Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. One of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s, their most famous recordings include three US number ones: "The Sound of Silence" (1965) and the two Record of the Year Grammy winners "Mrs. Robinson" (1968) and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970). Other hits include "The Boxer" (1969), "Cecilia" (1970) and the four 1966 releases "Homeward Bound", "I Am a Rock", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (a single in 1968) and "A Hazy Shade of Winter" (also a No. 2 cover hit for the Bangles in 1987–88), as well as the 1968 album track (and 1972 UK hit) "America".
Simon & Garfunkel
Tom & Jerry (1956–1958)
Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, U.S.
- 1956–1958
- 1963–1970
- 1972
- 1975–1977
- 1981–1984
- 1990
- 1993
- 2003–2005
- 2007–2010
Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York City, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize and began writing songs. As teenagers, under the name Tom & Jerry, they had minor success with "Hey Schoolgirl" (1957), a song imitating their idols, the Everly Brothers. In 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel. Their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (October 1964), sold poorly; Simon returned to a solo career, this time in England. In June 1965, "The Sound of Silence"—an acoustic song on the duo's debut album—was overdubbed with electric guitar and drums (without the duo's knowledge) and in late 1965 became a US AM radio hit, reaching number one on Billboard's Hot 100 in the issue dated January 1, 1966 (initially keeping the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" off the top spot). The duo reunited to release a second studio album, Sounds of Silence (January 1966)—featuring the remixed "The Sound of Silence"—and toured colleges nationwide. For their third release, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (October 1966), the duo assumed more creative control. Their music (mostly old material) featured prominently in Mike Nichols's blockbuster film The Graduate (released December 1967), including "The Sound of Silence", "Scarborough Fair" (a winter/spring 1968 film tie-in hit single) and two very short acoustic versions of "Mrs. Robinson". Across 16 consecutive weeks between April and July 1968, the film's soundtrack album and the duo's next studio LP, Bookends (April 1968)—featuring the hit version of "Mrs. Robinson"—alternated at number one on the Billboard 200.
Simon and Garfunkel had a troubled relationship, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Their final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, released that January, became one of the world's best-selling albums. Following their split, Simon found continued success on both the singles chart (13 Top 40 hits, 1972–86) and the album chart, including the acclaimed Graceland (1986).[2] Garfunkel charted with hits such as "All I Know" (1973) and the two UK number ones "I Only Have Eyes for You" (1975) and "Bright Eyes" (Britain's top single of 1979), and briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in the Mike Nichols films Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971) and in Nicolas Roeg's Bad Timing (1980). The duo have reunited several times; their 1981 concert in Central Park may have attracted more than 500,000 people, one of the largest concert attendances in history.[3][4]
Simon & Garfunkel won seven Grammy Awards[5] and four Grammy Hall of Fame Awards, and in 1990 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[6] Richie Unterberger described them as "the most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s" and one of the most popular artists from the decade.[1] They are among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[7] They were ranked 40th on Rolling Stone's 2010 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"[8] and third on its list of the greatest duos.[9]
History[edit]
1953–1956: Early years[edit]
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the 1940s and 1950s in their predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York, three blocks away from one another. They attended the same schools: Public School 164 in Kew Gardens Hills, Parsons Junior High School, and Forest Hills High School.[10][11] They were both fascinated by music; both listened to the radio and were taken with rock and roll as it emerged, particularly the Everly Brothers.[12] Simon first noticed Garfunkel when Garfunkel was singing in a fourth grade talent show, which Simon thought was a good way to attract girls; he hoped for a friendship, which started in 1953, when they appeared in a sixth grade adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.[11][13] They formed a streetcorner doo-wop group called the Peptones with three friends and learned to harmonize.[14][15] They began performing as a duo at school dances.[16]
Simon and Garfunkel moved to Forest Hills High School,[17] where in 1956 they wrote their first song, "The Girl for Me"; Simon's father sent a handwritten copy to the Library of Congress to register a copyright.[16] While trying to remember the lyrics to the Everly Brothers song "Hey Doll Baby",[18] they wrote "Hey, Schoolgirl", which they recorded for $25 at Sanders Recording Studio in Manhattan.[19] While recording they were overheard by promoter Sid Prosen, who signed them to his independent label Big Records after speaking to their parents. They were both 15.[20]
Musical style and legacy[edit]
Over the course of their career, Simon & Garfunkel's music gradually moved from a basic folk rock sound to incorporate more experimental elements for the time, including Latin and gospel music.[1] Their music, according to Rolling Stone, struck a chord among lonely, alienated young adults near the end of the 1960s.[128]
Simon & Garfunkel received criticism at the height of their success. In 1968, Rolling Stone critic Arthur Schmidt described their music as "questionable ... it exudes a sense of process, and it is slick, and nothing too much happens."[129] New York Times critic Robert Shelton said that the duo had "a kind of Mickey Mouse, timid, contrived" approach.[130] According to Richie Unterberger of AllMusic, their clean sound and muted lyricism "cost them some hipness points during the psychedelic era ... the pair inhabited the more polished end of the folk-rock spectrum and was sometimes criticized for a certain collegiate sterility."[1] He noted that some critics regard Simon's later solo work as superior to Simon & Garfunkel.[1]
According to Pitchfork, though Simon & Garfunkel were a highly regarded folk act "distinguished by their intuitive harmonies and Paul Simon's articulate songwriting", they were more conservative than the folk music revivalists of Greenwich Village.[131] By the late 1960s, they had become the "folk establishment ... primarily unthreatening and accessible, which forty years later makes them an ideal gateway act to the weirder, harsher, more complex folkies of the 60s counterculture".[132] Their later albums explored more ambitious production techniques and incorporated elements of gospel, rock, R&B, and classical, revealing a "voracious musical vocabulary".[131]
In 2003, Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included Bridge over Troubled Water at number 51,[133] Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme at number 201,[134] Bookends at number 233,[135] and Greatest Hits at number 293.[136] And in 2004, on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, Rolling Stone included "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at number 47, "The Boxer" at number 105, and "The Sound of Silence" at number 156.[137]
The Grammy Awards are held annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Simon & Garfunkel have won 9 total competitive awards, 4 Hall of Fame awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award.[103]
Studio albums
