REVIEWS:
Simon and Garfunkel are, without a doubt, one of my favorite recording groups of all time. They wrote at least 15 or so songs that easily rank among my favorite songs of all time. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel can harmonize better than any other group I've ever heard, and I'm including the Beatles. Paul Simon always had a knack for simple, haunting, beautiful melodies and perfect lyrics to match. I'll go out on a limb and say this - Paul Simon is the best lyricist of all time. Music rarely moves me to tears, but Simon and Garfunkel's does on a constant basis, even after all these years.
The group started out as a total folk duo on their debut Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which bombed. The two broke up. When an electric version of "The Sounds Of Silence" became a huge hit, Paul and Art got back together quickly and knocked out the very good Sounds Of Silence album to cash in. After that, the group slowed down and released 3 absolute classic albums - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bookends, and Bridge Over Troubled Water, which even beat out Abbey Road for the 1969 "Album Of The Year" Grammy. The two broke up after that and went on to pursue solo careers, but they never hit the heights they did while they were together. Still, their short career produced some of the absolute best rock/pop/folk music ever produced. Easily.
--Philip Maddox
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COMMENTS
my brother was a folk singer when i was growing up. i grew up on kiss, rush, and more in the 70's but in 1981, my brother got a lot of s&g records he was folk fan he hated heavy metal damn you! but he loved folk and he was nice for us to live in his two story house. then in 1982 the concert in central park started and we all loved it! thank you s&g!
(reviewed by Philip Maddox)
Their folk debut, and it isn't nearly as stunning as the albums that came after it. The problem is that Simon hadn't really developed into a songwriter yet, and the group was getting by mostly on covers of old standards. 3 of the 5 Simon originals here are beutiful beyond words anyway - "Sparrow" and "Bleeker Street" are typically beautiful S&G songs. The simple arrangements on this album (1 guitar and 2 voices - no exceptions) help those 2 songs be very emotionally resonant. The other classic is the acoustic version of "The Sounds Of Silence", which needs no introduction from me. It IS one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded, with some of the most poignant, insightful, sad lyrics ever penned. If you haven't heard that song, hear it NOW. The other Simon originals, the title track and "He Was my Brother", are decent folk songs, but it aren't all that original and they kinda pales next to the other 3. They ain't bad, though.
The other 8 songs here are all covers, and as such, they're pretty hit or miss. The vocals are gorgeous throughout, of course, but who really wants to hear them playing bluegrass covers when you could be hearing them sing "Scarborough Fair"? The only songs that really stick out are "Benedictus", a tradtional chant with a stunning vocal arrangement from Garfunkel, and "The Sun Is Burning", which is quite pretty and has amusingly bleak lyrics ("Now the sun has come to earth/Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death/Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash/And the sun has come to earth", "Twisted, sightless wrecks of men/Go groping on their knees and cry in pain") that don't really fit, but the song is still quite pretty. But like I said, who wants to hear Christian bluegrass from Simon and Garfunkel? A decent album, but definitely the worst that they ever did. Paul should've written more. If he hadda, this would be as good as the rest. Still, this is a good sign of things to come.
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(Philip Maddox's review)
After the electric version of "The Sounds Of Silence" (which S&G had nothing to do with) became a hit, they got back together and slammed out this album out of Paul Simon solo tunes he had been playing in England, a couple of new songs, and a traditional instrumental. This album is far better than it should be - it should sound cheap and quickly recorded, but the amount of classics here is staggering. Of course, this album features the folk rock version of the title track, which isn't as perfect as the original, but the fact remains that "The Sounds Of Silence" is one of the best songs ever written, no matter how you play it. The other huge hit, "I Am A Rock", has the most gorgeous chorus of any song ever and the best lyrics ever written. Have you ever heard that song? A simple, beautiful melody with Paul comment on his lonliness. My favorite verse has gotta be "Don't talk of love/But I've heard the words before/It's sleeping in my memory/I won't disturb the slumber of feeling that have died/If I never loved I never would have cried/I am a rock/I am an island", but the heartrending closing couplet of "And a rock feels no pain/And an island never cries..." is close. God, tears are welling up in my eyes as I write this. Literally. That song does that to me. And it might not even be the best Simon and Garfunkel song! Whoa!
The rest of the tunes don't hit that high, but they sure come close on some occasions. The acoustic ballads "Kathy's Song" and "April Come She Will" are unbelievbly pretty, as is the harpsicord driven "Leaves That Are Green", featuring a perfect verse melody and more meaningful lyrics ("Hello hello, hello hello/Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye/That's all there is/And the leaves that are green turn to brown"). Unfortunately, there are a few fillerish tunes that bring the album down a little. The traditional "Anji" is pointless (and who wants to hear Simon and Garfunkel do an instrumental?), "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" is just a weaker version of the title track from the last album, and "We've Got A Groovy Thing Going, Baby" is fun, but sounds weak smashed between "April Come She Will" and "I Am A Rock". The highs are more than enough to make this album a classic anyway, though. Pick it up, sucka!
Two buddies by the name of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel hit the big-time with their second outing Sounds Of Silence. Initially breaking up after the release of their folkish first album Wednesday Morning 3 A.M., they decided to have another go at it when the acoustic "Sounds Of Silence" from that album was given a revamped Rock production and became a major success. As the classic song that it is, it does prove one thing: no weak or lame production can hide a particularly strong tune. The folk rock version of the title track (on this album) is certainly given a substandard treatment of piano, guitar, and drums, but the beautifully angelic vocals and incredible melody of it over-ride any production weaknesses. Without a doubt, it's the strongest cut on this rather nice set of folk-pop tunes.
The only other track to come close in quality is "I Am A Rock", a wonderfully written tune with a comfortably designed and perfect folk melody. Whenever you wanna hear some beyond beautiful vocals and lyrics, just simply flip this introspective Simon cut on. It really is one of the best in that field. The rest of Sounds Of Silence is filled with a bunch of enjoyable, catchy, and goofy Paul Simon tunes of all around the same quality. "Leaves That Are Green" is a little pop-tune with attractive harpsichord, "Blessed" is a meek rocker with lovely vocals, "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" contains a decent melodramatic melody with some french horn embellishments, and "Richard Cory" shows a cynical side to Paul and contains a vibe in its' music similar to that of The Rolling Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown", and the Kinks "Holiday In Waikiki", which are both from 1966 as well. What a great vibe that is too.
"Kathy's Song" and "April Come She Will", meanwhile, are two melodically-similar and pretty-sounding acoustic ballads, and "A Most Peculiar Man" is a sweet and sad little ditty about a lonely, friendless man. The vocals of the latter track are among the album's prettiest. Then there is the fun-filled "We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'", which is a fun little pop-rocker of course, and the bland acoustic instrumental "Anji", which is a filler tune, but not too shabby to say the least. All in all, pretty harmless folk rock. The angelic-voiced duo doesn't sound as fresh as they would on later releases, but virtually all of these dandy cuts are worthwhile.
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COMMENTS
[comment is about "I Am A Rock":]
Absolutely love the musical and vocals but hate the lyrics!
The lyrics portray other than a feeling human being.
Buidling walls, an fortress deep and mighty, is unhealthy.
ONe seeks to build bridges, not walls. When one seeks to close off behind a wall, one must instead reach out.
Noone is inpenetratable unless they're Alcatraz. People need friends and laughter, of course, isn't to be distained.
We must find things to laugh at!
True, ' if i never loved, i never would've cried.' but even if love hurts, one must risk it. For not to risk love is to lose.
Disturbing the 'slumber of feelings that have died' means learning from mistakes in past relationships.
We must disturb the slumber. We must understand our past so we don't repeat it.
Being shielded in armour is a negative trait. We needn't be entrenched. We are hiding from ourselves possibly.
Being the center of a circle (vortex) and yielding as a Willow in the wind signifies more of a living breathing human being.
These are my thoughts.
(reviewed by Philip Maddox)
Released he same year as The Sounds Of Silence, this album seems infinately more carefully constructed and mature than the last one. It doesn't sound a whole lot better - The Sounds Of Silence was a classic anyway. But it sounds at least as good, and that says a lot. The obvious highlight is the opening "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", which takes 2 traditional, unrelated melodies and slams them together with a beautiful guitar and harpsicord background and the best vocals Simon and Garfunkel ever set to tape, which says a whole lot. There isn't even anything I can say about it, other than that it's one of my all time favorite songs. It's hard to describe, you see. Unparalleled beauty.
The thing is, though, a whole bunch of these songs aren't far behind. "Homeward Bound" is another masterpiece, featuring striking lyrics and a gorgeous melody (I'm using the word "gorgeous" a lot, aren't I? Well, there simply no other way to describe it). Ditto for "Patterns", which has some of my favorite Simon lyrics ("From the moment of my birth/To the instand of my death/There are patterns I must follow/Just as I must breathe each breath/Like a rat in a cage/The path before me lies/And the pattern never alters/Until the rat dies"). You've heard "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" about a hundred times ("Hello lamppost, what you knowin'? I've come to see your flowers growing" - yeah, that one), and it's really fun and bouncy. Just like the last album, there are a couple of fillers ("The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" is an attempt to rock, but it just sounds kinda dorky - not that it's bad or anything; "A Poem On The Underground Wall" doesn't hit me too hard), but the best material more than makes up for it. Highly recommended.
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(Philip Maddox's review)
Simon and Garfunkel's masterpiece. Half of it is a concept album about growing old, while the second half is a collection of groovy singles. Both sides work equally well, with nary a filler to be found (OK, there IS one - the collage "Voices Of Old People", which is naught as old people talking about various things was a horrible idea, but at least it's short). Let's start with the concept side, shall we? The side is bookended by the tracks "Bookends Theme", a simple, haunting acoustic guitar bit, augmented with vocals the second time through. It's gorgeous (there it is again!). The experimental "Save The Life Of My Child" almost sounds like late 60s Moody Blues (which is never a bad thing). Neat vocal effects and a very good song overall.
"America" is classic in every way. A perfect song. No faults at all. Art's vocals never sounded better, the melody crecendos and decrecendos appropriately, and the lyrics evoke all kinds of feeling of sadness ("'Kathy, I'm lost' I said/Though I knew she was sleeping/'I'm empty and aching and I don't know why/Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike/They've all come to look for America"). Yes tried to play it as an arena rocker, which didn't work at all. The song was perfect anyway. The other 2 tracks on the side, "Overs" and "Old Friends", are mostly acoustic (until a dissonant orchestra comes in on the latter to good effect) and simple, and they certainly don't fail. Striking stuff.
Side B features the singles, and every household needs these singles. The most famous is "Mrs. Robinson", which is, once again, one of my favorite songs of all time. You've heard it, of course, so I don't need to say anything. "Fakin' It" is just as good. The melody changes every other line of the song, and every melody is beautiful and flows into the next perfectly. The hard rocker here, "A Hazy Shade Of Winter", is a S&G rocker that actually WORKS, with a dynamite horn arrangement, lyrics that really evoke the feeling of cold, and a great drive. The other two tracks, "Punky's Dilemma" and "At The Zoo", are gentle, goofy fun of the highest order. Lots of goofy animal and sexual metaphors permeate the songs, giving them a very goofy, good time-y feel. All in all, the only complaint I have about this album is that it's too short (it runs about a half hour). Don't let that stop you from getting it, though.
Opening up with the thirty-second acoustic track "Bookends Theme", the first half of Simon & Garfunkel's fourth album deals with the concept of growing old. The aging process is shown over the course of five tracks, going from depressed adolescent youth in the snappy "Save The Life Of My Child" to very old age in "Old Friends". What's interesting though, is how the music gets more un-hip and slower, as the person gets older and eventually becomes an old fart. On the bad side, this does make the album seem a little bit too bland and schmaltzy by the close of the first half, but besides that it's all rather good. Not as good as the string of catchy and very worthy singles that make up all of side two, but still quite charming. Starting things off is "Save the Life Of My Child", a great little tune with quickly-strummed acoustic guitars, a vocal-job that sounds Bob Dylan-ish, and an enchanting atmosphere of various city-sounds, mothers' cries, and synthesized bass-work. It sure doesn't sound like anything else on the record, but it sure is a wonderful quirky tune nonetheless.
Next is the almighty "America", the best tune on the conceptual side. A gorgeous tune it is, beginning with those soothing harmonies and a few notes of trebly acoustic guitar, before turning into an anthemic song about the American dream. There are all sorts of references to popular American culture, one of my favorite lines being 'She said the man in the gabardine suite was a spy, I said "be careful, his bow-tie is really a camera", which refers to, as you might have guessed, the then-famous 'Candid Camera' show. Being a New Jersey man, I also like the line 'Counting the cars, On the New Jersey Turnpike' quite a bit as well. And you can't forget about the incredible melody of the whole piece either.
After this biggie, however, the album goes on a bit of a downfall with the next three tracks (things slow down a bit too much, like I said before). "Overs" is a nice-sounding, but fairly unmelodic number with springy acoustic guitar-work, "Voices Of Old People" is just a blatant waste of tape, and "Old Friends" has orchestration I could do without, though the simple nature of the tune is kinda pretty. After the "Bookends Theme (reprise)" comes and goes, however, the album gets back on track with the excellent "Fakin' It", a beautifully melodic and well-crafted pop tune with exciting horn-led choruses and a perfect flow throughout (the lovely background vocals are breathtaking on this one too).
Following that is the cleverly humorous and breezy "Punky's Dilemma", which is fun of the highest order, and then huge hit "Mrs. Robinson", which was first released on The Graduate sound-track, but which was way too good to leave off of this album. As the most well-known hit of their career, it's simply great, with tons of hooks, the most tasteful use of acoustics on Bookends, and a very catchy chorus. It boasts memorable lines left and right too, such as 'What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?, "Joltin' Joe" has left and gone away (hey, hey hey)'. Fantastic. The catchy pep of "A Hazy Shade of Winter" is another prime cut on here with its' cute and infectious riff, and the bouncy, shady "At the Zoo" finishes off this half an hour release with a lot of zest. The latter tune with its' neat middle (which contains a shuffling rhythm, hand-claps, and some zipper sounds), thumping bass, and soft-spoken vocals is definitely an over-looked gem. Don't let the plain n' boring front-cover fool you - this S&G effort contains some of their most satisfying songs ever (and the best side of music ever put down by the band).
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(reviewed by Philip Maddox)
Simon and Garfunkel's parting shot, and it's as great as you'd expect. It's not quite as good as Bookends, but it's still amazing. You know "The Boxer" and the title track already, as well you should - they're perfect. The former is particularly stunning - an orchestra helps buold the song from a simple, acoustic ballad to a huge, powerful anthem. It may be the best song S&G ever did, and that's no easy accomplishment. The title track features some of Art's best vocals ever and other smashing arrangement that makes the song transcend "classic" to become "immortal". Again, I'm at a loss to describe it, but you've probably heard it already, so you know what I'm talking about. Powerful, powerful stuff.
The more obscure album cuts here are hardly any worse, however. "El Condor Pasa" features a groovy arrangement that predates Simon's world beat records by about 15 years and is at least as good as anything he released in that period. There's also a whole lotta fun stuff on this record to balance out the epics, and they rule, too. "Cecelia" is my favorite of these, featuring a great melody and hilarious lyrics ("Making love in the afternoon to Cecelia/Up in my bedroom/I get up to wash my face/When I come back to bed/someone's taken my place" - Cecilia's really got it going on, doesn't she?). The goofy but spectacular "Keep The Customer Satisfied", "Baby Driver", and the cover of "Bye Bye Love" aren't far behind. There are a few songs here that aren't as perfect, which drags the album down one point, but I wouldn't worry about it. It beat Abbey Road for the 1969 Album Of The Year Grammy, and in my opinion, it totally deserved it. Just like the last 3 albums, buy it now. In fact, just buy the Collected Works boxed set, which has all 5 of their albums on three discs. It's like buying the last three albums and getting Silence and Wednesday for FREE! Now THAT'S a 10!
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COMMENTS
Paul Simon is one of America's best and most beloved songwriters and performers alongside men like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. His acheivements with Garfunkel and as a solo artist are many. I mean, you GOTTA like him, who, like Prince, can resist the guy? Bridge Over Troubled Water is usually cited as one of his finest achievements(which it is) and his best work with his long-time friend Art Garfunkel. It's certainly excellent but I agree with this fine reviewer; it's disjointes and a bit uneven in areas. That doesn't mean it's not a fantastic listen, no no. Baby Driver and Cecila? I don't think it's possible to have more fun! Simon And Garfunkel were a great duo but it may be easy to forget Paul's solo career which saw him produce many albums on the level of the best of his work with Garfunkel like There Goes Ryhmin' Simon, Paul Simon, Still Crazy After All These Years, Hearts And Bones and Graceland; a national treasure. Sure, we have see him as a bit-too-somber cynical songwriter or an over-confident crooner throughout his long and varied career but I don't understand not being able to forgive the guy.
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