The Paul Simon Songbook is the first solo studio album by Paul Simon. It was recorded in London and released in the UK in 1965 and was supposedly deleted in 1969 at Simon's request. It was made available in the U.S. as part of the LP box set Paul Simon: Collected Works (1981). The album was produced by Reginald Warburton and Stanley West as CBS Records LP 62579; remastered CD Columbia/Legacy 90281.
The Paul Simon Songbook was recorded in Europe. Simon made several trips to England in 1964 and '65, performing in small clubs and theaters. During 1965 he played in Paris and Copenhagen, along with London and other locations in the UK. In 1964, Simon and Art Garfunkel had released the folk-inspired album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. in the US. While Simon was touring and appearing on radio shows in England in 1965 (sometimes with Garfunkel), he began to receive attention from fans. At the time Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. had not yet been released in Britain (and would not be until 1968). Simon's other recordings then available in Britain consisted of three 45 rpm singles released on various labels, two of which were rock 'n' roll-inspired recordings with Garfunkel under the name Tom & Jerry. The other was representative of his experiments in folk, but had been released in 1964 under the pseudonym Paul Kane. He was still under contract to Columbia, so he could record for their British label, CBS Records, and therefore decided to record a set of tracks for release to his folk audience. The Paul Simon Songbook was the result.
Simon recorded the album over several dates in June 1965. Most of the songs required several takes. He only had one microphone for both his voice and his guitar.[citation needed]
The album was released along with the single "I Am a Rock/Leaves That Are Green", CBS 201797.
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