Simon's Solo Compilations Compared

There are many collections of Simon’s material, with and without Garfunkel. Since I could not find a resource that compared them, I decided to create one. Aside from helping listeners choose a compilation or two, it reveals which songs Simon, his studios, and his public seem to prioritize.  

To save space, I only used key words from some compilations’ and song’ titles; GH is short for Greatest Hits, and (V)BO is short for (Very) Best Of. To avoid confusion, as some of the compilations’ names are similar, I included the year of each compilation’s release.  

Greatest Hits and Best Of compilations are on one chart, while box sets are presented on their own charts with only the “bonus” material compared. 

What’s here: Compilations and box sets of Simon’s studio and live recordings

What’s not here: pre-Simon & Garfunkel work, and some obscure/unofficial compilations created by third parties. 

Paul Simon solo/ Studio Recordings 

Those albums marked with a * are mentioned on Simon’s official website. 

	GH Etc.     ’77	Nego  Love Songs ’88	Anth.  ’93	Shining  Nat’l  Guitar ’00	*Collect.  On My Way  ’02	*Essent.  ’07	Opus Collect.  ’09	*Song-writer   ’11	*Over Bridge Time   ’13	Ult. Collect,    ’15	*In Blue Light ’18
50 Ways/Leave	X	X	X	X	X	X			X	X
Adios Hermanos					X	X
America									X	X
American Tune	X		X		X	X	X	X	X
Another Galaxy								X
Bernadette				X			X
Born/Right/Time			X			X
Born/Puerto Rico						X		X
Boxer, The			X					X	X	X
Boy/Bubble			X	X	X	X		X
Bridge/Water			X		X			X	X	X
Can’t Run But			X								X
Cecilia			X						X	X
Coast, The					X
Cool River			X	X	X	X		X
Darling Lorraine						X		X			X
Diamonds/Shoes		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Duncan	X				X	X			X	X
El Condor Pasa			X
Everything/Love									X
Father/Daughter						X	X	X		X
Further to Fly			X					X
Gone at Last			X			X
Graceland		X	X	X	X	X		X		X
Have/Good Time	X	X
Hearts & Bones		X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Homeless			X
How the Heart…											X
Hurricane Eye					X	X
I Do It For/Love	X
Kodachrome	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Late/Johnny Ace						X
Late/Evening		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Look at That								X
Love					X						X
Love/Hard Times								X	X
Loves Me/Rock	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Me & Julio	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Mother & Child		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Mrs. Robinson			X		X					X
Obvious Child			X	X		X	X	X		X
One/Ceiling											X
Only/Boy in NY									X	X
Outrageous						X
Peace/River			X			X	X	X
Pigs Sheep											X
Quality						X		X
Questions/Angels											X
Rene/Dog/War		X	X	X				X			X
Rewrite								X
St. Judy’s Comet		X
Senorita/Tears							X	X
She Moves On			X
Slip Slidin’	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
So Beautiful								X
Some Folks’											X
Something/Right	X	X	X		X	X		X
Sound/Silence			X					X	X	X
Spirit Voices			X		X	X		X	X
Still Crazy/Years	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X
Stranded/Limo	X					X
Sure Don’t Feel							X
Take/Mardi Gras	X			X		X
Teacher, The											X
Tenderness								X
That Was/Mother			X			X
That’s Me								X
That’s/Belong									X
Thelma			X
Trailways Bus				X
Train/Distance		X				X	X	X
Under African			X			X	X
Wartime Prayer						X
You/Call Me Al		X	X	X	X	X			X	X

  

Paul Simon solo/Box Sets 

The tracklist for Simon’s solo box set “1964-1993” is widely available online; I need not duplicate it here. However, it is far from comprehensive, and leaves off as many tracks as it includes. 

The Complete Albums Collection (2013) is that, up to its release date: all of his solo studio and live albums from Songbook to So Beautiful, Live Rhymin’ and Concert in the Park, and his One Trick Pony and Capeman soundtracks.  

Below are the tracks found on these box sets, but not on any of the above-mentioned releases: 

	1964-1993  (1993)	The Complete Albums Collection (2013)
All Because of You		X
Church is Burning, A		X
Hey Schoolgirl	X
Let Me Live in Your City		X
Shelter of Your Arms		X
Side of a Hill, The		X
Slip Slidin’ Away	X	X
Soft Parachutes		X
Spiral Highway		X
Stranded in a Limousine		X
Thelma	X	X

Paul Simon solo/ Live 

Note: Kodachrome at the Tokyo Dome is a bootleg 

	*Live   Rhymin’   (1974)	*Concert   in the Park (1991)	*Live   in NYC   (2012)	*Concert   in Hyde Park (2017)	Complete Unplugged   (2017)
50 Ways/Leave Your Lover			X	X	X
Afterlife, The			X
America	X	X
American Tune	X
Born at the Right Time		X			X
Boxer, The	X	X		X	X
Boy in the Bubble		X	X	X	X
Bridge Over Troubled Water	X	X			X
Coast, The		X			X
Cecilia		X			X
Cool, Cool River, The		X
Crazy Love, Vol. II			X	X
Dazzling Blue			X	X
Diamonds/Soles/Her Shoes		X	X	X
Duncan	X
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)	X
Graceland		X		X	X
Gone at Last			X	X
Gumboots			X	X
Homeless				X
Homeward Bound	X				X
I Know What I Know		X		X
Jonah					X
Kodachrome	X	X	X	X
Late in the Evening		X	X	X	X
Loves Me Like a Rock	X	X
Hearts and Bones		X	X	X
Me and Julio/Schoolyard	X	X		X	X
Mother & Child Reunion	X		X	X
Mrs. Robinson					X
Obvious Child		X	X	X
Only Living Boy in NY			X
Proof		X
Rewrite			X
Scarborough Fair					X
She Moves On		X			X
Slip Slidin’ Away			X	X
So Beautiful of So What			X
Sound of Silence, The	X	X	X	X
Something So Right	X		X		X
Still Crazy After All/Years		X	X	X	X
Train in the Distance		X
That Was Your Mother			X	X
Under African Skies				X
You Can Call Me Al		X		X