The Associated Press file

Paul Simon has been writing and releasing music for the last seven decades. Though he plans to continue recording, and playing the occasional benefit concert, he is calling "Homeward Bound" his farewell tour. It stops Saturday at Portland's Moda Center.

In a recent public statement, Simon described the thought of retirement as, "a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief."

At 76, with 12 Grammy Awards, and two inductions in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he's certainly earned a break. The challenge will be for this hard-driven perfectionist to slow down or stop.

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Paul Simon in London, circa 1980 (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

To non-fanatics, Simon's music arrived in three phases. In the 1960s, he and vocal partner Art Garfunkel were epochal folk artists. Paul went solo in the '70s, maturing into an award-winning, literate rocker. By the '80s, his pop sensibilities collided with world music, resulting in "Graceland," an album that defined adult contemporary success.



But Simon's creative career actually spans from the 1950s to the present, triggered by a little luck and fueled by his unwavering dedication to song.



He grew up in New York's Queens, son of the critical, yet loving musician and bandleader, Lou Simon. Paul was always small in stature, with something to prove. His first love was baseball, but in his teens he became obsessed with doo-wop and early rock 'n' roll.



"I wasn't going to compete with (Elvis) because I knew I couldn't beat him. But I still felt I could make it. I just had to go softer," he is quoted as saying in the new biography by Robert Hilburn, "Paul Simon: The Life."

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Art Garfunkel, left, and Paul Simon, Sept. 1966. (AP PHOTO)

Simon met golden-throated Art Garfunkel when the two were paired in a school musical. The partnership clicked. Under the pseudonyms Tom and Jerry they released several singles while still in their mid-teens. One record sold well enough for Simon to buy a new convertible Chevy. But it wasn't a living, and the duo parted ways and went off to college.



Simon's passion for music was a major distraction, though he did earn an English degree. Studying poetry and classics profoundly influenced his later lyrics.

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Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon in 2003. (AP Photo/Brad C Bower)

Simon and Garfunkel's first album didn’t sell. So Bob Dylan's record producer Tom Wilson took it upon himself to record drums and guitars over an acoustic Simon & Garfunkel tune. That version of "The Sound of Silence" went to No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts. The duo became superstars. After a five-album winning streak, Simon and Garfunkel split up their platinum partnership in 1970 over irreconcilable differences.

Yes, there were numerous reunions throughout the years. But in 2010, Simon finally vowed not to try again. He has been so unprecedentedly successful since his solo career began with an eponymous album in 1972, that there's no yearning to return to his roots.



Post-"Graceland," he continued to issue new music. "The Rhythm of the Saints" took him to Brazil, and was nearly as successful as "Graceland." But Simon's ill-conceived late '90s Broadway musical, "The Capeman," was the most costly disaster of his career. He eventually bounced back by collaborating with some of the best musicians from around the world, including other forward-thinking composers like Philip Glass and Brian Eno.

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While other classic rock artists limp across the finish line, announcing one reunion after another, with diminishing creative returns, Simon continues to challenge himself, and his audience. His most recent album, 2016's "Stranger to Stranger" incorporates electronic beats, microtonality, and employs many of avant-garde composer Harry Partch's homemade instruments.



Nowadays, Simon is trying to spend more time as a family man. He loves traveling with his third wife, Edie Brickell, and their grown children. Another facet is his renowned philanthropy. A major goal of the "Homeward Bound" tour is to spread the word about Half-Earth, an ambitious biodiversity project that suggests 50 percent of the planet's habitable land should be made into a human-free refuge for other species.



In the words of master jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, "What has always impressed me about Paul is that his artistic objectives have always been greater than his commercial objectives. You don't find a lot of that in popular music. He serves the right master."



With nothing left to prove, Simon is taking his show on the road for one last world tour, more a gift to his fans than something he needs to do. And unlike a lot of artists in his age bracket, he's preserved himself well enough to pull it off.

"Eventually your voice becomes the person you are," Simon says. "I didn't overuse it. I didn't do too many shows or sing that hard."



-- Nathan Carson

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Paul Simon

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19

Where: Moda Center, 1 N. Center Court St.

Tickets: Start at $47; rosequarter.com