Album Essentials: Simon & Garfunkel - "Bookends"

Though their roots stretch back into the late 1950s, Simon & Garfunkel were a product of the times. Those times were the music revolution that happened in the 1960s. Initially inspired by the Everly Brothers, the non-brotherly duo had that special vocal connection to produce sympathetic and wonderful harmonies. Each voice was a perfect balance for the other, with Art’s high range landing angelically above Paul’s more earthy tone every time they sang. Add to that the fact that Paul was, seemingly, a natural born writer of great songs, and there was a winning combination waiting for the world.

Their debut album, the sparse acoustic offering ‘Wednesday Morning 3 A.M,’ saw the light of day in the fall of 1964. These New Your City folkies, though sounding sharp as could be, were a little late to the party. Peter, Paul & Mary had a run of hits by then, the Kingston Trio were old news and the kingpin of the folk scene, Bob Dylan, had already released four albums and was a mere few months away from unleashing his ‘new electric sound’ on the world with ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues.’

That debut sank without a trace and Simon & Garfunkel went their separate ways, but not for long. In that downtime, a new sound had emerged called ‘folk rock.’ Led by the Byrds and Beau Brummels and followed by Sonny & Cher, the Turtles and others, it was a new exciting sound, and S&G producer Tom Wilson thought he may have a hit hidden on that first S&G LP. Buried at the end of side on on their debut, ‘The Sounds Of Silence’ had gone unnoticed, but once Wilson called on some studio players to add a band backing to the acoustic tune, everything changed and everything clicked. The revamped version shot to number one on the Billboard charts when re-released almost a year later.

This turn of events helped Simon & Garfunkel establish themselves as more than an aspiring folk duo as Simon’s songs proved there was more there than some Dylan wannabe. The Sounds Of Silence album was released at the start of 1966 with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme’ following by years end. Eight singles followed, half of which landing in the Top 20 and half in the Top 10. In January of 1968 the soundtrack to the hit film ‘The Graduate’ was released and featured the hit ‘Mrs. Robinson,’ another number one.It had been a year since a proper S&G album had been issued, but that changed in the spring of 1968 with the release of ‘Bookends.’

Though critics in the rock press, a fairly new occupation at the time, were mixed, fans loved the album, as do we here at The Summit, hence being more than happy to feature it as out Essential Album this week. Songs like ‘At The Zoo,’ ‘America,’ ‘A Hazy Shade Of Winter,’ and ‘the aforementioned ‘Mrs. Robinson’ were all hits while the album itself, though relatively brief, held its own in the then emerging album sweepstakes as well. The backing band was comprised of the finest session players of the era like drummer Hal Blaine, Joe Osborn on bass guitar and Larry Knechtel on keyboards. The production, by Roy Halee, Simon and Garfunkel, was sparse yet warm, as it avoided any psychedelic tendencies of the era.

"This was the point where the perfect storm had happened, and Simon & Garfunkel were taken from a very formidable level of success into the stratosphere,” DJ and author Pete Fontale would later recall. "The true test of art is whether it speaks as eloquently to succeeding generations as it did to the generation to which it was originally intended. And with that in mind, all you've got to do is to listen."

In just over a year, this dynamic duo would call it a day, with one last album, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ to send them on their way as the new decade dawned.

As with so many of the older acts, they were profoundly affected by everything going on around them; the music of other artists, the ideas that sprang from films, art and literature, and all in such a condensed period of time. It’s no wonder the 1960s cultural hangover still lingers out there in the ether. There was a lot to answer for and a lot to listen to.

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