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Simon & Garfunkel

• two 15-year old school chums (Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel) modeled themselves on the Everly Brothers
  • recorded "Hey Shoolgirl" landing them a spot on American Bandstand
  • following this appearance, they recorded several unsuccessful singles under the name "Tom & Jerry"
• went their separate ways, rejoining to audition for Columbia Records
  • they were awarded a record contract
• late 1964 - released Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.
  • contained Dylan songs, traditional folk songs, and some originals by Simon ... including "Sounds of Silence"
  • as was typical of the folk tradition, recorded with voices and acoustics guitars

   

Sounds of Silence (original)

• album went nowhere, so the duo went their separate ways
• 1965 - folk-rock revolution (Dylan's appearance at Newport Folk Festival)
  • Tom Wilson (Columbia producer) took the masters and remixed the parts with electric bass, electric guitars & drums

result = folk rock

Sounds of Silence (folk rock version)

(#1, 1966)

• with the success of this tune, a new folk rock album (including the revised version of "Sounds of Silence") was released under the title The Sounds of Silence, including:

  I Am a Rock

  (#3, 1966)

• also about loneliness (loner who refuses to risk contact with others)
• typical folk-rock sound with introverted lyrics
• Popularity seem to be waning with the release of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme
• soundtrack to The Graduate boosted them back to the top (album was #1 for 9 weeks)
  • included "Scarborough Fair," "The Sounds of Silence," and "Mrs. Robinson"
• the duo performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967
• Bookends (1968) shows the effect of Sgt. Pepper
  • a quasi-concept album (time & various stages of human life ... opening song returns at the end forming a musical analogy to the concept "bookends"
  • toward the end includes a musical montage ("Voices of Old People"), providing insight into the difficulties of old age

   

  Voices of Old People/Old Friends/Bookends Theme

  message seems to be a stark warning to those of the "never trust anyone over 30" generation

A Hazy Shade of Winter

(#13, 1966) more typical folk-rock sounding tune from Bookends

• 1970 - after recording Bridge Over Troubled Water (containing three Top 10 hits), decided to go their separate ways again

• Simon has continued to have a high degree of success professionally
  • series of hit singles throughout the 70s and Graceland [1987], incorporating African musicians
  • on a personal note, married Edie Brickell of the New Bohemians
• Simon is particularly skillful at crafting beautiful melodies and creating clever lyric twists

  A Simple Desultory Phillipic

pokes fun at Dylan, folk rock, even Simon & Garfunkel themselves ... "I've lost my harmonica, Albert ..." [Albert Grossman is Dylan's manager]

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