Carly Simon bio, timeline, discography, pics & more
Carly Simon photo 2005
Carly Simon Biography
Singer+songwriter Carly Simon was born in New York City on June 25, 1945; the third of four children born to Richard and Andrea Simon. Her father, the founder of Simon and Schuster publishing company, was also a pianist and Andrea Simon was a civil-rights activist as well as a singer. Carly Simon and his sister Lucy while enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College, sang professionally for three years as The Simon Sisters and scored a hit single with 1964's "Winkin' Blinkin' And Nod".
When Lucy married, Carly Simon began singing and writing on her own; her eponymous debut album was released in early 1971 on Elektra Records and eventually climbed to #30 on the U.S. Pop chart while "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" hit #10 on the National Singles chart.
In November of the same year, Simon put out her second album, "Anticipation", which also hit #30 in U.S. and spawned a top 20 hit single with the title-track; she finally won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Her third effort, "No Secrets", became one of the key records of the early '70s reaching the top of the Pop Albums chart upon its November 1972 release, it contained the classic Pop-Rock staple "You're So Vain" which resulted in Simon's highest chart placing, a #1 on the U.S. Pop Sales Singles list; the follow-up single, "The Right Thing To Do", peaked at #17 in the same chart.
In late 1972 Carly Simon married singer+songwriter James Taylor in her Manhattan apartment, with whom she had two children and from whom she was divorced in 1983.
In January 1974 she released "Hotcakes", one of her biggest selling albums which shot to #3 on the U.S. Pop chart and produced the top 5 smash "Mockingbird", a duet with her husband; her fourth album also included another hit, "Haven't Got Time For The Pain", which peaked at #14 on the Pop Singles chart.
A year later, Simon's fifth LP, "Playing Possum", peaked at #10 on the U.S. Pop Albums chart and the main single, "Attitude Dancing", reached the #21 on the Pop Sales chart.
"Another Passenger", released in June 1976, barely managed to rise into the top 30 spawning "It Keeps You Runnin'", which failed to crack the American Top 40 Singles chart.
But a year later she contributed a song, "Nobody Does It Better", to the soundtrack of "The Spy Who Loved Me", the tenth film in the James Bond saga, this single shot to #2 on the U.S. Pop chart.
In spring 1978, Simon released "Boys In The Trees" breaking once again into the top 10 of the Pop Albums chart; the lead single, "You Belong To Me", peaked at #6 in U.S. while the follow-up, "Devoted To You", topped out at #36.
Her eighth album, "Spy", which arrived in June 1979, was perceived as a flop reaching #45 in U.S. and the single "Vengeance" made a mid-chart appearance peaking only at #48; then she switched to Warner Brothers.
Simon's next album , "Come Upstairs", appeared just a year later, it barely cracked the top 40 and quickly fell out of the U.S. Top 200 LPs & Tapes chart, though the album spawned a top 10 hit in "Jesse".
She had suffered an onstage collapse in October 1980, which would see her confined largely to the studio for many years.
In August 1981 Carly Simon released, "Torch", her first album of American standards, the set reached the top 50 in the U.S. Pop chart.
Another two full years passed before she returned with an album of original material, "Hello Big Man" was even less successful reaching #69 on The Billboard Top 200 list and the single "You Know What To Do" charted in the lower reaches of the Pop chart.
Simon then signed one record deal with Epic Records who released "Spoiled Girl" in June 1985, but sales continued to slide, with the album topping out at #88 in U.S. and the single "Tired Of Being Blonde" failed to rise above #70 on The Billboard Hot 100.
Signing with Arista Records, she recorded "Coming Around Again" which became her biggest hit in a decade, this album rose to #25 on The Billboard Top 200 chart upon its spring 1987 release; the title-track smashed into the top 20 of The Billboard Hot 100, "All I Want Is You" hit #54 and "Give Me All Night" reached #61 in the same chart, all of those singles also charted in the top 10 of the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart and helped push "Coming Around Again" album to platinum sales.
Two years later Simon scored another Adult Contemporary radio hit, "Let The River Run", a single taken from the "Working Girl" soundtrack which also won a Grammy for Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture.
In July of 1990 she released her second Jazz-standard album, "My Romance", the set peaked at #46 on The Billboard Top 200 list and "Have You Seen Me Lately" followed two months later hitting the top 60 in the same chart, the latter contained the U.S. Adult Contemporary Top 5 hit "Better Not Tell Her".
Carly Simon had another movie-related Billboard's A.C. top 20 hit with the single "Love Of My Life" featured on the soundtrack to 1992's "This Is My Life".
"Letters Never Sent" was the title of her fourteenth album of original material, a collection of lyrics and songs based upon letters she had written and then locked away; the record was released in November 1994 but it never cracked the top 100 in U.S. sales chart.
Three years later Simon returned with "Film Noir", a collection of songs from movies of that genre, the set reached the #84 on The Billboard 200 Albums list.
In May 2000 she followed it up with "The Bedroom Tapes", a further U.S. Top 200 mid-chart entrant.
Two and a half years, she delivered a Christmas album titled "Christmas Is Almost Here" which was comprised of classic and new holiday tunes.
In 2003 Simon contributed her voice to Disney Winnie the Pooh's little pal film soundtrack "Piglet's Big Movie".
After another two years of waiting, she returned with "Moonlight Serenade", her fourth collection set of romantic standards and in late 2005 Carly Simon released as a single "Let It Snow", a holiday classic song written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1945.
Carly Simon released "Into White" in January 2007, the record includes ex-husband James Taylor's classic "You Can Close Your Eyes", son and daughter Ben and Sally Taylor pitch in on harmonies.
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Carly Simon pictures:
"No Secrets" era - 1972
Carly Simon 1985
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