This October marks 60 years since Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel got their first major hit as Simon and Garfunkel. The two have been on the scene for ten years under the guise of Tom and Jerry, and had an earlier success with their song Hey School Girl, however that did not last long. They didn’t start their rise to star-dom until they got the support of producer Tom Wilson from Columbia records. Not long after that they released their first album in 1964 Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. This failed disastrously and shortly after Simon and Garfunkel separated, Art Garfunkel went to the University of Columbia and Paul Simon travelled to England to learn more on folk music. The duo was separated until Wilson published a changed version of their song The Sound of Silence from their first album. Afterwards Paul Simon saw that his song was in both Billboard and Cashbox. He immediately returned to the U.S and reunited with Garfunkel, and afterwards made the album The Sound of Silence with the improved version.
Since then, Simon and Garfunkel meticulously drew out more albums. After some trial and error they managed to combine their harmonies to near perfect melody. Their next few albums reached the top of the charts in the late sixties. With Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme reaching number four of Billboard’s top 200 albums. As well as hits singles such as The Dangling Conversation, reaching top 25 in billboards hot 100. My personal favorite, Homeward Bound, reached number five in the same list, all of which were published in the same year (1966).
Afterwards in 1968 the soundtrack for Mike Nichols the Graduate was published. Earlier in 1963 Nichols had asked Simon and Garfunkel to write a part, when their earlier attempts did not meet his expectations Garfunkel mentioned Simon’s new song Mrs. Robinson. Which was found to be a major hit, resulting in the soundtrack reaching number one on billboards listing for several weeks, and later overshadowed by the pair’s next album Bookends (all in the same year).
A year later, both Simon and Garfunkel were cast for parts in the movie Catch 22. They were planning on working on it together until the main screenwriter Buck Henry, eliminated Simon from the casting. Tensions arose between the duo as Garfunkel continued to work on set. After eight tedious months of filming, Garfunkel returned to the band, where pressure had already reached critical levels. Later on when their song Songs of America failed spectacularly on a CBS special Simon and Garfunkel decided to focus their energy on their next album Bridge over Trouble Water. After it was published in 1970 it automatically reached the top of the charts, with over 25 million copies made and won over six grammies.
Sadly one of their most popular albums would be their last; because, shortly after this album was released Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel separated in July of 1970. Afterwards Paul Simon continued on to his solo music career which has lasted until present day, and Art Garfunkel continued his career as an actor, then later started his own solo career. But that was not the end of their story, throughout their lives they have reunited several times, and continue to follow the dream that they had since childhood. In 2012 their album for the Sound of Silence was added to the National Recording Registry. This year is the 60th anniversary since these brothers were first officially known to the world. May they be remembered for years to come.
