On This Day in 1973, Paul Simon Plays His First Concert as a Solo Artist in Boston

Within two years of parting ways with Art Garfunkel and the release of the duo’s fifth and final album together, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Paul Simon released his second solo album, self-titled, introducing his classics “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and “Mother and Child Reunion.”

A year later came Simon’s third album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, on May 5, 1973, featuring “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like a Rock.” A day after its release, a 30-year-old Simon embarked on his first tour as a solo artist.

Despite Simon’s log of hits with Garfunkel and his own as a solo artist, he was hesitant to go on tour alone, fearing it would fall flat without his former partner. “This is not like a Simon & Garfunkel tour,” said Simon in a 1973 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We used to play 15,000 to 20,000 halls and sell them out. I’m not doing that. I’m playing smaller places.”

Simon said he preferred performing in smaller halls on his tour since they were more intimate. “I also didn’t think I could fill those big halls now,” he added. “I doubt if there’s 20,000 in every city who want to see me.”

On May 6, 1973, backed by the South American vocalists Urubamba, who previously played with Simon & Garfunkel, and gospel group the Jesse Dixon Singers, Simon kicked off his tour and his first show, solo, at the Boston Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Simon Says: “The vast majority of people don’t know who I am.”

Simon’s set list that first night included songs from the Simon & Garfunkel catalog and from his solo albums, including the then-new “Loves Me Like a Rock” and “Kodachrome.”

In 1974, Simon released Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin featuring his first solo performances of Simon & Garfunkel songs from the tour, including “Homeward Bound,” “The Boxer,” “America,” “The Sound of Silence” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” along with his own “Duncan,” “Loves Me Like a Rock,” “American Tune” and more.

“The reason I wanted to tour now was that I wanted to be visibly on the scene,” said Simon in ’73. “I didn’t want to appear to be retired or anything like that. I felt that the second album was good, that it probably was going to make an impact, and I wanted to say, ‘Look, I really care. I’m just sending down albums from some mountaintop to you. ‘”

He continued, “I also wanted to see how people would react to me. I think the vast majority of people don’t know who I am. If you say Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel, then the identification comes through. So, for me, I have to show my face a little so people will have some idea of who I am.”

Photo: Paul Simon in May 1973, Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)