The Live Sessions 3: Paul Simon - Concert in the Park (1991)

Deeper Cuts

Welcome to Deeper Cuts: The Live Sessions – a three-episode miniseries which finds the Deeper Cuts trio looking at the live music albums that were meaningful to them, and pondering what makes a great live album.

After exploring a theater and a concert hall as a setting for great live records, this time we consider the large-scale outdoor live show. To illustrate this context best, Shannon showcases a go-to live album for her – Paul Simon’s 1991 live offering, Concert in the Park. For Shannon, it was a high school record; a put-it-on-in-the-car-and-drive-anywhere record. It meant freedom, adventure, and was a taste of the independence she would find later on when she made the setting of this record, New York, her adopted home.

But how did this work for the Deeper Cuts trio? What did we think of an album that covers so much ground across a mighty discography? How do the songs translate on such a large scale? Can they emerge from the shadow of not only their original recorded versions but Simon and Garfunkel's Central Park Concert from a decade earlier? And how does it figure in the life of the artist, known as a purveyor of folk music across the decades? And, as always, what were the highlights and lowlights of this release? Reserve your spot on the Great Lawn, spread the blanket, and join us for this final installment of our Live Sessions miniseries of Deeper Cuts.

Our Spotify Playlist covers each episode of this miniseries. And don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!