Critical Review #10

Hamm, Charles. 1989. "Graceland Revisited."

In his article “Graceland Revisited,” Charles Hamm criticizes Graceland apologists’ claims that Paul Simon’s album was beneficial to South African musicians, avoided politics for the musicians’ safety, and represented a rebuttal to apartheid. Hamm writes that Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a primary collaborator with Simon, was a well-established and wealthy South African music group that played mostly abroad. Hamm points out that South Africans associate Lady Smith Black Mambazo “musically and politically with conservative black elements within South Africa” (300) because the group avoids politics in most of its songs. Citing the Lady Smith Black Mambazo example, Hamm claims that Graceland was not beneficial to new musicians nor was Simon necessarily avoiding anti-apartheid lyrics to protect his collaborators. Hamm also points out that racially-diverse bands were tolerated in South Africa as a public relations stunt. In fact, the release of Graceland in South Africa was “widely covered in the pro-government press” (302) and praised by the government for the mix of South African music and American pop. Consequentially, in spite the racial diversity of its musicians, Hamm claims that Graceland cannot be viewed as anti-apartheid.

Hamm brings up a lot of interesting criticism about the about Graceland’s perception. However, I don’t see any criticism aimed at the album himself; the articles focuses entirely on debunking certain positive claims about the album rather than making negative statements about the album’s production. The only mention of anything ethically hazy is Simon’s “defiance of UNESCO’s cultural boycotts” (300). I personally don’t see anything wrong with the fact that this album is a-political, features established musicians, and was unfortunately used as PR material by a racist government, but I would like to know what the class thinks. Given the times, was it unethical that Graceland did not have an anti-apartheid message? Should Simon been more politically aggressive?

I want to point out that I have not done the second reading for Tuesday yet, which may address some of the ethical issues directly related to the album’s production.