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Paul Simon has actually never had much usage for drugs beyond a quick flirtation with LSD in the 1960s. However in early 1998 when his Broadway musical The Capeman closed after a simple six-week run, he turned to a powerful South American hallucinogenic, ayahuasca, to numb the discomfort. He 'd initially experienced it almost a decade earlier when he went to South America to record The Rhythm of the Saints, however it had never been quite so beneficial to him.

He required an escape. "The feeling was almost indescribable," Simon informed biographer Robert Hilburn. "You couldn't think of feeling any better, and the afterglow would last for days. Research It Here allowed me to hear new sounds in my head, which caused me having the ability to write songs much faster than before." Simon had hardly ever spoken about his ayahuasca use prior to taking a seat with Hilburn, and it was just among many revelatory things he informed the veteran Los Angeles Times author during their comprehensive interviews for the upcoming book Paul Simon: The Life.

Paul Simon: Inside New Robert Hilburn Biography 'The Life' - Rolling Stone

Hilburn also talked to various good friends and partners of Simon, including the late Carrie Fisher, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, his partner Edie Brickell, youth buddy Bobby Susser, his brother Eddie Simon and numerous, lots of others. It's the very first time Simon has actually ever cooperated on a book about his life. "He's really personal," says Hilburn.

The Best Strategy To Use For Audio Biography of Paul Simon Coming in November - Kirkus

"He wasn't like a great deal of other people I spoke with at the time," states Hilburn. "He was really articulate. He wasn't very chummy, however he wasn't anxious talking about his innovative procedure. He was really forthcoming." Their courses crossed numerous other times over the next few years, most notably in 1987 when Hilburn was the only U.S.

Paul Simon: The Life by Robert Hilburn

"We had a little a relationship," says Hilburn. "But we weren't friends by any methods. It was expert." Hilburn retired from the L.A. Times in 2005 and turned his attention to composing books. "I said to myself, 'Who is going to be very important 50 years from now?'" he states.

The next name on his list was Paul Simon, though he got cold feet when he learned that Peter Ames Carlin was working on his own Simon bio. He mulled it over for numerous months and ultimately reached out to Jeff Kramer, Simon's manager. "I said to him, 'Are you working together with this other writer?'" states Hilburn.