12/30/2023 0 Comments Most famous simon and garfunkel songs'Sounds of Silence' and Commercial Successīack in the United States, producer Tom Wilson, who had worked with Bob Dylan and helped get Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. He was meeting other musicians, getting well paid for gigs and was in love. The liner notes featured Simon arguing with his alter ego, disparaging his own talent, but the truth is, he was having the time of his life in London. The album didn’t sell much, but it included tracks like "I Am a Rock" and "Kathy's Song," both of which would one day become fan favorites. He released a solo album, The Paul Simon Songbook, in 1965. He busked in France, Spain and England, slept under bridges, and fell in love with his first real muse, Kathy. It only had five original Simon songs on it, and it wasn’t a hit, but it did feature an early, acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence,” that would eventually be the catalyst for their leap into stardom.ĭismayed by the failure of Simon & Garfunkel's first album, Simon headed to Europe. Paul Simon, circa 1970 Photo: GAB Archive/RedfernsĪ chance encounter a few years later brought Simon and Garfunkel back together as a musical duo, and they used their real names when they released their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., as Simon & Garfunkel. Years later, when John Lennon would ask him how he’d known so much about the industry (while the Beatles had practically given everything they did away), Simon told him it was simple: he grew up in New York. To make extra money, Simon continued doing demos and offering his services to producers, which is where he learned how to work in the studio, and how to handle the business side of the music industry, both of which would become invaluable. Thinking they’d peaked at 16, Garfunkel started studying art history at Columbia University, while Simon headed to Queens College. But when none of the other tracks they recorded had any success, Tom and Jerry decided to go their separate ways. Life was pretty good at Forest Hills High School for Simon, with both a hit song, a full album recorded, and a spot on the varsity baseball team (a sport that he’d remain a fan of, and write about, throughout his career). This landed them a spot on American Bandstand, going on right after Jerry Lee Lewis. In 1957, they pooled together the money to cut a single, "Hey Schoolgirl," and had their first hit at the age of 15. They would occasionally perform at school dances, but spent their free time in New York City at the famous Brill Building, pitching Simon as a songwriter and the duo as demo singers, for which they’d get paid $15 a song. As a singer-songwriter known for his cerebral compositions, it seems only fitting that Simon's mother, Belle, was an English teacher and his father, Louis, was both a teacher and a bandleader the Simon family used to stay up late to catch his appearances on The Jackie Gleason Show and Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.Īfter moving to Queens, New York, Simon befriended Art Garfunkel, "the most famous singer in the neighborhood." Simon credits Garfunkel's performance in the 4th grade talent show as his inspiration to start singing, especially after he heard a girl tell Garfunkel how good he was.Īt Forest Hills High School, Simon and Garfunkel formed a duo called "Tom and Jerry," choosing pseudonyms to avoid sounding too Jewish. Paul Simon was born on October 13, 1941, to Jewish American parents living in New Jersey. He was selected as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time magazine in 2006. He has worked with musicians all over the world, had dozens of hits and continues to release new music to critical acclaim. Paul Simon began his legendary music career as half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, then soared to new musical heights with the release of his groundbreaking Graceland album.
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