Remembering When Paul Simon Paid Touching Tribute to a Rock Icon Gone Too Soon in 1983

Paul Simon earned a reputation as a songwriter with a knack for accurately depicting the hopes and fears of a large segment of the population. Although many arose from a personal place, his songs often resonated far beyond their initial inspirations.

When one of music’s leading lights was doused, Simon, like many others, was indelibly shaken. He rose to the occasion with a song that made poignant connections to tragedies throughout the years.

John and Paul (not the Ones You Think)

Perhaps the lasting image of John Lennon and Paul Simon spending time together came when they presented an award together at the Grammys in 1975. As they wisecracked their way through the clunky dialogue provided for them, it seemed like their chemistry emanated from a close personal relationship.

In truth, Lennon and Simon didn’t quite mesh all that well. Simon gave some interviews that were critical of Lennon’s messaging within his music. A year before his death, Lennon was captured on tape insulting Simon. Not exactly the stuff of a buddy comedy.

Still, like anyone else, Paul Simon couldn’t help but feel the devastating impact of Lennon’s 1980 murder. Like many musicians, he processed his feelings through music. But Lennon’s death proved to be just one of the catalysts for Simon’s 1983 song “The Late Great Johnny Ace”.

“Late” in the Evening

Simon didn’t simply focus on Lennon’s fate when writing the song. The title refers to an R&B singer Johnny Ace, who was just about to break through nationally when he accidentally shot himself in 1954. As a kid, Simon felt shock at one of his early musical heroes dying in such a violent way.

The narrator of the song reminisces in the middle eight on “the year of The Beatles, the year of the Stones.” He’s talking about 1964, just a year after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many cultural historians have credited the excitement of the British Invasion with helping America shake off the devastation of Kennedy’s death.

In the final verse, the narrator finally comes to Lennon’s death. All he can do is head to a bar and drink to these men, all named John, all gone too soon by the gun. A sad piece of orchestral music arranged by composer Philip Glass closes out the song on the recording found on Simon’s 1983 album Hearts And Bones.

A Winning Closer

Hearts And Bones failed to do the business expected of a Paul Simon record. Many blamed its relative failure on Simon’s refusal to capitulate to the modern musical trends of that era. The fact that he had bailed on making it a reunion album with Art Garfunkel also made it feel like an anticlimax of sorts.

Still, “The Late Great Johnny Ace”, as the closing song, certainly makes for a memorable send-off to the record. Many other musicians wrote tributes to John Lennon in the immediate wake of his passing, including several who enjoyed much better personal relationships with the former Beatle. But Paul Simon’s effort makes clear that he put aside whatever differences they might have had in the name of giving a legend his proper due.

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

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