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Simon and Garfunkel

Started by MoonDust, November 18, 2018, 03:11:18 PM

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MoonDust

Never given them a proper listen before. If you see the top 5 songs of theirs on Spotify they are probably the only songs of theirs I've heard in my lifetime.

Until recently. Gave the album "Sound of Silence" a listen and was impressed, so I will no doubt seek out their other albums.

Also weirdly and surprisingly finding Art Garfunkel attractive since listening (young version of course).

As a side I'm interested in why the duo can't stand each other. What happened? Although not related, are they the Gallagher brothers of the baby boomer/counter-culture generation?

Brundle-Fly

You're in for a real treat if you're only just digging into the S&G catalogue. They have had a few reunions and blow hot and cold with each other. I gather they're on speaking terms again.

the science eel

This is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded but you HAVE to listen all the way through - it's that kind of song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5biEjyXNa2o

Heres an intresting video on Scarborough Fair/Canticle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzqau3GOYo8

It did often wonder what the Canticle bit was all about, its actually Two songs in one.

MoonDust

Quote from: the science eel on November 18, 2018, 05:01:53 PM
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded but you HAVE to listen all the way through - it's that kind of song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5biEjyXNa2o

Cheers. Listening now!

Might listen to the album later while cooking.

I don't like much of Simon's solo stuff but his S&G era work is absolutely stellar.

rue the polywhirl

For a duo famed for their work together they actually produced their best work apart - Bright Eyes and Call Me Al.

Their best films in no particular order:

- Sound Of Music
- Bridge Over River Kwai
- A Troll In Central Park
- Tuesday Night and Wednesday Morning 3am

MoonDust

Quote from: rue the polywhirl on November 18, 2018, 06:02:18 PM
For a duo famed for their work together they actually produced their best work apart - Bright Eyes and Call Me Al.

Their best films in no particular order:

- Sound Of Music
- Bridge Over River Kwai
- A Troll In Central Park
- Tuesday Night and Wednesday Morning 3am

Hah! Nice.

I actually just watched the live version of Bridge Over Troubled Water from Central Park 1982. Phenomenal.

Brundle-Fly

Effortless! God,I'm tearing up. I'm so soppy. Why don't the modern singer/songwriters write melodies like this anymore?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPTOY8FrvNw

MoonDust

I love how Art is belting out Bridge Over Troubled Water at Central Park with his hands in his pockets. Casual as owt.

Brundle-Fly


Phil_A

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on November 18, 2018, 06:46:21 PM
Effortless! God,I'm tearing up. I'm so soppy. Why don't the modern singer/songwriters write melodies like this anymore?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPTOY8FrvNw

Yes, that one always gets me, and not just because it reminds me of trudging round Bedford in the bitterly cold winter of 2013. But partly. Time it was, oh what a time it was...

manticore

Quote from: the science eel on November 18, 2018, 05:01:53 PM
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded but you HAVE to listen all the way through - it's that kind of song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5biEjyXNa2o

Goosepimples all over, that song. It's my favourite thing by them because though I like their other stuff I like it slightly less because I find it a bit overproduced and the harmonies are made a bit smooth.

I accompanied my brother to see them at Wembley in 1982 and from the distance I was I could only identifty them by Art Garfunkel's hair. They were fine, even though I don't really like arena concerts.

I dissent strongly from Paul Simon's view that Aretha Franklin's version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' is superior to theirs - I don't care how 'white' their version is, I think hers is a pretty run of the mill soul/jazz/gospel interpretation while theirs is genuinely affecting. YMMV...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9-yfeA2JZs

Their most beautiful song is "America"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo2ZsAOlvEM

The ambiguous melancholy of it.

MiddleRabbit

Quote from: the science eel on November 18, 2018, 05:01:53 PM
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded but you HAVE to listen all the way through - it's that kind of song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5biEjyXNa2o

I laid a bum trip on Tim Booth out of James about a month ago with that record.  He was on Radio 2 saying how much he loved it but he didn't know what it was all about.  I'd written a blog post about how it's the most passive aggressive record in the world and sent him a link.  Anyway, he hated it and told me how I'd ruined it for him and asked if I did that to all the records I liked. 

I find what I wrote a bit irritating myself now, but anyway...

https://middlerabbiting.com/2018/04/30/bridge-over-troubled-martyr-2/

Emma Raducanu

Their music is up there as some of my favourite. They spawned my love of Kings of Convenience. I grew up with Simon and Garfunkel. I cannot imagine their songs not conjuring up memories of childhood! I used to listen to them when I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve.

Songs I hate are Cecilia and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Much prefer their quieter songs.

Golden E. Pump

Quote from: MiddleRabbit on November 18, 2018, 08:51:17 PM
I laid a bum trip on Tim Booth out of James about a month ago with that record.

We see what you did there.

Twit 2

Can only listen in small doses, find it unbearably twee. Great songs, great harmonies. But twee.

Nowhere Man

As great as it is much of Paul Simon's solo albums don't really hold my attention like his stuff with Garfunkel. Always wish they had more studio albums, but Bridge Over Troubled Water is certainly a high note to finish on. That said this solo compilation of Paul Simon is absolutely fantastic, I have a lovely copy on vinyl that I got for a few quid:



and while i'm at it, S & G's reunion single from 1975, called My Little Town is really nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01XyozcFLXA

the science eel

Quote from: manticore on November 18, 2018, 07:36:39 PM
Goosepimples all over, that song. It's my favourite thing by them because though I like their other stuff I like it slightly less because I find it a bit overproduced and the harmonies are made a bit smooth.

Yes, I feel the same way.

I like 'America' quite a lot, too (nice to see that one mentioned). You get that same descending chord sequence there. Irresistible.

Isn't there some story about how 'The Sound Of Silence' was recorded by just the two of them singing with guitars, and the record company wanted a full production to release as a single, so they added the drums, bass etc. later, to the recording? so it was all a bit irregular, rhythm-wise - well-drilled seasoned session musos playing along to stumbling buskers...

Nowhere Man

Quote from: the science eel on November 18, 2018, 11:06:40 PM
Yes, I feel the same way.

I like 'America' quite a lot, too (nice to see that one mentioned). You get that same descending chord sequence there. Irresistible.

Isn't there some story about how 'The Sound Of Silence' was recorded by just the two of them singing with guitars, and the record company wanted a full production to release as a single, so they added the drums, bass etc. later, to the recording? so it was all a bit irregular, rhythm-wise - well-drilled seasoned session musos playing along to stumbling buskers...

Yep, if I recall it was Tom Wilson (producer of Bob Dylan's 'Electric Trilogy') who had produced their debut with the original version on it, who came up with the overdubs idea for the single's re-release. Interestingly it became a hit during one of Simon and Garfunkel's many many break ups.

Quote"The Sound of Silence", originally "The Sounds of Silence", is a song by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel. The song was written by Paul Simon over a period of several months in 1963 and 1964. A studio audition led to the duo signing a record deal with Columbia Records, and the song was recorded in March 1964 at Columbia Studios in New York City for inclusion on their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M..

Released in October 1964, the album was a commercial failure and led to the duo breaking apart, with Paul Simon returning to England and Art Garfunkel to his studies at Columbia University. In the spring of 1965, the song began to attract airplay at radio stations in Boston, Massachusetts, and throughout Florida. The growing airplay led Tom Wilson, the song's producer, to remix the track, overdubbing electric instruments and drums. Simon & Garfunkel were not informed of the song's remix until after its release. The single was released in September 1965.

The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1, 1966, leading the duo to reunite and hastily record their second album, which Columbia titled Sounds of Silence in an attempt to capitalize on the song's success.

Psmith

 Bridge Over Troubled Water is my favourite although it is a tad over produced.
Apparently when finished S&G asked their chums to pick the best track.They were supposed to answer The Boxer.I would agree with that.

Nowhere Man

These tracks are the pinnacle I reckon:

The Sound of Silence
The Boxer
America
Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Only Living Boy In New York
Mrs Robinson
For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her
Scarborough Fair/Canticle
Homeward Bound
Kathy's Song
April Come She Will
Old Friends / Bookends
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
El Condor Pasa
A Hazy Shade of Winter
I Am a Rock
The Dangling Conversation
My Little Town
Cecilia
At The Zoo

MoonDust

Quote from: the science eel on November 18, 2018, 11:06:40 PM
Yes, I feel the same way.

I like 'America' quite a lot, too (nice to see that one mentioned). You get that same descending chord sequence there. Irresistible.

Isn't there some story about how 'The Sound Of Silence' was recorded by just the two of them singing with guitars, and the record company wanted a full production to release as a single, so they added the drums, bass etc. later, to the recording? so it was all a bit irregular, rhythm-wise - well-drilled seasoned session musos playing along to stumbling buskers...

That's right. I think it's the album version they overdubbed. At least it is on my Spotify version.

Jockice

About a year ago I called up a Simon And Garfunkel greatest hits album on youtube, played it all the way through and thought: "This is rather good." I'd never voluntarily listened to anything by them before and haven't since either.. For that hour or so I was a real fan though.

(Apart from that Feeling Groovy one, which is just horrible.)

pupshaw

Quote from: Psmith on November 18, 2018, 11:33:41 PM
Bridge Over Troubled Water is my favourite although it is a tad over produced.
Apparently when finished S&G asked their chums to pick the best track.They were supposed to answer The Boxer.I would agree with that.

I read somewhere that Bridge Over Troubled Water was originally only the first 2 verses, and "someone" said it was too short, so they had to go back into
the studio and record a 3rd verse and orchestrate it over the top. The piano section after the extended note sounds like a coda, but then becomes a bridge to the last verse. Also, they couldn't get the same sound in the studio. The last verse is shrill, whereas the first two verses have a lovely warmth that makes you want to snuggle up. 

sevendaughters

great great great great group and even though Martin Carthy fans still invade comments sections to say that S&G stole his arrangement of Scarborough Fair I think that the S&G version is proper time capsule material, play it at my funeral kind of stuff, probably the best "psychedelic" song there is beating a million chancers with space echo pedals and Farfisas. this version with Andy Williams sitting in is special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_T7HgZKZjo

as such i don't hear any shred of twee in them whatsoever, maybe a slightly college-y preciousness to their take on folk in their early material that they would shed very quickly. they're both terrific cunts but in completely different ways too. not much more to add really. like Queen their best songs are often best known.

jobotic

Looking through their discography there's a few songs i'd forgotten all about which I remember liking a lot.

Patterns, Cloudy and Flowers never Bend with the Rainfall from Parsley, Sage , Rosemary and Thyme.

Keep The Customer Satisfied is a great pop song, although inferior to some of the others on that album. 

Swoz_MK

A Poem On The Underground Wall is my favourite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEEQWPfjv1U

He Was My Brother is up there for me too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6kECNeLo8

I've posted this a few times but First Aid Kit covering America in front of Mr Simon is fucking wonderful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBwKp6QhIvE



studpuppet

Worth noting for S&G newcomers that Homeward Bound is as beautiful an evocation of Widnes as you're ever likely to hear.