Simon and Garfunkel were a duo that grew up in New York on rock and roll, folk-protest, gospel and the Everly Brothers.

Everly Brothers classic  All I Have To Do Is Dream

Another Everly Brothers hit (co-written by Carole King)

In October, 1964 they released their first LP. Wednesday Morning, 3 am. It was a mixture of gospel, folk and protest. It was produced by Tom Wilson.

It went nowhere. Simon went to England. Garfunkel went back to school.

The album had two gems that Simon had written. The first was a song called “Bleecker Street”. The second, hidden at the very end of the A side of the LP was a diamond in the rough. The Sound of Silence.

The Sound of Silence (Original Version from 1964)

If Tom Wilson hadn’t already realized that the rock beat was king, then he probably did get the picture in early 1965.  He had produced Dylan‘s version of “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man”, which was fine.

But the Beatle-like version of the Byrds (the one we all recognize with the jingle jangle of the 12 string guitar and the gentle rock beat) went stellar. So without telling the musicians (producers had more chutzpa and control in the sixties), he hired studio musicians, to overdub the song.

This helped turn it into a rock song which was released in early 1966 and became a rock legend.It spawned another LP called “Sounds of Silence” (this time successful), brought the duo back together and launched them on their road to rock stardom.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE LYRICS

I never spoke to Paul Simon about it (or to Art, for that matter) but I sense their ambivalence. On the one hand, Wilson wrecked the whole idea behind the song. On the other hand, it was their step to stardom.

In their concert in Central Park in 1981, they preferred the quiet, haunting acoustic version.

Concert in Central Park

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Bach to Beatles

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