Simon & Garfunkel
The most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s, Paul Simon and Art
Garfunkel crafted a series of memorable hit singles and albums
featuring their choirboy harmonies, ringing acoustic guitars and
Simon's finely wrought song writing. The duo progressed from basic folk-rock into Latin rhythms and
gospel influenced arrangements.
Paul and Art were childhood friends who grew up together in
Forest Hills, NY, and began making records in 1957, performing in
an Everly Brothers style and calling themselves Tom and Jerry.
Their first single, Hey Schoolgirl, actually made the
Top 50 but a series of follow-ups went nowhere (the pair were
understandably angry when Pickwick Records released an album of
Tom & Jerry recordings as a Simon & Garfunkel LP in the
mid-'60s, shortly after Sounds of Silence had reinvented
the duo as folk-rock stars).
The duo split up and Paul Simon continued to struggle to make
it in the music business as a songwriter and occasional performer.
By the early 60s they re-teamed as a folk duo (though Simon's pop
roots would serve them well).
Signing to Columbia (and now performing as Simon and Garfunkel),
they recorded an initially unsuccessful acoustic debut in 1964
called Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. They again went their
separate ways, with Simon moving to England where he played the
folk circuit and recorded an obscure solo album.
Meanwhile, producer Tom Wilson took the strongest track from
S&G's debut album, a track called Sounds of Silence,
and embellished it with electric guitars, bass and drums.
It reached number one early in 1966, giving the duo the impetus
to reunite and make a serious go at a recording career. Simon
returned from the UK, and in 1966 and 197 they were regular
visitors to the pop charts with some of the best folk-rock of the
era, including Homeward Bound, I Am A Rock and Hazy
Shade Of Winter.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966) was their
first really consistent album, and Bookends (1968)
actually blended previously released singles with new material and
reflected their growing maturity.
One of the songs from the album, Mrs Robinson, became
one of the biggest singles of the late 60s after it was
prominently featured in one of the best films of the period, The
Graduate (which also had other Simon and Garfunkel songs on
the soundtrack).
It was unsurprising, in retrospect, that the partnership began
to weaken in the late 60s. They had known each other most of their
lives and while Simon was feeling constrained by working with the
one collaborator, Garfunkel was starting to feel overshadowed by
the song writing talents of Simon.
They started to record some of their songs separately in the
studio, barely played live in 1969 and Art began to pursue an
acting career.
Their final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Waters,
was an enormous hit, topping the charts for ten weeks and
containing four hit singles - the title track, The Boxer,
Cecilia and El Condor Pasa.
It was certainly their most musically ambitious, often
employing thundering drums and lavish orchestration. It also
caught the confused, reflective tenor of the times better than
almost any other popular release of 1970.
They didn't necessarily intend to split up, but their break
from recording became permanent as Simon began a solo career and
Garfunkel simultaneously pursued his acting and solo music
careers. They did reunite in 1975 for a Top Ten single, My
Little Town and have periodically performed together since.
A 1981 concert in New York's Central Park attracted half a
million fans and was commemorated with an international TV
telecast and a live album.
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