|
"I made it clear I didn't want a puff piece, a Paul Simon puff piece, and he didn't want a Paul Simon puff piece," Berlinger said. "We established that we're going to do an honest exploration of these issues and also go deeply into how this music was made, which, to me, is actually the more interesting part of the film. "The political story is relevant and has resonance in today's world as well, but how this album was made, the dissection of that music and that achievement to me was as interesting, or more so, than the political story." The film traces the creation of the album, from early recording sessions Simon did in South Africa to capture the raw material for many of the songs, to a London studio session with vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to an early performance on "Saturday Night Live" that enchanted the audience months before "Graceland" was released. "Under African Skies" also follows Simon on his return to South Africa last summer, when he and musicians from the album reunited for a performance. Simon had a gracious welcome there, reminiscent of a trip back to South Africa he took a few years after the "Graceland" tour, when apartheid had ended and South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, invited him to come and perform. Mandela's invitation amounted to the "official announcement that was nothing about `Graceland' that the ANC saw as harming the cause. In fact, the opposite," Simon said. "We all felt particularly honored to even meet Nelson Mandela. I think of him as one of the great, great leaders of the 20th century. One of the great teachers. To be in his presence actually was extraordinary. We felt great about it." ___ Online:
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor