DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER, Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland

310pp., paperback, White Rabbit, London, 2026 

ISBN: 9781399645973

A richly detailed account of the artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange involved in producing Paul Simon's 1986 Graceland album, that also covers the controversies the album raised, and which remain today.

In 1985, at the height of the struggle against apartheid and with economic and cultural boycotts in place, Simon travelled to Johannesburg to record with South African groups and musicians like the Boyoyo Boys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, bassist Bakithi Kumalo and guitarist Chikapa "Ray" Phiri, blending mbaqanga, isicathamiya, and zydeco with pop and rock. He was strongly criticised by anti-apartheid organisations and the ANC for breaking the United Nations' cultural boycott of South Africa. The album won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and the title track won the 1988 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

"Ashley Kahn’s Days of Miracle and Wonder - like its subject, Paul Simon’s Graceland - represents a pinnacle of its form: a syncretic work of art that shows its author’s mastery of all of popular music’s moving parts: the musical, the technological, the historical, the socio-political, the commercial, the biographical. Like its subject, it delivers nuance and provocation. In the midst of larger struggles for rights, it asks what rights artists themselves have. And it shows that great art has unintended consequences beyond the conceptions and intentions of its creators." Dan Charnas, author of Dilla Time 

“Graceland remains one of the most intriguing (and misunderstood) of the blockbuster 1980s albums. It is immediately accessible, universally adored, and likely to endure forever. Ashley Kahn asks every question—political, musical, and aesthetic—that you might want answered about the record, its reception, and its legacy, with sensitive attention to detail, nuance and the artistic process.” Matt Thorne, author of Prince: The Man and His Music

Music historian, author and producer Ashley Kahn was a member of the Graceland tour production team, and tour manager for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He is co-author of Carlos Santana's autobiography The Universal Tone, and has written books on such legendary recordings as Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. He teaches at New York University's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music.