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Paul Simon: Graceland; Warner Bros 925447-2, Released September 1986

Chris Charlesworth, unpublished, 1997

IN THE SUMMER of 1984, as he faced the problem of furthering a critically successful but commercially waning career, Paul Simon received a gift from his friend Heidi Berg which set him on the road towards what many critics believe to be his masterpiece. The gift was a bootleg tape from the townships of South Africa called Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits No 2, and it changed his musical direction radically.

Total word count of piece: 3316

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