Hearts and Bones

Hearts and Bones is the sixth solo studio album by Paul Simon. It was released in 1983.

For the BBC TV Series, see Hearts and Bones (TV series). For the Australian 2019 film, see Hearts and Bones (film).
Hearts and Bones
Studio album by
Paul Simon
ReleasedNovember 4, 1983
Recorded1981–1983
Studio
  • Warner Bros. (Hollywood)
  • Atlantic (New York City)
  • Power Station (New York City)
  • Sigma Sound (New York City)
  • Regent Sound (New York City)
  • Mediasound (New York City)[1]
GenrePop, rock
Length40:30
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Paul Simon chronology
One-Trick Pony
(1980)		 Hearts and Bones
(1983)		 Graceland
(1986)

The album was originally intended to be called Think Too Much, but Mo Ostin, president of Warner Bros. Records at the time, persuaded Simon to change it to Hearts and Bones.[2] The album was written and recorded following Simon & Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park in 1981, and the world tour of 1982-1983. Several songs intended for Think Too Much were previewed on tour, and Art Garfunkel worked on some of the songs with Simon in the studio,[3] with an intention that the finished product would be an all-new Simon & Garfunkel studio album.[4] Garfunkel left the project and Simon erased all his vocals and worked the material into a solo album.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Boston Phoenix[6]
Chicago Tribune[7]
Entertainment WeeklyB[8]
The Guardian[9]
PopMatters8/10[10]
Rolling Stone[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Uncut[12]
The Village VoiceB+[13]

Overall the album was a commercial failure.[10][14] In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic called Hearts and Bones Simon's "most personal collection of songs, one of his most ambitious, and one of his best." Ruhlmann praised the lyrical handling of the subject of romance and the music's blending of doo-wop and rock and roll roots with contemporary styles.[5] Robert Christgau later referred to the album as being "a finely wrought dead end."[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Simon, except for one-minute coda on "The Late Great Johnny Ace" written by Philip Glass.

Side one
  1. "Allergies" – 4:37
  2. "Hearts and Bones" – 5:37
  3. "When Numbers Get Serious" – 3:25
  4. "Think Too Much (b)" – 2:44
  5. "Song About the Moon" – 4:07
Side two
  1. "Think Too Much (a)" – 3:05
  2. "Train in the Distance" – 5:11
  3. "René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War" – 3:44
  4. "Cars Are Cars" – 3:15
  5. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" – 4:45
2004 CD reissue bonus tracks
  1. "Shelter of Your Arms" (Unreleased Work-in-Progress) – 3:11
  2. "Train in the Distance" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:13
  3. "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:46
  4. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:22

Personnel
  • Paul Simon – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, programming, vocals
  • Rob Mounsey – synthesizer, vocoder
  • The Harptones – background vocals
  • Bernard Edwards – bass guitar
  • Nile Rodgers – electric guitar on "Think Too Much (a)", and "Cars are Cars", programming
  • Al Di Meola – electric guitar solo on "Allergies"
  • Eric Gale – electric guitar on "When Numbers Get Serious"
  • Sid McGinnis – electric guitar on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Airto Moreira – percussion
  • Marin Alsop – violin on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Michael Boddicker – synthesizer on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Tom Coppola – Synclavier on "When Numbers Get Serious", "Think Too Much (b)", "Song About the Moon", and "Think Too Much (a)"
  • Wells Christie – Synclavier on "Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War"
  • Steve Ferrone – drums on "When Numbers Get Serious" and "Think Too Much (a)", additional drums on "Allergies"
  • Steve Gadd – drums on all songs except where noted
  • Anthony Jackson – Contrabass guitar
  • Jill Jaffe – viola on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Jesse Levy – cello on "Train in the Distance"
  • Mike Mainieri – marimba, vibraphone
  • George Marge – bass clarinet on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Marcus Miller – bass guitar on "Train in the Distance" and "Think Too Much (b)"
  • Jeff Porcaro – drums on "Train in the Distance"
  • Dean Parks – electric guitar, hi string guitar
  • Greg Phillinganes – Fender Rhodes on "Allergies", "Song About the Moon" and "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Michael Riesman – synthesizer, conductor on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Mark Rivera – alto saxophone on "Train in the Distance"
  • Rob Sabino – synthesizer, piano
  • Richard Tee – synthesizer, piano, Fender Rhodes
  • Carol Wincenc – flute on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Frederick Zlotkin – cello on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
  • Peter Gordon – French horn on "Train in the Distance"

The uncredited horn section on "Allergies" and "Cars Are Cars" are Mark Rivera (saxophone),Jon Faddis & Alan Rubin (trumpets)

Chart positions
Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[16] 99
Canadian Albums Chart[17] 50
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[18] 14
French SNEP Albums Chart[19] 19
German Media Control Albums Chart[20] 51
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[21] 30
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[22] 3
Spanish Albums Chart[23] 27
Swedish Albums Chart[24] 11
Swiss Albums Chart[25] 25
UK Albums Chart[26] 34
US Billboard Top LPs[27] 35

References
  1. "Hearts and Bones".
  2. Marc Eliot (18 Oct 2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley & Sons. p. 181. ISBN 9780470433638. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  3. Jeffrey Perlah (30 May 1998). "Billboard review". Billboard. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  4. Shewey, Don (November 24, 1983). "Hearts and Bones". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. Ruhlmann, William. "Hearts and Bones – Paul Simon". AllMusic. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  6. Moses, Mark (December 20, 1983). "Off the record". The Boston Phoenix. Vol. 12, no. 51. sec. 3, p. 29. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  7. Kot, Greg (October 14, 1990). "The Evolution Of Simon's Diverse Solo Career". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  8. Browne, David (January 18, 1991). "Rating Paul Simon's albums". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  9. Sweeting, Adam (August 6, 2004). "Paul Simon, Hearts & Bones". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  10. Bloom, David (January 13, 2012). "Paul Simon: One-Trick Pony / Hearts and Bones / Graceland / The Rhythm of the Saints". PopMatters. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  11. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Paul Simon". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 736–37. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. Torn, Luke (October 2004). "St Paul's Gospel". Uncut. No. 89. London.
  13. Christgau, Robert (January 24, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  14. Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. Britannica Educational. December 2012. ISBN 9781615309122.
  15. Christgau, Robert (September 23, 1986). "South Africa Romance". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  16. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2011-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. "dutchcharts.nl Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  19. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Paul Simon". infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  20. "Album Search: Paul Simon" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  21. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  22. "norwegiancharts.com Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  23. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  24. "swedishcharts.com Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  25. "Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones - hitparade.ch". Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  26. "The Official Charts Company - Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  27. Allmusic - Hearts and Bones > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
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