Remember When Paul Simon Started His Journey To Becoming the All-Time Best SNL Musical Guest in 1975?

Paul Simon has amassed plenty of honors during his illustrious career. Both with Art Garfunkel and as a solo artist, Simon has consistently matched his singer-songwriter talent with his ambitious recording efforts.

Along the way, Simon became the unofficial musical mascot of America’s longest-running comedy series. We’re talking, of course, about Saturday Night Live, which Simon hosted for the first time back in 1975.

A Hosting Gig

Paul Simon, circa 1975, certainly didn’t need much of a boost from any outside sources to solidify either his fame or his status in the music community. Any doubts about whether he’d thrive after splitting from Art Garfunkel had been silenced by three stellar solo albums in a row, including Still Crazy After All These Years, released at the beginning of October in 1975.

Just a few weeks after, Simon was hosting the second-ever episode of Saturday Night, as it was then known. The previous week, the show debuted its live format to mostly mixed reviews. It was still a work in progress, featuring many elements that would eventually be phased out of the show.

One thing that had been included in that opening episode was sketch comedy, which is how the show would eventually distinguish itself. But when Simon hosted on that October night, it was like the producers were hedging their bets a little bit. That’s because the host ended up dominating the action with a series of musical performances.

Lots of Music, Not Much Comedy

On that episode, the so-called Not Ready For Prime-Time Players barely showed up at all. They were on stage for a brief skit in their Killer Bees costume. Other than that, Chevy Chase was the only member who received much airtime.

Meanwhile, Simon popped up to open the show, singing his just-released “Still Crazy After All These Years”. And then he came back again to do the monologue, which, again, consisted of a performance. This time, it was “Loves Me Like A Rock” with help from the Jesse Dixon singers.

Simon performed several more tracks, including a couple with Art Garfunkel. Randy Newman and Phoebe Snow also sang during the course of the show, which featured precious little comedy outside pre-taped bits with Jim Henson’s Muppets and Albert Brooks. It’s a strange episode that shows that SNL was still very much working out the kinks at that point.

Simon and SNL

If nothing else, that bizarre version of Saturday Night Live established Paul Simon as a good friend of the show. His easy-going, self-deprecating charm on camera helped when he had to do something a little different, such as when he sang one of his hits in a turkey costume a year later.

Simon soon became not only a regular guest but also a frequent host. He was often Lorne Michaels’ choice to sing during special occasions, including anniversary episodes and on the first show following 9/11.

That first appearance might have been somewhat strange, considering the show didn’t know yet what it wanted to be. But Paul Simon parlayed that into becoming a Saturday Night Live institution.

(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)