overcame was not a political thing," Simon told the Toronto Globe and Mail. "It was an artistic bridge that was new at the time. And that was really the achievement. But the other is a juicier story."

To read Peter Aspden's March 23 column:  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/bc70acc2-7362-11e1-9014-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qlP2VYu1

Tutu: A simple, Sunday morning message

Archbishop Desmond Tutu /
"Isn't it exhilarating to be
an agent of transfiguration?"

The Most Rev. Desmond Tutu is a much beloved spiritual leader, one of the most recognizable public figures in the world.  As an apartheid fighter and Nobel laureate, he is also a man of many hats, not including the commanding mitre he wears as an Archbishop emeritus in the Anglican Church.

On Sunday, the soft-spoken and genial Tutu was guest of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, where he delivered a nearly 20-minute homily during the 11 o'clock Episcopal Choral Eucharist service that was part political, part grandfatherly wisdom.  He preached a simple message to the standing-room-only congregation numbering about 1,000, that as human beings: "We are all agents of transfiguration."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu /
"We are all agents of transfiguration."

Tutu explained that transfiguration can happen because "you have smiled on someone carrying a heavy burden. Transfiguration can happen because you uttered a word of concern."

Although much of Tutu's sermon was gentle in its tone, he did speak out about the forever-changing world political climate, one that has transformed since he was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in defeating apartheid in his native South Africa. He chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and has been credited with coining the term "Rainbow Nation" to describe post-apartheid South Africa.

"Apartheid in South Africa gives way to a nascent democracy. You helped us gain that freedom," Tutu said in his recognizable, lilting voice.

He continued:  "A Berlin Wall tumbles down.  Soviet injustice collapses.  The horrid, oppressive Mubarak steps down.  No situation could ever be described as hopeless."

Tutu spared no punches, giving mention to oppressive nations around the world, including Burma, Tibet and Libya.  He had a warning for each:  "All those who strut across the stage of the world as if they were invincible, they, too, without fail, will kiss the dust and become the flotsam and jetsam of history."

The sound bites contained in the brief political message of Tutu's homily played well for the local TV cameras that were positioned in a corner of the French Gothic-style cathedral near the pulpit, and just a few feet from where my wife and I were seated for the Choral Eucharist service.  Our seats provided us with an excellent sight line for seeing and hearing Tutu's moving homily.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu / At the Grace Cathedral altar
for The Blessing and The Dismissal.

These days, Tutu, 79, is retired as Anglican archbishop from Cape Town, South Africa.  The global activist makes few public appearances. So, I feel privileged and honored to have shared company with this most revered of homilists.

"You, I, we are agents of transfiguration," Tutu preached. "Go forth and transform your personal relationships, your community, God's world, so it becomes hospitable to laughter, to joy, to caring, to sharing, to compassion, to justice, to freedom, to peace."

Reflecting afterward, I think what most parishioners took away from Tutu's message ~ and, hopefully will remember ~ is his thoughts and wisdom regarding transfiguration.  I know I did.

"You are an agent of transfiguration," Tutu said. "As you walk the pavement of this city, you do not need to do anything that is spectacular.  As you pass someone on the pavement, how about signing the sign of the cross over them in your mind.

"Isn't it exhilarating to be an agent of transfiguration?"

Amen.

It was a simple message, but it resonated throughout the cathedral on this rainy, winter morning.  Then, the congregation rose and gave Tutu a standing ovation that left him smiling.



Editor's note ~ To listen to Archbishop Tutu's sermon:
http://www.gracecathedral.org/church/overview/sermons/


All photos by Michael Dickens, copyright 2011.  All rights reserved.