SIMON’S DAD WANTED NORMAL CAREER FOR HIM
PAUL SIMON’s dad tried to dissuade the star from becoming a musician - because he was convinced his son would struggle to support his family as a folk singer.
Simon’s Hungarian father Louis was an accomplished bass player and violinist, but he wanted his son to find a more traditional occupation.
Simon tells Britain’s Uncut magazine, "I didn’t grow up in an artistic environment. My father was a working musician. My parents grew up during the Depression, in the ’30s. So things were harsh. It was all about surviving, having a job and taking care of the family. He didn’t want me to be a professional musician. He didn’t think it was a good idea. And there was nobody in my neighbourhood that was an artist." As a result, the Graceland star admits he was hesitant to label himself: "I was always uncomfortable with being called a poet or an artist… But by the time I was in my forties, I realised that being called an artist didn’t mean that you were a good artist or a great artist. It just meant that you made your living out of creating. And that’s what I’d been doing all my life."
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