Simon & Garfunkel

Meeting in high school as the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat in the play Alice In Wonderland, this couple soon developed into one of the most famous duo’s in pop music.

They started in 1957 as the duo Tom & Jerry, having a minor hit in the charts with Hey Schoolgirl. A few years later, as Paul Simon was working for a label as a plugger, he decided to do an audition to get his own songs on a record. Together with Art Garfunkel, he managed to get the deal and recorded the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. in the style of the Everly Brothers. At first, it did not sell very well, as the Beatles appeared on the scene, and their album was ‘dull’. A year later, their engineer decided to add an electrical guitar and several rhythmic sections, changing the acoustic album into a new folk album, which did quite well. The Sound Of Silence hit number 1 on the charts and Simon & Garfunkel were back in business. Their second album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, demonstrated that they were able to be involved with the political situation of that time. The times, and the music, were changing, but Simon & Garfunkel kept to their sound, adding just small pieces of the new styles that were introduced by for example the Beatles on Sgt. Peppers. This was put in on the album Bookends, which literally is like a novel, with small stories in each of the songs. By the end of the sixties, nothing was left of the hippie optimism. Vietnam was a never-ending story, all hope seemed to be gone. Once more, Simon and Garfunkel understood what the people wanted: the song Bridge Over Troubled Water was a fact. Though the album was the best sold albums of the seventies, it also marked the end of Simon & Garfunkel. Paul started his solo career, Art worked as a math teacher for some time, and had one more hit with Bright Eyes. The two re-united some times for live concerts, as can be heard on the famous live album Concert In Central Park.

In a nutshell:
Must-have album: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Live: The Concert In Central Park
Number 1 Hits: Mrs. Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Sound Of Silence, El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Other great songs: The Only Living Boy In New York

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