Demonstrating a deep-seated flair for soul and R&B, Paul Simon recruited gospel backup singers and traveled to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios to further refine the vibrant sounds he desired for There Goes Rhymin' Simon. Clearly, his instincts proved correct. Many rightly consider the iconic singer-songwriter's third album a masterpiece – one that, per critic Robert Christgau, "suggests a new grace and flexibility for the mass-pop mode, and invests small subjects and emotions with an almost luminous wit and awareness."