Behka’s Secret Stash: Paul Simon

Kids, today on the Secret Stash we're only gonna go back to about 1997.  Beware though, this is not something that's safe for playing loud at work or in front of the children.

Paul Simon is one of those guys who seems like he's been the King of the Singer/Songwriter forever.  Everyone knows songs like "Hazy Shade of Winter," "Mrs. Robinson," "Graceland," "You Can Call Me Al," and probably dozens more.  He's reunited with Art Garfunkel a few times, and he's had considerable success as an individual artist for decades.

However, not too many people remember when he stretched out into musical theater.  In the very late nineties, he wrote a doo-wop-like musical about a news story that was popular in the fifties, the story of The Capeman.

It was meant to be the true story about Salvador Agron, a kid growing up in New York.  He came from Puerto Rico with his family, and in 1959 he joined a gang called The Vampires.  Through them, he got involved in the murders of two people.  He was tried and convicted of murder.  He was the youngest person ever to be sentenced to Death Row at the age of 16.

In prison, he turned his life around.  He learned to read and write, and got an education.  The death sentence was commuted at first to life in prison, and then in the mid seventies his sentence was reduced.  He eventually he got out of jail, wrote a book, and tried to lead by example until he died in the mid-eighties.

"The Capeman" was the nickname he chose for himself in the gang, and the musical was to be a look back by adult Salvador at his  life, told from his perspective.  It went through his youth, the gang, the crimes, his trial, his jail time, and his release.

Paul Simon wrote the "book," which is theater term for the script.  He wrote the music, and most of the lyrics for the songs.  He wrote with others, but he was the main name behind the project.  It was to star the singer Marc Anthony and a cast of singers and dancers.  However, it was never received well.  It got negative reviews from the beginning for being too slow, not containing enough dancing, and for glamorizing a murder.

To promote the play's opening on Broadway, Simon and a few members of the cast performed portions of the musical onto CD and released it, with hopes that it would draw more crowds to the troubled production.   What resulted was an album where most of the main characters were performed by Simon with a few parts here and there performed by the cast.  It doesn't make sense much in terms of plot, but the songs were pretty solid.

One of them, here, is a song about The Vampire gang trying to bully Salvador into joining their group.  In this song, there are many swears, so be prepared and forewarned, it's NSFW.  Paul Simon plays the main role of the leader of the Vampires, Hernandez.  He also responds in a few lines as young Salvador.

This song is one of the best in the musical.  This song is from the perspective of the mothers of the boys who were involved. It's a little confusing as Simon sings the parts of all three mothers; Salvador's mother, Esmerelda, and the two mothers of the boys who were killed.

It's a strong melody with a thoughtful, introspective lyric - and shows clearly the religious snobbery and racism of some of the people at the time toward Puerto Rican immigrants.

One more here, this one is a mix of the cast and Paul Simon.

This one is meant to be one of the opening numbers, setting up the plot and conceit of the story.  It establishes Salvador's pride in his homeland, and also the circumstances in which he was growing up in the United States.  It's another great, strong melody that stays with you.  Particularly stirring is the final sequence, where the horns and band really come into play.

And there you have it.  There's my Secret Stash, hearing Paul Simon as you may never have seen him before, and also hopefully learning a little something about this particular story.  If I'm lucky, you liked it.  If not, well, tune in next time, action fans.  Maybe my next Secret Stash will be more enrapturing.

Adios Hermanos,

Behka