Skirball Cultural Center
September 2, 2017
Sepulveda Pass
Los Angeles
Time, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
— “A Hazy Shade of Winter”
We made it to the Skirball museum for the final weekend of the Paul Simon: Words and Music exhibition. We met up with Meredith’s sister Kathleen who lives in Los Angeles to see it together.
We had prepared ahead of time by listening to lots of Paul Simon’s music the week before, both solo and Simon & Garfunkel recordings. The biggest hits have always been things we listen to fairly often, but it was fun to get reacquainted with some of the songs we hear less often.
Words and Music is a traveling exhibition created by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. The primary special exhibit room at the Skirball was filled with photos, artifacts, and videos. The exterior wall was arranged in chronological order, with thematic displays in the center space. Among the many artifacts were Simon’s very first guitar, which his father bought for him for $50, and three of Simon’s Grammys.
The exhibit spans the entire period of Simon’s career up to today and includes a number of videos in which he reflects on what he was doing during each period, and who and what influenced him. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were classmates in school, met in sixth grade, and started singing together as teens. Near the beginning of the exhibition their very first recording contract is displayed, signed on their behalf by their respective parents. They first performed as “Tom and Jerry,” using the stage names Tom Graph (Garfunkel) and Jerry Landis (Simon), to sound more all-American and not distinctly ethnic Jewish.
There were interesting facts and vignettes throughout. We learned that “Mrs. Robinson” had started as “Mrs. Roosevelt.” Simon was working on the song at the same time the duo was working up the sound track for The Graduate, so the name change was both obvious and convenient.
The Skirball had a related exhibit down the hall called the Music Lab. Several machines were set up in that room, and the visitor could experiment, mixing songs, playing on drum pads, and blending rhythm and vocal tracks. Unfortunately, the museum was quite crowded the day we went, and Kathleen found the cacophony in that room unbearable. Meredith listened through headphones to an interesting video in which Simon described how he writes songs. She then left the lab and wandered off in search of her sister. Bob stayed, tried all the machines in the room, and had a great time.
We ate a late lunch at Zeidler’s, the museum restaurant. When we first stopped by, no tables were available. We headed over to browse the permanent exhibition, which is quite interesting and worthwhile. (The Skirball Center is the Jewish cultural center in Los Angeles. The permanent collection spans over 4,000 years of the Jewish experience, from antiquity to modern America.) Then we headed back to the restaurant. The food was very good, as we have found it to be in the past. Zeidler’s is our favorite restaurant museum, and everyone’s visit to the Skirball should include a meal at it.
Parking at the museum is free and ample. Handicapped access is good. The museum participates in Bank of America’s Museums on Us program. On the first full weekend of each month, Bank of America debit or credit card holders can get in for free.
Labor Day weekend was the end of the Simon exhibit at the Skirball, and it has now closed. The Skirball’s next special exhibitions will be part of the Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA cooperative endeavor. Starting on September 14, Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner’s Mexico will open, and then on October 6, Surface Tension by Ken Gonzales-Day: Murals, Signs, and Mark-Making in LA will open alongside the Brenner exhibit.