Happy 40th Anniversary to Carly Simon’s ninth studio album Come Upstairs, originally released June 16, 1980.
Signed to Elektra Records in 1970 by its founder Jac Holzman, Carly Simon was viewed as an intriguing, if unproven talent by the rest of the company’s personnel. Although she had made waves as one-half of the Simon Sisters (with sibling Lucy Simon) back in 1964, large scale success proved elusive—they disbanded in 1969. With the issuance of her solo debut Carly Simon in February of 1971 everything changed; by the conclusion of the decade, Simon was a household name.
In June 1979, Simon put forward Spy, a smart, sensuous, and sensitive collection that should have been a shoo-in to top the charts. When the album underperformed, Simon amicably departed Elektra to enter into a four-year deal with Warner Bros. Records.
Despite the change of labels, Simon was committed to the continual development of an artistic arc that she started back in 1975 with her fifth LP, Playing Possum. That effort signposted that Simon would not be content with the stereotypical “singer-songwriter” mantle ascribed to her by certain hard-nosed critics. The string of albums to follow Playing Possum—Another Passenger (1976), Boys in the Trees (1978), Spy—saw her employ various musical styles without ever losing her creative core as a lyricist. As late 1979 turned into early 1980, sessions were well underway for her ninth song cycle and debut for Warner Bros., Come Upstairs.
A dynamic exchange of collaborative energy between Simon and vibraphonist-songsmith Mike Mainieri informed Come Upstairs with an immediacy and noticeable freshness. Under direction from Simon, Mainieri presided over the whole of the production process for Come Upstairs; she also had him join her to co-pen a pair of the set’s most striking pieces: “In Pain” and “Take Me As I Am.” Simon and Mainieri also welcomed two of his colleagues—session players Sid McGinnis and Don Grolnick—to pitch in on these two sides as writers respectively.
Ultimately, it is Simon that leads the writing charge on “In Pain,” “Take Me As I Am” and exclusively on the other seven entries that fill out the remainder of Come Upstairs. The task of alternating between rich character studies and complex renderings of events in her own life was something Simon had gotten down to an exact science. Come Upstairs proved to be no exception to this rule. The compositions on the album which use the character study method—the hero worship of “Stardust” and the “man vs. woman” battle studies of “Them”—are done so to winning effect, but Simon’s utilization of the latter principle thrills even more.
To the outside world, Simon and James Taylor had the ideal life: two premier talents of their day balancing career, hearth, and home. Yet, eight years into their union the cracks were beginning to show due to mounting difficulties in the marriage; they would divorce in 1983. Prior to their separation, Simon tried to salvage their relationship and much of the songwriting on Come Upstairs cataloged her resulting experiences.
Assisting in the maintenance of the record’s narrative intensity is the music it is linked to. Packing away the silken pop-soul and disco tonalities that comprised Spy, Simon opts for a splash of new wave color and a dose of art-pop panache for Come Upstairs. When she swings into action with the long player’s opener and title song, this mixture proves to be compelling; a musical blitzkrieg of jaunty piano, rhythmic guitar and oscillating synths forms the canvas upon which Simon paints the details of an extramarital affair. Sung in the first person, one cannot be sure if she is singing about an experience of her own or one of Taylor’s—it makes for an absorbing listen.
At the heart of Come Upstairs are “James,” “In Pain,” and “The Three of Us in the Dark,” an interlocking song sequence that further uncovers the depth of conflict between Simon and Taylor in three movements. “James,” a penitent piano-strings ballad; “In Pain,” a raw, bluesy number; and “The Three of Us in the Dark,” a groovy slice of nighttime rock ennui—the selections are riveting, anchored by Simon’s emotionally charged performances on each one.
Pivoting away from her romantic investigations, Simon makes room for self-discovery as a thematic point of interest too. On “Take Me As I Am” and “The Desert” Simon faces up to (and conquers) her fear of the unknown and new beginnings. Appropriately, “The Desert” is positioned as an apt ending for Come Upstairs, its ruminative air providing a perfect sense of introspective drama to close on.
Amid the more serious song texts on Come Upstairs was “Jesse,” a track affable enough for radio play, but which also recalled the anterior vibe of No Secrets (1972) and Hotcakes (1974) without pandering to nostalgia. Issued as the first single from the album, “Jesse” went on to land just outside of the Top 10 (#11) of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and two places within the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart (#8). It was a fine start for the record’s campaign, but trouble was just around the bend.
Pundits at the time were divided on Come Upstairs after its unveiling in June of 1980. Some sang Simon’s praises for prioritizing artistic momentum over convention, others felt that Simon had stretched herself too far; the latter critique had been leveled at Simon before—it never stopped her from trusting her instincts.
Sales were slow, but it was suggested that further singles and a tour could help Come Upstairs find its legs. Even with her enduring struggles with stage anxiety, whenever Simon graced a concert hall, reviews were uniformly positive. A modest series of shows were booked for the fall of that year and the initial rounds went smoothly. Unfortunately, Simon’s mental and physical health was under considerable strain from her assorted personal hardships. On October 4th, 1980, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Simon suffered a crippling panic attack on stage that she tried to soldier through before finally acquiescing to stopping the show. She collapsed backstage, was briefly hospitalized, and subsequently cancelled the rest of tour—it would be seven years before Simon stepped back on to a stage again.
Two more singles manifested in “Take Me As I Am” and “Come Upstairs” between the end of 1980 and early 1981, neither charted. However, “Take Me As I Am” did find wider exposure on an episode of the revived educational television program Omnibus on the ABC network. Simon served as the muse to three notable artists: Marisol, Andy Warhol and Larry Rivers; the song became the primary musical number to which Simon performed comfortably within the confines of a closed soundstage.
Simon cut two more albums for Warner Bros. with Torch (1981) and Hello Big Man (1983)—both helmed by Mainieri. The two LPs completed her visionary arc she initiated with Playing Possum. A “commercial comeback” was achieved with Coming Around Again (1987) via Arista Records; other milestones awaited Simon soon thereafter.
Forty years removed from its genesis, Come Upstairs is still quite the feather in Simon’s cap. Conceived in a period fraught with unprecedented upheaval in her private life, Simon mined her pain and refined it into nothing short of pure pop artistry—it is an album more than worthy of revisiting today.
Read more about Quentin Harrison’s perspective on Carly Simon in his book Record Redux: Carly Simon, available physically and digitally now. Other entries currently available in his ‘Record Redux Series’ include Donna Summer, Madonna and Kylie Minogue. His forthcoming book is a large-scale overhaul of his first book Record Redux: Spice Girls due out in December 2020.
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