Paul Simon Songbook - a rarity?
Posted by: joerand on 25 May 2013
Shopping for s/h vinyl in Seattle I came across a generic white LP sleeve with the the title "Paul Simon Songbook" rubber stamped on the front. The label is powder blue with black lettering "Silver Platter Records" at the top.
From the web I found "This is a fascinating collection of what essentially are demos of later Simon and Garfunkel music. Paul recorded this album in a few hours in 1965, using one microphone in a small London studio. Released originally on CBS Records UK in 1965 and still in print through the mid 1970s, it was briefly released in the USA in the early 1980s as part of a vinyl box set, "The Paul Simon Collection", but later withdrawn."
The only reference in the Goldmine Album Guide is for a Paul Simon box set released by Columbia that includes "the elusive Paul Simon Songbook, otherwise unavailable in the US". It's a bootleg I guess. The vinyl is black, fairly heavy, dead-flat, and in great shape. The sound quality is very good for a demo type recording. The performance is very good as well.
This LP was released in Europe. I'm just wondering how many here know of it or have it. Seems like a lucky find in the US especially in such great shape for $2.
