Carly Simon Albums Ranked

Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children’s author. She first rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include “Anticipation” (No. 13), “You Belong to Me” (No. 6), “Coming Around Again” (No. 18), and her four Gold-certified singles “Jesse” (No. 11), “Mockingbird” (No. 5, a duet with James Taylor), “You’re So Vain” (No. 1), and “Nobody Does It Better” (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Over the course of her career, Simon has amassed 24 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, 28 Billboard Adult Contemporary charting singles, and won 2 Grammy Awards, from 14 nominations. AllMusic called her “one of the quintessential singer-songwriters of the ’70s”. She has a contralto vocal range and has cited Odetta as a significant influence. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1995 and 1998, respectively, she received the Boston Music Awards Lifetime Achievement and a Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “You’re So Vain” in 2004 and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012. Here are all of Carly Simon albums ranked.

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10. Hello Big Man (1983)

“HELLO BIG MAN is probably Carly’s most underappreciated and underrated recordings. The title track alone, her poignant tribute to her parents’ romance, may be the ultimate biographical Valentine ever written. And who can be so demure and sexy at the same time as evidenced in YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO, the erotic mid-tempo propelled by its ala’ The Police accompaniment and the searing guitar break.”

9. Another Passenger (1976)

“It’s all here in a broad, musical diorama: stories of love and love-lost and inter-personal relationships interestingly and excitingly presented by a captivating artist. For on “Another Passenger”, Carly Simon created some of her best, albeit lesser-known, songs: the punchy, countrified “Cow Town” about a marriage between two people with almost absolutely nothing in common; the infectious calypso of the fun “He Likes To Roll”; the confessional “In Times When My Head”, a fantastic song about losing one’s cool when guilt weighs down; the enchanting “Riverboat Gambler”; the chiding “Fairweather Father”; the Van Dyke Parks keyboard-driven “Darkness Til Dawn”, a real song about hope and getting through that very difficult break-up; the catchy pop hooks of “Half A Chance”; the taunting accusations of the piquant “Dishonest Modesty” done up in an appropriately down-homey way; and “Libby”, a glorious rock-ballad and poetic gem about love and friendship.”

8. The Best Of Carly Simon (1975)

“There are a lot of good songs here, like the terrific “Legend In Your Own Time” about then beau James Taylor, and the rocking “Mockingbird”, a duet done with Taylor. Indeed, there are other interesting, provocative, and beautiful selections here, including my own personal favorite, “I haven’t Got Time For The Pain”. This is a great quick look at a fascinating artist who later made a terrific comeback album called “Coming Around Again” to regain her audience and popularity, which she used to great advantage in the years since. It is one of her best and most autobiographical confessional albums, and it gives us an interesting vantage point with which to understand her better. “

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7. Carly Simon (1971)

“There is some great songwriting on this and Carly Simon’s voice and viewpoint give me a ride in the “Wayback Machine” to 1971 when this first came out. The pleasure of the collection is not all nostalgia; many of the songs have held up well, and it is fun to hear them coming out of one’s iPhone, something that would have been undreamed of in their own time.”

6. Hotcakes (1974)

“On “Hotcakes”, she continues to write songs with meaning so deep: wry, tongue-in-cheek observations of life and love (“Safe And Sound”, “Misfit”); admittances of sibling admiration and awe (“Older Sister”); and, of course, testimonials to love (“Just Not True”, “Forever My Love” – one of the few things she ever composed with James). Her take on being a pregnant woman at the pinnacle of fame with a record company and public hungry for more in “Think I’m Gonna Have A Baby” is just great! When she sings, “There puttin’ out too many phonograph records…”, she’s telling the music moguls not to treat her like a commodity. I just love that! Musically belying it’s nursery-sounding title, it rips along until, by the end, you can’t help but tap your toes and sing along on the “la-la’s”.”

5. Anticipation (1971)

“The title song which opens the album is a beautifully constructed folk/pop hit that easily produced a creatively and commercially satisfying follow up hit for her.”Legend In Your Own Time” is an ideal follow one song to that-with that same strong songcraft about it. “Our First Day Together”,”The Girl You Think You See”,”Share The End”,”Three Days”,”Julie Through The Glass” and her version of Kris Kristofferson’s “I’ve Got To Have You” are all sparkling,echoing acoustic oriented numbers and this sound comes to a head on the epic “The Garden”-which tells a more compressed version of the albums overall narrative on then contemporary femininity with an enormously swelling choral/vocal sound on the coda. One of my favorite songs here is “Summer’s Coming Around Again”,a swaying and dancing Brazilian acoustic bossa-nova song with strong jazzy melodic overtones about it.”

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4. Coming Around Again (1987)

“This has to be Carly Simon’s best album! Every song touches your heart, and her voice was never better. I’ve been a fan of Carly’s since she first started (in 1970), and she never ceases to amaze me with her intelligent songwriting, coupled with the perfect melodies. “Coming Around Again” resonates so well with anyone who has experienced heartache, yet the lyrics give one such hope! Every song is uniquely special. If you love Carly’s music, you won’t be disappointed”

3. Playing Possum (1975)

“By far Playing Possum is a tie with Coming Around Again as my favorite Carly Simon album. Solid album. Every song is great and I never get tired of listening to it. If you don’t know the album or the title song, it is about those friends of hers from the 60’s and early 70’s who were ‘hippies’ and somehow lost their youthful ideals and moved on; hence, Carly asks “Are you playing possum? keeping a low profile? Are you just playing possum for awhile?” I think the song would have been perfect in the movie ‘The Big Chill’ as it sums up so much of what that film had to say. Overall, the album shares with us Carly’s emotions, viewpoints, and perspectives as a woman.”

2. Boys In The Trees (1978)

“Every song is a timeless classic and her voice is excellent and crystal clear. The musicians that played on this album are also very good adding their own classic touch with their instruments in the background and letting Carly’s voice take center stage as it should be. James Taylor who at this time was still married to Carly also lends his unique and soulful voice and guitar to this classic album. “You Belong To Me” is a soulful classic even to this day which is still being played on FM radio. Carly co-wrote this song with Doobie Brothers lead singer and keyboard player Michael McDonald.”

1. No Secrets (1972)

“”No Secrets” is one of those classic ’70’s albums like Carol King’s “Tapestry.” Every song is perfect and as an ensemble, in their chronological order, compliment and accentuate each other. My two favorite songs besides the classic hits on the album are “His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin” (due to an unrequited love I had at the time with a girl by the same name) and “When You Close Your Eyes,” which has a spiritual side that gives me such a feeling of inner peace and tranquility like no other song can. Of course, to be politically incorrect for a moment, if I can, this is my all-time favorite album cover. “