{"product_id":"days-of-miracle-and-wonder-paul-simon-and-the-triumphs-of-graceland-ashley-kahn-hardback","title":"Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Triumphs of Graceland - Ashley Kahn (Hardback)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDays of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Triumphs of Graceland - Ashley Kahn (Hardback)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailable to pre-order now, released September 15th. As this an import, we may receive this a week late.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlease note : If you pre-order an item and add more items in stock, we will ship the order together when the pre-order arrives. Release dates are subject to change, we don't send out emails, any changes are updated on the website.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His new marriage was failing and his career was in danger of stalling. He was forty-two, navigating a digital age, searching for inspiration in a scene driven by music videos, synthesizers, and drum machines.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDriving around that summer, a bootleg cassette of township jivethe street music of South Africakept him company.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLent to him by a friend, it reminded Simon of the sound and the joy of the early days of rock and roll. He began to invent his own lyrics to the groove, and became drawn to the idea of recording with the musicians on that tape. But South Africa was in the thrall of a racist apartheid system, and with economic and cultural boycotts in place, such an undertaking was risky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe grew determined to find the right conditions to allow for a collaboration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon took a fateful trip to Johannesburg in 1985. It would turn out to be the first step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana, and London, and eventually to the release of Graceland, a critical and commercial triumph, winning multiple Grammys, selling 16 million records, and spawning a five-year, worldwide tour.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDays of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story of Graceland, offering windows into Simons creative process, the technical innovations that brought his songs to life, the people and places that made the album possible, the forces that helped the album achieve mainstream reach, and the controversies that the music raisedand which remain today. It sheds light on a period when America opened its doors to the sounds and styles of Africa and other faraway lands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is an informed, heartfelt celebration of Simons magnum opus, a recording forged in a tense cultural moment, but suffused with hope, change, and a sense of global connection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ashley Kahn","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50426900971768,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0275\/7403\/files\/paul_535874c1-b6d3-4e54-82b4-5d5c719d4f97.jpg?v=1788409122","url":"https:\/\/happyvalleyshop.com\/products\/days-of-miracle-and-wonder-paul-simon-and-the-triumphs-of-graceland-ashley-kahn-hardback","provider":"Happy Valley","version":"1.0","type":"link"}