TV was still new back then. Getting interviewed was considered like talking to someone else over a restaurant table, with unseen people maybe watching in. Now it's considered a performance where you have to be high-energy.
Love the way that Dick let's Simon keep talking. We need that today. Interviews with the artist's a true story not the spiced up version of things interviewers are forced to dig for these days (ironically, you got more spice the old way anyway)
Miguel Urdaci sadly most “artists “ being interviewed aren’t “artists “ at all just pretty faces that sing someone else’s songs. The real artists are not being interviewed at all.
Must say that when Paul starts the intro legit and goes into the first line, the chromosomes in the universe change. How can such a deceptively simple song be so incredibly moving? Those first chord progressions are sheer poetry.
it's not often that you can see a genius perform and let you in on his process right in front of you. what a classic interview Paul is so humble relaxed and welcoming Hes instantly likeable.
WOA! just Woa! One of the greatest composer of our time. That man gave so much to humanity. I dont think people really fathom how much. God bless you Simon!
Paul is a great musician and has written so many great songs. I think it is cool how he explains how the song "Mrs. Robinson" was written in this video too.
It's interviews like this that made me a Dick Cavett fan. Best show on late night and probably the best talk show ever. An intelligent interview with one of the best songwriters of my youth.
if this interview date is correct (8 April 1970), thus was one day before the infamous supposed press release where Paul McCartney announced he had quit the Beatles, which makes Dick's comment that the Beatles don't perform much anymore much more interesting to me
They couldn't hear themselves play. The teenage fans screamed so loudly they couldn't even hear their own music. Also, you have to remember they toured constantly for 6 years, ever since they went to Germany in 1960. They'd rarely been off the road, except to go into the studio or to make a movie. They'd had no time off, no personal life. Hadn't they given enough?
John Maritato Yes! His live shows were always top. So much energy, so much fun. I had the pleasure of seeing him play live some 8 times and each and every one of those concerts were among the best. What a privilege it has been.
Great interviewing where you are learning more about the artist and their insights on recording. Much different then how interviews are conducting today where we are wrapped in their celebrity rather than their talent and ways of thinking.
Paul is a musical genius and I love how he just starts playing Mrs. Robinson in this interview. It is also cool the stories behind the songs he has written!
born in 63...wasn't that an amazing time to be a child musically? Classical Gas, Herb Alpert, Take Five, Mas Que Nada all poured into our spongey brains. We will never forget those tunes.
Simon always had a nervous aloofness about himself, that was both intriguing and calming. And his complex personality is reflected perfectly in his music and in the complexity of his writing. It is probably most evident (and at its peak) in his song - Still Crazy. > Paul Simon - an honest artist.
What I was recently amazed at was Paul Simon's intimate knowledge and technical understanding of music - he knew exactly what every one of his choices were in any chord progression, how and why to resolve to which chord, reminiscent of how George Martin contributed his musical savvy to the Beatles sound.
So awesome how Dick Cavett didn't interrupt, and allowed Paul Simon to go on at length explaining how he got involved with The Graduate !!! This was a magical interview!!!
Colder beer you and the other person are right Dick Cavett was so great. I was 13 when this aired but loved Dick Cavett’s show so much. But you’re right. Look how he is as host/ interviewer. Not like Letterman,et.al who make it about themselves. I loved his shows
Talk shows were great back then. Great hosts. Great guests. Good questions. Guests were allowed to answer. I was a kid back then & loved watching them!
I've always identified with this comment regarding Joe Dimaggio.. I always imagined this as a nostalgic reference to lost heroes... ie Joltin' Joe has left and gone away. In the present age there were no heroes more...
I remember an interview with Paul in the 80's and he said then that he wanted to put Mickey Mantle in the song but Dimaggio just sounded better. He said Joe never really liked the song and to him it was just "hippies making fun of him."
Joe DiMaggio was NOT a hero...He was a baseball player...The real heros, of which there are millions, worldwide, are police, firemen, teachers, doctors, emergency responder teams, on and on and on...Some day; they'll get their song...
What a rare gift he has. Genius. When he starts to play Mrs. Robinson -- it's just undeniably great. He could have played it on a banjo and a kazoo -- wouldn't matter.
I love this clip..wish there was more to see "after the break". Watching Mr. Simon describe how he created a classic hit song for the ages...fascinating.
I have a lot of memories of simon and garfunkel.There never will be anything to match the feel and hope there music gave me.It's beyond anything humans will ever produce again at least for me.
When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Dick Cavett. I once heard him described as "witty and urbane" and I said, yep, that's for me. Fabulous dinner parties at their big house on Long Island with interesting guests, drinking Compari and soda while working the NYT crossword poolside, caviar and cigarettes, well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice. But I digress. With regard to the style of talk shows in the 70's, Cavett once said that he very overwhelmed at the beginning and he called Steve Allen for advice. Mr. Allen said, "don't conduct an interview, just have a conversation". It is evident from the above example that the advice resonated with him.
Fun to watch Paul Simon's brain work. Pretty smart guy and fantastic musician and songwriter. Bob Dillon still performing today in 2020... Who would have thunk!
@@coolmacatrain9434 Well, i guess they had already done that. To me it is a strange idea to demand other songs. Aren't you pleased by those already in existance?
This is such a painful reminder of how much more quality talk shows were 40 years back ! Nowadays Dick Cavett's successors look so superficial and cheap, polluting the public air with non-substantial trash content. It's enough to think of Fallon and all his childish games with celebs that are basically per-school level stuff!
Dick Cavett had lots of good guests. But his interviews are kind of silly. All basic stuff How did you? What happened? very little insight for good follow-up. Often more interested is demonstrating some sophomoric wit than anything else. Demonstrates only a superficial knowledge of his guests and subject matter. Not to mention his nasal snooty voice. The best thing I can say is he often doesn't interfere with his guests - for more in depth interviews today you need to go to the web.
I miss those Dick Cavett shows and Tom Snyder's talk show. Something has happened to the American Genome. The attention span and the desire to be intellectually stimulated has all but gone. You're either bombarded with the silly sophomoric antics like Fallon or you're being preached to by some talking head (i.e. news anchor). Networks play to the simple minded. They fear having people talk about interesting, sociopolitical topics or have in-depth interviews with great songwriters will only cause the audience to turn to their smart phones (probably to play candy crush) or switch to playing XBox or Playstation.
I love the little pauses when Paul is speaking and trying to work on getting his point across. It's not alway easy to talk about how you wrote your own music. Nowadays interviews seem to be so rushed and scripted. Nice to see an honest, off the cuff interviewer and interviewee. Real good stuff.
Quite. Di Maggio is a symbol for simpler, less complex times, which perfectly evokes the confusion of 1968 America. It's one of the loveliest-sounding couplets in all of popular music, but it's also searingly truthful and poignant.
Love how the crowd let him play and didn’t start annoyingly clapping to the beat
Or bloody whooping, like so many Americans seem so eager to do these days.
Clapping on 1&3** 😂
@@skyhigh776 Yes, this is what I was waiting for. People have no etiquette for attending performing arts anymore
This was in 'The good old days ' 💙 🇺🇸 🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎶 💖
@@skyhigh776 Or sit dead with no appreciative expression, before, during, and after the performance, like the Brits.
He was excellent in No Country for Old Men too.
But larger
😂
“Now is not a time, what time do you close?”
slightly less masculine
Comment of the year 2020 goes to...
Love the 60's / 70's soft spoken accent.
sounds more civilian to my non native speaker ears -- time of midatlantic movie accent also
TV was still new back then. Getting interviewed was considered like talking to someone else over a restaurant table, with unseen people maybe watching in. Now it's considered a performance where you have to be high-energy.
kewkabe Still new? You’re looking at technology over 20 years old by this time.
@K.D.P. Ross Television was invented about 1928, but not mass made and sold to the public until the very late 1940s. So this is about 22 years later.
@K.D.P. Ross Eight years is not a "hair." Ask any seven year old.
Love the way that Dick let's Simon keep talking. We need that today. Interviews with the artist's a true story not the spiced up version of things interviewers are forced to dig for these days (ironically, you got more spice the old way anyway)
Miguel Urdaci sadly most “artists “ being interviewed aren’t “artists “ at all just pretty faces that sing someone else’s songs. The real artists are not being interviewed at all.
I wish the rest of this interview after the commercial break was available somewhere. I loved DC when he had his own show.
Paul Simon voted for Hillary...
I agree, idiots like Jimmy Fallon would be laughing at every word he said.
@@jeffpower6473 singing is art on its own.
Paul was one of those geniuses who somehow naturally created the most memorable songs in our lifetime
Must say that when Paul starts the intro legit and goes into the first line, the chromosomes in the universe change. How can such a deceptively simple song be so incredibly moving? Those first chord progressions are sheer poetry.
it's not often that you can see a genius perform and let you in on his process right in front of you. what a classic interview Paul is so humble relaxed and welcoming Hes instantly likeable.
And this my dear friends, is what musical/poetic genius looks like. Thank you Mr. Simon.
WOA! just Woa! One of the greatest composer of our time. That man gave so much to humanity. I dont think people really fathom how much. God bless you Simon!
Many of those who recorded with him called him a total fucking PRICK! But yeah, he's a talented prick.
Paul is a great musician and has written so many great songs. I think it is cool how he explains how the song "Mrs. Robinson" was written in this video too.
So right!
He don’t even know why he’s writing what he’s writing though is that how most song writers are ?
calm down big boy
If he just played those riffs and that stuff just came" off the top of his head " as he says , that's just genius , pure and simple.
DAZZA6061
Songs are born that way all the time
But he's not wrong, Paul is a genius :D
Amen to that DAZZA
he just has a knack for alliterative lyrics and riffs and just says them outloud/plays them like a mathematician might recite prime numbers.
True Dat!
It's interviews like this that made me a Dick Cavett fan. Best show on late night and probably the best talk show ever. An intelligent interview with one of the best songwriters of my youth.
We needed a complete solo acoustic version of Mrs. Robinson by Paul. Just these little snippets are so wonderful.
What a fantastic clip. What a phenomenal songwriter.
Completely agree.
Raw talent oozing
i am a subscriber to you aha
His soul expresses the music , and in so doing he shows the part of him that is normally private.
Saw him in Dunedin, New Zealand 2013.
Still had the voice at 71 and had everyone singing along, as you would.
Simon is a great person with beautiful voice and talent .
if this interview date is correct (8 April 1970), thus was one day before the infamous supposed press release where Paul McCartney announced he had quit the Beatles, which makes Dick's comment that the Beatles don't perform much anymore much more interesting to me
Whoa.
I was JUST thinking, as Dick Cavett mentioned the Beatles in the 'present' tense. Not for much longer sadly...
Andy Dixon
They had quit touring in 1966, pathetic really.
Pathetic? in what respect?
They couldn't hear themselves play. The teenage fans screamed so loudly they couldn't even hear their own music. Also, you have to remember they toured constantly for 6 years, ever since they went to Germany in 1960. They'd rarely been off the road, except to go into the studio or to make a movie. They'd had no time off, no personal life. Hadn't they given enough?
On top of being a legendary composer he is easily one of the best live acts I ever saw.
John Maritato Yes! His live shows were always top. So much energy, so much fun. I had the pleasure of seeing him play live some 8 times and each and every one of those concerts were among the best. What a privilege it has been.
A genius is a genius, is a genius. no othr word to describe him....lovely to hear him speak...intelligent men both here
He's been described many times as a total PRICK by those who had the misfortune to work in the studio with him.
Bob the Avenger
Sources please.
@ Bob - So what album were you in there working on...?? Yeah, that’s what I thought...smdh
Dude he is Not a genius. He was good man. Talented ok Shut up with the genius crap man
Oh yeah Jessie James
He is such a genius,i cant help myself but cry just trying to admire his songs
I love to hear stories behind a well written song.❤️
There's such a childlike-innocent-genius to how Paul Simon talks. Wow.
Great interviewing where you are learning more about the artist and their insights on recording. Much different then how interviews are conducting today where we are wrapped in their celebrity rather than their talent and ways of thinking.
That man is an honest to goodness, national treasure.
God to have things like Mrs. Robinson just pop into my head.....
I love Paul Simon I've seen him three times in the last 20 years. He sounded just as great back in the 90s as he did in 2018
The intensity of Paul Simon can’t be denied.
Paul is a musical genius and I love how he just starts playing Mrs. Robinson in this interview. It is also cool the stories behind the songs he has written!
A good insight into how a true genius musician comes up with lyrics!
Don’t know why but I always like the little ‘bop’ Paul does at 3:37 to make sure he’s singing in tune.
Hadn't even picked up on it :) Nice!
Exactly just brilliant
I was born in June of 1963, this is the first song that I can actually recollect hearing.
I was also born in June of '63. I think the first song I remember is "Do You Know The Way to San Jose?".
born in 63...wasn't that an amazing time to be a child musically? Classical Gas, Herb Alpert, Take Five, Mas Que Nada all poured into our spongey brains. We will never forget those tunes.
Inagodavida baby
I was just playing a fill... when you're a genius, this stuff just pours out of you.
When you're a genius, they let you do it.
When Paul Simon talks I listen to every word... Pure genius.
It enchants me
Dick Cavett is the best interviewer I have ever heard. Not sure if we will ever see and hear anyone like him again.
Paul, you have influenced my life in a way you could not possibly ever appreciate
Bongo Zozo same here
Simon always had a nervous aloofness about himself, that was both intriguing and calming. And his complex personality is reflected perfectly in his music and in the complexity of his writing. It is probably most evident (and at its peak) in his song - Still Crazy. > Paul Simon - an honest artist.
What I was recently amazed at was Paul Simon's intimate knowledge and technical understanding of music - he knew exactly what every one of his choices were in any chord progression, how and why to resolve to which chord, reminiscent of how George Martin contributed his musical savvy to the Beatles sound.
Compared to today's pop artists who just sing and dance to a song created on an iPad, this is like from another planet.
So awesome how Dick Cavett didn't interrupt, and allowed Paul Simon to go on at length explaining how he got involved with The Graduate !!! This was a magical interview!!!
Dick Cavett is a wonderful interviewer.
Colder beer you and the other person are right Dick Cavett was so great. I was 13 when this aired but loved Dick Cavett’s show so much. But you’re right. Look how he is as host/ interviewer. Not like Letterman,et.al who make it about themselves. I loved his shows
Undoubtedly my favourite TH-cam video ever
Oh my goodness! ! Thank YOU Paul Simon!!!
This was awesome and mesmerizing to listen to the history of the songs.
Singer/songwriters that actually PLAY an instrument are a dying breed.
This guy is a freaking genius!
A peek into the mind and method of a creative genius. Dick Cavett was great.
Wow... I haven’t known of Paul for very long but he’s quite an interesting man to listen to
Thank you for posting this.
creativity at his best, how beautiful it is!
It's awesome to watch people who can play music well do that.
Paul has great pleasing personality that makes him enjoyable to interview, Dicks shows are always entertaining
Some people are interesting to talk with while others are not. I enjoyed this little video clip.
It’s videos like this that I love sending to my dad.
Wish I could still send anything to me dad!
Talk shows were great back then.
Great hosts.
Great guests.
Good questions.
Guests were allowed to answer.
I was a kid back then & loved watching them!
this brought a smile to my face musical genius at work
Such a smart man. How difficult things are for some people, some people just have that gift
Hard work > being gifted
I've always identified with this comment regarding Joe Dimaggio.. I always imagined this as a nostalgic reference to lost heroes... ie Joltin' Joe has left and gone away. In the present age there were no heroes more...
I remember an interview with Paul in the 80's and he said then that he wanted to put Mickey Mantle in the song but Dimaggio just sounded better. He said Joe never really liked the song and to him it was just "hippies making fun of him."
The iconic hero had become insufficient to mask reality
Charles Foreman ya a time when lines werent so blury...the simple things in life were more important......lol idk i took a shot...great song
Joe DiMaggio was NOT a hero...He was a baseball player...The real heros, of which there are millions, worldwide, are police, firemen, teachers, doctors, emergency responder teams, on and on and on...Some day; they'll get their song...
I think young Paul really looked up to ball players.
Mrs Robinson and April Come She Will are two my favorite Simon and Garfunkel's songs
What a rare gift he has. Genius. When he starts to play Mrs. Robinson -- it's just undeniably great. He could have played it on a banjo and a kazoo -- wouldn't matter.
Dick Cavett was one of the best interviewers of all time because he asked the questions about thing we all have wondered about.
Great to witness such a humble genius.
One thing the 60s and 70s gave us was great talk shows. They were just so much more interesting then. Cavett, Carson, and Griffin in particular.
Fewer commercial breaks for starters.
That look by Cavett at the end is priceless. He knows he just got a great treat.
Holy! So impressed the audience let PSimon actually play whilst the explanation!! Just plain gold!! Try that now and all heaven would break loose!!
Amazing era...sad that it is forever gone but in our memories.
tigerbalm : So true.... So true!
WOW !!! my gosh . Loved him.growing up and still do
Outstanding!
I love this clip..wish there was more to see "after the break". Watching Mr. Simon describe how he created a classic hit song for the ages...fascinating.
Paul Simon is right up there with the best of them as a song writer. Lennon McCartney, Jagger Richards, Dylan, Springsteen....
No one needs to exclaim what you have!... Everyone knows Simon is on that level!
Love him!
I have a lot of memories of simon and garfunkel.There never will be anything to match the feel and hope there music gave me.It's beyond anything humans will ever produce again at least for me.
I know exactly how you feel.
What an absolutely amazing artist. Where have you gone Paul Simon, our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you. Woo Woo Woo.
Very talented and well-spoken young Paul Simon.
Back then, great musicians and great interviewers not interrupting the Artist
When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Dick Cavett. I once heard him described as "witty and urbane" and I said, yep, that's for me. Fabulous dinner parties at their big house on Long Island with interesting guests, drinking Compari and soda while working the NYT crossword poolside, caviar and cigarettes, well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice. But I digress. With regard to the style of talk shows in the 70's, Cavett once said that he very overwhelmed at the beginning and he called Steve Allen for advice. Mr. Allen said, "don't conduct an interview, just have a conversation". It is evident from the above example that the advice resonated with him.
Lovely nod to Freddie.
..that's what talent looks and sounds like..
Genius at work. He's right up there with the very best.
I can't love this enough..
such a talented man!!!
Fun to watch Paul Simon's brain work. Pretty smart guy and fantastic musician and songwriter. Bob Dillon still performing today in 2020... Who would have thunk!
Okay, but what is Bob Dylan doing?
@@davidcopson5800 touring
thanks for posting this,, so fun!
5:13: >48yrs later!: Dylan, McCartney, Ringo, the Stones, & Paul Simon still tour.
But none of them has written a truly great song in over 40 years!
Lee McDaid - Donegal 60fps dylan’s albums from 1997-2000’s had some really well written stuff
@@kaboomerty1638 Nothing great though.
@@coolmacatrain9434 Well, i guess they had already done that. To me it is a strange idea to demand other songs. Aren't you pleased by those already in existance?
@@coolmacatrain9434 Paul Simon has written tons of amazing songs solo.
That talented.
And that insecure.
The man is a damn national treasure.
That was full of interest.
This is such a painful reminder of how much more quality talk shows were 40 years back ! Nowadays Dick Cavett's successors look so superficial and cheap, polluting the public air with non-substantial trash content. It's enough to think of Fallon and all his childish games with celebs that are basically per-school level stuff!
AMEN BROTHER!!
Dick Cavett had lots of good guests. But his interviews are kind of silly. All basic stuff How did you? What happened? very little insight for good follow-up. Often more interested is demonstrating some sophomoric wit than anything else. Demonstrates only a superficial knowledge of his guests and subject matter. Not to mention his nasal snooty voice. The best thing I can say is he often doesn't interfere with his guests - for more in depth interviews today you need to go to the web.
you mean like they weren't just hahahaha TRUMP!!! HAHAHAHA
I miss those Dick Cavett shows and Tom Snyder's talk show. Something has happened to the American Genome. The attention span and the desire to be intellectually stimulated has all but gone. You're either bombarded with the silly sophomoric antics like Fallon or you're being preached to by some talking head (i.e. news anchor). Networks play to the simple minded. They fear having people talk about interesting, sociopolitical topics or have in-depth interviews with great songwriters will only cause the audience to turn to their smart phones (probably to play candy crush) or switch to playing XBox or Playstation.
It's nice to hear a conversation that doesn't sound canned or pre-screened by a publicist. I can't watch late night now. It all sounds scripted.
I love the little pauses when Paul is speaking and trying to work on getting his point across. It's not alway easy to talk about how you wrote your own music. Nowadays interviews seem to be so rushed and scripted. Nice to see an honest, off the cuff interviewer and interviewee. Real good stuff.
no
I love this guy.....wonderful music he wrote
Wow, this is one of the best videos.
Here's to you, Mrs. Roosevelt, and to Paul and Art.
Just beautiful.
Dick Cavett simply had the best talk show. Ever.
Paul Simon is one of the best song writers. Ever.
Paul Simon has a great sense of humor.
Where have you gone Joe Di Maggio, a nation turn its lonely eyes to you....'. About shattered idealism isn't it ? Kind of appropriate now then.....
you missed the point, next he says ,,joking joe has left and gone away,,
Wow, way way off. The lyric is: "Joltin' Joe (which, along with "The Yankee Clipper", was his nickname) has left and gone away."
Quite. Di Maggio is a symbol for simpler, less complex times, which perfectly evokes the confusion of 1968 America. It's one of the loveliest-sounding couplets in all of popular music, but it's also searingly truthful and poignant.
Fairly sure he just said it didn't mean shit, if you actually listen.
Originally it was Mickey Mantle, who was Simon's idol but it didn't work in the song
Paul's easy explanation of those chord changes leaves the biggest part out: it takes an extremely talented musical genius.
How cool would it be to sit with Paul Simon and have him go through his creative process...
It would be like cool water when your fever runs high.
Such an interesting interview.
his talent in anything to do with music is an American treasure!
I wish I could have words and music come to me just like that.
Right up there with Zappa, Dylan, Lennon and Bowie as some of the most singularly intelligent musicians ever.
True indeed.
The film music record containing this song also became a phenomenal hit in Japan, making their name immovable.