How Many People Saw Paul Simon At Madison Square Garden

Paul Simon to Sing for Montauk Beacon

Aug. 26, 1990

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August 26, 1990

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LEAD: WHEN the singer and songwriter Paul Simon takes the stage Thursday for his first American concert in at least two years - and his first since a monthlong tour of the Soviet Union in 1989 - the venue will not be in the Meadowlands, Madison Square Garden or even Jones Beach, but the grounds of a horse ranch in

WHEN the singer and songwriter Paul Simon takes the stage Thursday for his first American concert in at least two years - and his first since a monthlong tour of the Soviet Union in 1989 - the venue will not be in the Meadowlands, Madison Square Garden or even Jones Beach, but the grounds of a horse ranch in Montauk.

Mr. Simon's performance is part of an effort to raise funds to save the Montauk Lighthouse. The historic structure was built in 1795 during the Administration of George Washington and is now only 55 feet from the ocean. The bluff on which it rests is eroding at the rate of a foot a year.

Society 'Eternally Grateful'

Although some restoration work has been done, it is estimated that a complete project to save the lighthouse will cost $1.5 million, of which only a small portion has been raised so far by the Montauk Historical Society through grants and private donations.

''The proceeds from this show are going to enable us to do a lot of necessary work, and we can get started on it right away,'' said Dick White, director of the society.

''We're eternally grateful to Paul and to Rusty and Diane Leaver for doing this. They and a lot of people are donating their time, and every dollar we collect goes into the restoration fund.''

For Mr. Simon, who lives in Montauk, the concert is an atypical high-profile involvement in local matters.

''I'm not a public person when I'm in Montauk,'' he said. ''I mean, I'm friendly with people I meet and shopkeepers and such, but essentially I don't get around much. I've always liked Montauk for the privacy it affords.''

But Mr. Simon will be putting his privacy in jeopardy Thursday at 3 P.M., when he faces a crowd of 6,000 people. Within a few hours, they had bought the $25 tickets that went on sale last month at three Long Island Sound record stores on the South Fork. The show will be the culmination of a year of thinking and planning. ''Last summer, I attended a rodeo at the Indian Field Ranch, and I thought it would be fun to do something there on a pleasant summer afternoon,'' Mr. Simon said.

''It was nice to see people gathered together in that setting, and so I talked to Rusty Leaver [the ranch's owner and the concert producer] about trying to pull something together.''

''I've known Paul as a friend for a few years, and at the rodeo we talked about doing something,'' Mr. Leaver said. ''I thought of a situation where maybe he'd just do a couple of songs, but it bowled me over when sometime later he said he wanted to do a full concert.

''Someone of Paul Simon's stature can do a concert anywhere in the world. The fact that he's doing one here reflects how he feels about the area.''

Mr. Simon's concert comes at a time when the East End is playing host to a number of well-known performers. His brother, Eddie, co-owner of WWHB-107, a Hampton Bays radio station, has put together the Evian Music Festival in Southampton.

Southampton on His Mind

On Friday, Donald Fagen, formerly half of Steely Dan, performed there. Last night, Miles Davis gave a concert, and next Saturday Ray Charles will be at Cooper's Beach.

Taj Mahal, a blues musician, and Jorma Kaukonen, a rock guitarist, are teaching classes, and Paul Simon will give a ''master class'' on songwriting next Sunday.

When a decision was made to do a concert, Mr. Simon thought that, in addition to raising money for a local charity, it would be an opportunity to prepare for a tour he expected to begin later this summer or early fall.

However, he has been so involved in putting the finishing touches on his new album, ''Rhythm of the Saints,'' which is scheduled to be released late next month, that the planned tour has been postponed until December.

''Theoretically, I figure to be in rehearsal anyway, and doing a show would have been a good warm-up,'' Mr. Simon said. ''Now we're rehearsing just for the Montauk show. That's not a problem though, because it's been great working with a band again and I'm very excited about getting back on stage.'' A Special Significance

Among those performing with Mr. Simon will be members of the horn section of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band and such well-respected studio musicians as Steve Gadd, Ray Phiri and Richard Tee, who have worked with Mr. Simon on previous albums and tours.

For the first time since the ''Graceland'' album tour, Mr. Simon will be accompanied by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the 10-member South African vocal group. Working with this group after a long interlude has special signifigance for Mr. Simon.

''More than any other band, Ladysmith had the ability to expand its audience to a worldwide level,'' he said. ''I know that Joseph Shabalala, the group's founder, gives me credit for making them more well-known, but he was the one with the intelligence to grasp the potential of African music on an internatinal scale.''

Mr. Leaver said the intention was to do a fund-raiser for a local cause, and over the winter he was approached by numerous charitable organizations.

The lighthouse was chosen, he said, because it ''had an immediate problem, we knew what the answer was and we knew what it would cost. And in a relatively short amount of time, we'll see tangible results from this concert.''

Immersed in Logistics

For Mr. Leaver, the last few weeks have meant immersion in logistics. ''The closer we get, the longer the punch list becomes,'' he said. There is only one road that offers access to the ranch, and the number of tickets sold was dictated by available parking space. A stage had to be constructed, which was done on Aug. 18 by 25 volunteer carpenters, and there is some concern about crowd control.

''The last thing we need is people thinking they can sneak into the concert,'' Mr. White said. ''We've been spending a lot of time on organizing a tight security effort.''

''We have the kind of performer who we could have sold 20,000 tickets for,'' Mr. Leaver said. ''I feel bad for those who won't see the show, but we have to make sure that those who do attend have a good time and that the concept of doing something here for a local cause is a workable one.''

In addition to funds raised from ticket sales, T-shirts and programs will be offered for sale Thursday. And, Mr. White said, those wishing to contribute to the restoration effort can send contributions to the Save the Lighthouse Fund, c/o Montauk Historical Society, P.O. Box 628, Montauk, N.Y. 11954.

There is one logistical problem the organizers can do nothing about, and Mr. Simon said he had his fingers crossed.

''It's going to be a great time, and I'm really looking forward to it,'' he said, ''but I'm just hoping for a sunny day. I'd like to think that, since the concert's for a good cause, the clouds will bypass Montauk.''