Paul Simon and the Road to Redemption

YOU COULD ARGUE whether Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years deserved its trophy for Album of the Year when the Grammys were handed out in 1976. In an eligibility period that included Blood on the Tracks, Born to Run, and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, to name just a few, it looks like a not-particularly-adventurous choice. But there's no denying what a triumph it was for Simon. It gave him his first #1 single as a solo artist ('50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'), topped the album chart, added some memorable phrases to the pop lexicon, and exuded artistic confidence.