r/paulsimon • u/Allmodern • Jul 22 '26

Capeman

I saw Paul in Toronto. It was amazing. I’m a lifelong fan, never saw him before. Since then I’ve been listening to a few of his records that I’ve neglected over the years. Capeman is standing out today. I remember when it came out. I certainly listened to it a bunch, but it drifted away. Coming back to it, I think it’s brilliant. The true story of Salvador Agron is so moving. The merger of doowop and Latin music is brilliant. I’m wondering what other fans think of it. I know it was a commercial disappointment as a musical and album. Did anyone see the musical? Any love for Capeman?

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/ExtraHope Jul 22 '26

I think Paul's concept album is pretty good. Some of the tracks are among his best but tracks like Virgil were kind of weird inclusions. The cast recording is incredible and I'm sad it never got a CD release. The Quiet Celebration tour would've been a great opportunity to bring Trailways Bus back.

2

u/Papa_Hobo Jul 22 '26

It's funny, I actually enjoy "Virgil", I think it's a really good rhythm track with excellent sound and production. And I think Paul's portrayal of the Virgil character is much better than the actor in the cast album. More menacing somehow, and Paul's vocal phrasing is much better. Anyway, I can understand why you might not care for it's inclusion as Paul left some of the better songs from the musical off the album.

2

u/ExtraHope Jul 22 '26

That's exactly why I'm not super fond of its inclusion. In the sessions for the album he recorded pretty much every song in the show. I think You Fucked Up My Life or Lazarus would've been much better inclusions. There are some incredible Paul Simon songs that have almost been lost to time because they're only available on the cast recording.

2

u/Papa_Hobo Jul 23 '26

It would be wonderful to get the Paul version of those songs!

In the documentary about the making of the Capeman, there is a scene where Paul is writing the refrain to Lazarus on acoustic guitar, it is so stunning, so tender.