"Take Me to the Mardi Gras" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the fourth single from his third studio album, There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), released on Columbia Records.
| "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" | ||||
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| Single by Paul Simon | ||||
| from the album There Goes Rhymin' Simon | ||||
| B-side | "Something So Right" | |||
| Released | 1973 (1973) | |||
| Recorded | 1972
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| Length | 3:31 | |||
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| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Paul Simon singles chronology | ||||
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| Official audio | ||||
| "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" on YouTube | ||||
Smooth jazz keyboardist Bob James made an instrumental cover of the song for his 1975 album Two, whose intro has since become a widely recognized drum break.[1][2]
The song only charted in the United Kingdom. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart on June 10, 1973 at a position of 36,[3] rising over several weeks to a peak of number seven on July 8. In total, it spent eleven weeks on the chart.[4] It is usually missing from UK hits compilations in favour of "Kodachrome" which was the flip side to this. "Kodachrome" was the A side in the US, but the BBC would not play it in the UK because of its advertising policy.
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| South Africa Top 20 (Springbok/Radio Orion)[5] | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[4] | 7 |
Paul Simon songs | |
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Discography | |
| The Paul Simon Songbook | |
| Paul Simon | |
| There Goes Rhymin' Simon |
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| Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' | |
| Still Crazy After All These Years | |
| Greatest Hits, Etc. |
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| One-Trick Pony |
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| Hearts and Bones |
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| Graceland | |
| The Rhythm of the Saints |
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| You're the One |
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| Surprise |
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| So Beautiful or So What |
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| Stranger to Stranger |
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| Featured singles | |
| Other songs | |
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