Steve Berlin Still Thinks Paul Simon’s A Fucking Idiot

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from dealing with musicians, it’s that just because you make good music that doesn’t doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a good person. Back in 2006 Los Lobos multi-instrumentalist Steve Berlin filled JamBase in on the band’s participation in the recording sessions for Paul Simon’s legendary Graceland LP. Berlin accused Simon of stealing songs from Los Lobos and still hasn’t backed off from that position in a new interview with Rock Cellar Magazine.

Berlin went into detail about Los Lobos’s experience with Simon and the process by which the legendary singer-songwriter allegedly “stole” Graceland track The Myth of Fingerprints. When the members of Los Lobos saw that Simon took credit for their song, they approached their label (Warner Bros.) and Paul who, according to Berlin, dared them to sue him. When asked whether Los Lobos ever received a penny for their participation in Graceland, Berlin didn’t mince words…

RCM: So to this day, Los Lobos has never received a penny for your work on Graceland?

SB:  Zero.  Zip.  We got nothing for being a part of that record.  I think it’s important to point out that not only did we never get a penny for it, but they didn’t even pay us union payments.  In closing, everybody I know who has ever worked with Paul Simon says he’s the biggest jerk in the world. Yeah – he’s a fucking idiot.

On the other side of things, Berlin had nothing but praise for Levon Helm…

RCM: In contrast to Paul Simon, can you name an artist you truly admire?  

SB:  Levon Helm.  We were part of his last performance and played with him at his barn at the Ramble just two weeks before he died, back in April.  He asked to see us before the show and I have to say he did not look well.  It was scary how ill he looked, but then he went out and absolutely crushed it!  He was amazing that night and played his fucking ass off! Everybody, all of us thought, “My god this guy’s incredible!”  And who knew it would be his last performance.  I knew he had been sick and that he’d had good days and bad days, but none of us felt that he was that close to the end, certainly, based on the way he played that night.

The whole interview is fantastic read, so head over to RCM and check it out.

[via Rock Cellar Magazine / Hat Tip – @RobMitchum]