Harper Simon, Salvador Santana Channel Famous Dads on New LPs

A pair of guys with some excellent genes are ready to release fresh music this fall. Check out the news on Paul Simon's son Harper and Carlos Santana's son Salvador below. And peruse more famous rock offspring here.

If Elliott Smith fronted an alt-country group, it'd sound a lot like Harper Simon, the son of Paul Simon. On his self-titled debut album (out October 13th), 36-year-old Simon surrounds himself with an ace team of backing musicians (including Charlie McCoy, Gene Chrisman, and Lloyd Green) and contemporary songwriters (including Elliott Smith's pal Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart) for an easy-going, wistful set of alt-country pop, full of sweet country-twang guitars and Simon's bright, clear tenor. Your move, Ryan Adams.

Carlos Santana's son Salvador cites Bob Marley, Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner as influences, but on debut cut "Keyboard City," he's in a mellow, baby-makin' mood. The 26-year-old Bay Area dude (who got into music playing drums with his dad as a three year old) cut this track with Beastie Boys' Money Mark. (Salvador has also recorded tracks with Del the Funky Homosapien.) On "Keyboard City," Sal and Mark layer reedy, synth atmospherics, icy-cool electronic keys and a smooth-as-butter beat underneath Sal's awesomely zonked-out Vocoder-heavy vocals.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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