Graceland by Paul Simon

Graceland, Paul Simon's seventh solo album, came out on Warner Bros. on August 25, 1986, and it's the sound of a man at a low ebb finding new life in somebody else's streets. His partnership with Art Garfunkel had soured, his marriage to Carrie Fisher had ended and Hearts and Bones had flopped when a bootleg tape of mbaqanga, South African street music, got under his skin. He and engineer Roy Halee spent two weeks in Johannesburg recording with local players, then finished in the US with guests including Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers, Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters and Los Lobos.

The result bounces and shimmers, with isicathamiya, zydeco and a cappella woven through "You Can Call Me Al", "The Boy in the Bubble" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes". It won the Grammy for Album of the Year, became his most successful record with more than 16 million sold worldwide, and in 2006 joined the National Recording Registry.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.