Simon and garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel grew up together in the Jewish suburbs of New York . In 1957, inspired by the Everly brothers , they began performing for other teens under the name “Tom and Jerry”. Their first single, “Hey Schoolgirl,” was modestly successful among teenagers and even hit the national charts. Soon, the roads of the musicians diverged, as they entered universities located in different cities of America.

At the end of high school, a passion for folk music brought the comrades together again. Now they recorded and performed under their own names. Paul Simon wrote music and thoughtful lyrics marked by the influence of Bob Dylan , while Garfunkel conquered fans (and fans) with his curly blond hair and tall angelic tenor . Just as The Byrds combined folk music with rock, Simon and Garfunkel sought to instill in folk music the best finds of modern pop music ( folk pop ).

In 1964, their debut album, Wednesday Morning 3AM, was released on Columbia Records. The disc went almost unnoticed, after which the musicians again went apart: Simon went to perform folk concerts in London and even recorded a solo album there.

At this time, the musicians had an unexpected success. In the summer of 1965, impresario Tim Wilson , known for producing Dylan's early albums, modernized the sound of the song “ The Sounds of Silence ” , written by Simon under the impression of the assassination of President Kennedy ^[3] , by superimposing electric guitars and drums on it. Unbeknownst to the authors, the new version was released by the single and reached the first line in the national charts . This recording was recognized by music critics as the quintessence of then-falling folk rock fashion.

Although Simon and Garfunkel were shocked at the fact that their most successful single was arranged and released without their participation, its triumphant climb on the charts forced them to reunite their efforts and turn their work towards muted acoustic folk rock. The Sounds of Silence was followed by such pearls of folk rock as A Hazy Shade of Winter and Homeward Bound - perhaps the most refined and stylish examples of this trend of rock music.

Unlike other folk rock groups, the audience of Simon and Garfunkel was not so much teenagers as people of mature age who were able to appreciate the poetic complexity of their works. Their biggest hit in the second half of the sixties is Mrs. Robinson ”(1968, 1st place in the USA) - sounded in the famous film“ Graduate ”, which began the acting career of Dustin Hoffman . The song would probably have won an Oscar for the best song for the movie, but Simon and Garfunkel did not fill out the necessary papers: in the 60s, the prestige of this award was not so significant, because the duo simply did not attach any importance to it. ^[four]

Despite some vibrant songs, Simon and Garfunkel's albums were mostly jagged and left a feeling of lack of agreement. The most radical critics were inclined to accuse the duet of sugaryness and sterility.

A peculiar answer to the band’s detractors was their last studio album, “ Bridge Over Troubled Water ”. By the time it was released in 1970, the interests of the participants had radically diverged: Simon wanted to experiment with folk music (and not only in English-speaking countries), while Garfunkel dreamed of becoming a film actor.

The melodious album "Bridge over Troubled Water" was the final chord of their joint career; four singles were released from him - the title ballad “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1st place in the USA in 1970), Simon’s sincere autobiographical song “The Boxer” and his first attempts to experiment with Latin American motifs - “Cecilia” and “ El Cóndor Pasa ”(featuring Los Incas ). Not a single album before had such triumphant success with the public and critics: he spent ten weeks in first place on the Billboard 200 and for the first time in history won a Grammy in all the most prestigious nominations. In March and April 1970, a unique situation developed when Simon and Garfunkel occupied the first lines of the charts for selling albums and singles on both sides of the Atlantic. I must say that in the UK this album took first place in annual sales for two consecutive years, and in 1972 the country's highest-grossing album was the collection of the best songs of the split duo.

Over the following decades, Simon and Garfunkel occasionally recorded and performed together. In 1975, friends released the joint single “My Little Town,” and in 1981 at least half a million spectators came to their concert in Central Park in New York. The recording of this historical concert was released as a "live" album, and the musicians themselves performed for the whole year together together around the world.

Another joint tour followed in 2003 - 04, dedicated to the reunion of the legendary duo.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the 500 best songs of all time , based on a survey of 172 famous musicians and music critics, which included three songs of the duet:

• Bridge Over Troubled Water (No. 47)
• The Boxer (No. 105)
• The Sounds of Silence (No. 156)

In 2009, another joint duo tour in Australia, New Zealand and Japan followed.

The next tour in the USA and Canada was planned for April-May 2010 ^[5] , but due to problems with the voice of Art Garfunkel, the tour was postponed to July 2010 ^[6] .

In June 2010, it became known that due to ongoing problems with the voice of Art Garfunkel, the tour was postponed indefinitely ^[7] . In November 2010, there were reports that Art Garfunkel was recovering and the delayed tour of the duo could take place in the summer of 2011 ^[8] . However, due to ongoing problems with the vocal cords, Art's tour was again postponed indefinitely.

Studio Albums

• Wednesday Morning, 3 AM ( 1964 )
• Sounds of Silence ( 1966 )
• Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
• The Graduate Original Soundtrack ( 1967 )
• Bookends ( 1968 )
• Bridge Over Troubled Water ( 1970 )

Concert albums and collections

• Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits ( 1972 )
• The Concert in Central Park ( 1982 )
• Collected Works ( 1990 )
• Old Friends ( 1997 )
• Tales from New York: The Best of Simon & Garfunkel ( 1999 )
• The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964 - 1970) ( 2001 )
• Live from New York City, 1967 ( 2002 )
• The Essential Simon and Garfunkel ( 2003 )
• Old Friends: Live on Stage ( 2004 )
• Live 1969 ( 2008 )

• 1968 Grammy Award - Record of the Year for the song “Mrs. Robinson »
• 1971 Grammy Award - Bridge over Troubled Water Album of the Year
• 2003 Grammy Award - For Life Achievements

• Official website
• Simon and Garfunkel on the Internet Movie Database
• Unofficial site of fans of the group in Russia