By Derek Staples on April 7th, 2011 in
For the past few decades, it’s become a custom in late-night that musical guests hold-down the final few minutes of each respective show — sometimes, although far less infrequent, you get a comedian. Last night, on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon threw the rules out the window. In support of his latest studio effort, his 12th in fact, So Beautiful Or So What, Simon, 70, hit the stage only 13 minutes into the program, where alongside Fallon, he performed his classic hit “Cecilia”, complete with clapping hands, banging garbage cans, and clanging glass bottles. Watch the performance above.
But it didn’t stop there. Following a memorable moment with Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, and The Roots, Simon returned again. This time he performed new cut “The Afterlife”, to which he followed up, despite Fallon going off-fair at the time, with a cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Vietnam” and his own fan-favorite, “Mother and Child Reunion”. Altogether, Simon’s stay in Studio6B marked one of the more memorable late-night performances of the young 2011, if not of the show’s early history.
Hey, say what you will about JFal, but given that most producers and affiliates dread the balmy, often ignored musical guest slot, JFal has reinvented the wheel. Props, kudos, etc.

Bitchin’ goofy foot! Just don’t eat it!
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“The Afterlife”
“Vietnam” and “Mother and Child Reunion”