Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “Peace Like A River” by Paul Simon
Can you imagine signing up for a college course in songwriting, and showing up on the first day of class to find that your professor is none other than Paul Simon.
Such was the reality for some lucky NYU students in 1971 including Maggie and Terre Roche of The Roches and Melissa Manchester. Teaching was just one of the endeavors Simon embarked upon after the demise of Simon & Garfunkel in 1970. He also began to do some traveling, both musical and physical, which led to his experimentation with Jamaican (“Mother And Child Reunion”) and Latin American sounds (“Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard” and “Duncan”).
It all culminated in the release of his eponymous first post Simon & Garfunkel solo album in 1972. While the record included the two aforementioned chart hits, it also had its share of superb lesser known gems including “Run That Body Down,” “Everything Put Together Falls Apart,” “Paranoia Blues” and today’s Song Of The Day by Eric Berman, “Peace Like A River” featuring Simon’s amazingly adept guitar work.
