Paul Simon's Graceland is an excellent example of both artistic and stylistic collaboration. Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo navigate through traditional South African and American popular styles in a constantly changing compositional process. Three songs from this album, "Gumboots," "The Boy in the Bubble," and "That Was Your Mother," are particularly interesting because they are cover versions of African popular songs. Simon credits the authors of the first two songs, but neglects to do so for the third. The differences in crediting represent the complex issues of collaboration on an international scale.

Index Classifications: 1900s, Popular

Contributed by: Felicia Miyakawa