One-Trick Pony (album)

One-Trick Pony
Soundtrack album by Paul Simon
Released	August 1980
Recorded	1979–1980
Genre	Rock
Length	38:12
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Paul Simon, Phil Ramone
Paul Simon chronology
Greatest Hits, Etc. (1977) One-Trick Pony (1980) Hearts and Bones (1983)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(B-)[2]
Rolling Stone	(mixed)[3]

One-Trick Pony is the fifth solo album released by Paul Simon, in 1980.

Paul Simon's One-Trick Pony was released concurrently with the film of the same name, in which Simon also starred. Despite their similarities, the album and film are musically distinct: each features different versions of the same songs, as well as certain songs that appear exclusively on either the film or the album. The album is best known for the Grammy-nominated track "Late in the Evening" which was a hit for Simon in 1980, peaking at #6 in the U.S. Two of the tracks (the title song and "Ace in the Hole") were recorded live at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio in September 1979. The rest are studio cuts.

The record features several top session musicians (who also appeared in the movie as the character Jonah's backing band), including Eric Gale on lead guitar, Richard Tee on piano, Tony Levin on bass, and Steve Gadd on drums.

In 2004, One-Trick Pony was remastered and re-released by Warner Bros. Records. This reissue contains four bonus tracks, including "Soft Parachutes" and "Spiral Highway" (an early version of "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns") both of which were featured in the film but were missing from the original album release. Also included in the re-release were the outtake of "All Because of You" (an early version of "Oh Marion") and "Stranded in a Limousine", which originally appeared on the 1977 compilation Greatest Hits, Etc..

After years of being available only on videocassette, in 2009 the film was released by Warner Brothers on DVD.

Definition

The title derives from a colloquial American expression meaning a person specializing in only one area, having only one talent, or of limited ability.^[4] The OED's first citation is from 1905.^[5]

Track listing

All songs were written by Paul Simon.

1. "Late in the Evening"
2. "That's Why God Made the Movies"
3. "One-Trick Pony"
4. "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns"
5. "Oh, Marion"
6. "Ace in the Hole"
7. "Nobody"
8. "Jonah"
9. "God Bless the Absentee"
10. "Long, Long Day" (with Patti Austin)

2004 re-release

11. "Soft Parachutes" – 1:53
12. "All Because of You" – 4:06
13. "Spiral Highway" – 2:56
14. "Stranded in a Limousine" – 3:10

Personnel

• Paul Simon – vocals, guitar, percussion
• John Tropea – acoustic guitar
• Patti Austin – vocals
• Joe Beck – electric guitar
• Michael Brecker – saxophone
• Hiram Bullock – electric guitar
• Jon Faddis – flugelhorn
• Don Grolnick – synthesizer
• David Sanborn – saxophone
• Marvin Stamm – trumpet
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Randy Brecker – trumpet
• Dave Grusin – horn & string arrangements
• Gordon Edwards – bass
• Steve Gadd – drums, percussion
• Eric Gale – guitar
• Lani Groves – background vocals
• Anthony Jackson – bass
• Tony Levin – bass
• Irwin "Marky" Markowitz – trumpet
• Hugh McCracken – acoustic guitar
• Jeff Mironov – electric guitar
• Richard Tee – piano, tambourine, background vocals
• Bob Friedman – horn & string arrangements

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
1981	"Late in the Evening"	Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male[6]	Nominated

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1980) Position Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[7] 2 New Zealand Albums Chart [8] 6 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[9] 8 Swedish Albums Chart[10] 9 French SNEP Albums Chart [11] 11 United States Billboard Pop Albums[12] 12 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[13] 15 UK Albums Chart [14] 17 Canadian Albums Chart[15] 23 Japanese Oricon LP Chart[16] 35

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Position Australian Albums Chart[13] 66 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments United States (RIAA)[17] Gold 500,000^ United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Silver 60,000^ ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

• The String Cheese Incident have covered the song "Late In the Evening" on numerous occasions, with drummer Michael Travis on vocals.
• Peter Mulvey covered "Stranded In a Limousine" on his album Ten Thousand Mornings.

In popular culture

• The album is mentioned on the thank you page of Douglas Adams' novel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
• The Victoria, B.C. band Immaculate Machine takes their name from the lyrics of the track "One-Trick Pony".

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Robert Christgau review
3. ^ Rolling Stone review
4. ^ "Oxford English Dictionary, Third edition, June 2004; online version March 2011". 
5. ^ Oregon Pioneer Assoc. 32nd Ann. Reunion. 1905. p. 264. 
6. ^ "Rock On The Net: 23rd Annual Grammy Awards - 1981". http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1981/grammys.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
7. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+Simon&titel=One-Trick+Pony&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
8. ^ "charts.org.nz - Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+Simon&titel=One-Trick+Pony&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
9. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+Simon&titel=One-Trick+Pony&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
10. ^ "swedishcharts.com Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony". Sverigetopplistan. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+Simon&titel=One-Trick+Pony&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
11. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Paul Simon". infodisc.fr. http://infodisc.fr/Album_M.php. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
12. ^ Allmusic - One-Trick Pony > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
13. ^ ^{a b} Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
14. ^ "Chart Stats - Paul Simon - One-Trick Pony". UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=39355. Retrieved 2011-08-28. 
15. ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4703a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=lo0152od4caliufjkgh3mkphk6
16. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
17. ^ "American album certifications – Paul Simon – One Trick Pony". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22One+Trick+Pony%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
18. ^ "British album certifications – Paul Simon – One-trick Pony". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter One-trick Pony in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go

External links

• One-Trick Pony at the Internet Movie Database