When I arrived at the Towne Grill at 1:30 p.m. they were cleaning up in preparation for closing at two o’clock. But the made me a grilled cheese sandwich (Best in Town) and since I was the only customer, they kept on closing up while somebody’s phone (?) was streaming music at volume.
Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al came up and I heard someone back by the grill singing along. Then the two servers who were sweeping up started singing along, putting a little boogie into the brooms. Next I heard the guy in the back washing dishes. And John (the owner) was right there with them.
It was like something from a Spike Lee musical (did he do musicals?). Everybody having a great time. I thought about grabbing some video but didn’t want to break the spell. You just had to be there. And I was.
Turns out there’s a pretty good story behind the official video.
The video became quite famous and features a comedic performance by Paul Simon and Chevy Chase. Here are some key details about the music video:
Initially, Paul Simon didn’t like the original music video for the song, which was simply a performance he gave during the monologue when he hosted Saturday Night Live[2]. A replacement video was then created, which became the widely known and popular version.
The replacement video was directed by Gary Weis and was partly conceived by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels[. This video features:
– Chevy Chase lip-syncing to Paul Simon’s vocals
– Paul Simon lip-syncing to the backing vocals
– Simon miming various instruments as they appear in the songThe video plays on the significant height difference between the 6’4″ (193 cm) Chevy Chase and the 5’3″ (160 cm) Paul Simon, creating a comical visual juxtaposition[2].
The music video for “You Can Call Me Al” became one of Paul Simon’s most recognizable and popular videos. It helped boost the song’s popularity, contributing to its commercial success. The song, initially released in July 1986, experienced a resurgence in sales and airplay after the album Graceland won Album of the Year at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards in February 1987[2].
