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Location: Michigan | Would the team of Simon & Garfunkel ever made it to their celebrity status without each other?
Im sure that Paul Simon would of had some good sucess alone but not without Art Gunfunkel.Together they became some of the best songrighters and performers of the
70s& 80s.I dont think that Paul Simon would of got his SuperStar fame without Art Garfunkel.Just a thought.GWB |
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Location: Melbourne Australia | Opening a can of worms there GWB when you start breaking down the whole into individuals.
What about then looking at CSN, Lennon & McCartney, B.B. King & Lucille to name a few :rolleyes: |
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| I always thought their music was pretentious and dull as ditch water but they had a really great sound together - take that away and they wouldn't have got the start which carried them onward. Individually, Garfunkle would have gone nowhere and Simon would have been a maybe IMO. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Memory serves me that they started in the sixties... Back in them days (Before Internet)
They were discovered doing the college-folksy-coffeehouse circuit. Neither one of them woulda went anywhere without the other. |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by guitarwannabee:
Together they became some of the best songrighters of the
70s& 80s. A common misconception. They were never a songwriting team, Paul Simon was the sole writer. Garfunkel's first songwriting credit was a co-write with Buddy Mondlock a few years ago. |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | My cousin's were at Forest Hills High School at about the same time as them. I was there from 1975 to 1978. We still had the old wooden desk and chair with the ink wells. Right near the ink well Paul Simon's name was carved into the wood. It must have been done with a compass or switchblade. I sure that it wasn't him but it would have been cool if it was. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Paul Simon has sold 3x as many solo albums as he ever did teamed with Gunfunkel. Look it up. That being said, I love the team for the sound and chemistry but as far as individual songwriters go, in my book Paul Simon is near the VERY top. JMO. |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by guitarwannabee:
Together they became some of the best songrighters and performers of the
70s& 80s. Their last studio album together was released in 1970. Then except for a few covers Garfunkel dropped out of sight, because other than his voice and arranging talents he was nothing on his own.
Simon, on the other hand, has written and recorded some great stuff in the last 38 years. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Saw them in concert in Los Angeles in the late 60's or early 70's the night they debuted Bridge Over Troubled Water before a live audience. The crowd went nuts. I always thought their blend was superb, and their soundtrack for the Graduate was the top selling pop album in 1968, which was a pretty competitive time. Knowing this irrelevant bit of trivia actually won a contest for me some years back. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
in my book Paul Simon is near the VERY top. JMO. Absolutely!
Musical taste of the time had a large influence in their success. But Paul has carried on due to his talents. |
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Location: Michigan | Did either of them ever date Yoko? |
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Location: Cincinnati | Originally posted by twistedlim:
Did either of them ever date Yoko? I did, then I broke up. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Paul was the kid with the talent, writing and performing little songs like Red Rubber Ball. He got his high school pal Art for his voice, where Paul lacks a bit.
I'll bet Brad knows why the last verse of Bridge--"Sail on silver girl"... doesn't fit the first 2/3 of the song. |
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Location: Location Location Location | In the words of Paul Simon, "I made Artie a very rich man." I agree. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I'll bet Brad knows why the last verse of Bridge--"Sail on silver girl"... doesn't fit the first 2/3 of the song. Ooooo, waiting to learn some new trivia!
Paul Simon is a driven and talented artist who continues to push himself where many of his contemporaries are satisfied to coast on oldies. Art has a beautiful voice.
That they were together making nice music for a while is great, but my continued interest always lies with the songwriter. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I was hoping the Prof would confirm my admittedly questionable memory, but apparently not.
For whatever it's worth, I recall Paul saying that he wrote 2 verses, liked them and that was it. His label, however, thought it was too short for a record, so they sent him back to write the third verse. This was long after the inspiration had left him, so he admitted that it sounded like it didn't fit, because it didn't fit. |
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Location: closely held secret | I've got a cd of bootleg demos that includes the 2 verse version. Interesting listening to Paul trying to hit the high notes. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Thanks, John. Those old memories need validating. I recall hearing that story in a radio interview of Paul, must have been in the late 60s or early 70s, right around the time they broke up. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by fillhixx:
Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I'll bet Brad knows why the last verse of Bridge--"Sail on silver girl"... doesn't fit the first 2/3 of the song. Ooooo, waiting to learn some new trivia! |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Mark, my recollection is somewhat as reported by OMA, that it had to do with a girl friend and his inspiration was to lay out the lyrics on top of a rather ethereal sound track for the third verse. I don't believe the live recordings capture the difference as much as the "official" studio recording. The girls I dated at the time liked these guys, so I always had one of their 8-tracks at the ready in my car. |
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Location: big island | art garfunkel and james taylor are both blessed with perfect pitch. paul simon is certainly one of the world's finest songwriters, lyrically and melodically. i do not think art could've gone very far without paul and paul would probably have enjoyed modest success without art. the chemistry of their blended voices is what captivated the known world at the time and no doubt their music will continue to live on. there are young people nowadays who are, with appreciation, discovering music of the past generations. many of these folks post thoughtful comments on the youtube pages. i credit the youtube phenomena for helping to perpetuate good music and theatre. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | But the interview confirms my memory that the third verse was added later at someone else's suggestion. I just confused label with Art and the suggestion to lengthen it with his concern over being too long. Pretty close for me. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
"The last verse, it was about Peggy [Simon's girlfriend, later to become his wife], whom I was living with at the time Well now you just HAVE to tell the rest of THAT story! Where'd you meet Peggy? |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by fillhixx:
Where'd you meet Peggy? And why did he give her silver hair? |
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Location: Portland, OR | Paul worked harder and was a brilliant observer of life. Art probably had more talent as a vocalist, without much effort. I read somewhere that in the first reunion tour Simon was constantly frustrated with G's desire to just wing it. The last reunion is much more polished. Loved their stuff. Defines a time for me. |
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Location: Indiana | I'm a fan of S&G and Paul Simon. I guess I've come to see them as two separate entities.
Paul and Art, together created a third voice. Ever take note of how much unison they sang? The two voices completed each other.
They even breathe together.
I give Art all the credit in the world for being a part of that.
Paul has been a bigger all round influence on me though. Both as a writer and a player. I went to school on his acoustic parts all those years ago.
Who could have been what without each other? Who knows.
What they did together was unique.
My wife and I saw them on the reunion tour in the early 80's. Great show... similar to the Central Park set list. We read in the next days paper he and Carrie had married after the show.
Interesting thread on that black Carrie Fisher/PS Custom Legend here this week.
David Bergstrom was the artist rep when I became a keyman. Great guy.
I remember talking to him about the Ovations a couple of years after the Central Park show. David had been a part of the process between Simon and Ovation. He said Paul sampled the whole lineup, including Adamas, and chose the CL. It did sound great. |
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Location: Tuscany, Italy | John, I take my chance to listen to your music. My congratulation. I like your style. Out of the four songs listed on my space now, my preference go to Cinnamon'song; musical and dreaming. Merry Christmas.
Riccardo |
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Location: Indiana | Thank you Riccardo.
Merry Christmas. |
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| I've never been a "fan" in the strict sense of the word, but have admired the work of S&G, Paul Simon and, yes, Art Garfunkel as a solo artist.
Having said that, if I had to sit next to one of them on a flight to Hong Kong, I'd pick Garfunkel. Simon seems like a nice guy and would try to engage in conversation. Garfunkel would probably ignore me (but would be miffed that I didn't recognize him.)
I just don't want to talk to ANYbody that long. |
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SIMON & GARFUNKEL SUCESS