Art Garfunkel discusses “the finest” American singer
While some artists warm up their voices with a series of exercises and workouts, Art Garfunkel thinks there’s no better way to prepare his own voice than by honouring the voice of one of history’s “finest artists”. At each and every show, Garfunkel begins by meditating on one of his peers who always inspired him.
“I sing to James Taylor before every show I do,” Garfunkel told Rolling Stone. “I warm up in my dressing room to ‘Handy Man’, ‘Sarah Maria’, ‘Song for You Far Away’, ‘Sweet Baby James’, ‘Copperline’ and about 20 other favourites,” he continued.
There is something so beautiful yet so humble about the image. Even as the singer tours the world, playing in the biggest venues across the globe as a deeply respected name, the image of him backstage singing along to a James Taylor song feels like a moving reminder that even music makers are music fans too.
But Garfunkel is not only a huge Taylor fan but also an appreciator of the beauty of his music. He also sees the artist as the epitome of skill and musicality. He warms up to his song as it not only puts him in a good mood but genuinely boosts his own performance potential. “James’ accuracy of pitch is like a trader’s honesty,” he said.
Adding: “His exactitude with the Note is simple, impeccable musicianship.” But even more so than that, Taylor’s lyrical content feels grounding to Garfunkel, who said, “While I’m unisoning with James, my reverence rises; my heart and mind become engaged in the sober intelligence of the song and the beauty of the singing. James’ accuracy of pitch is like a trader’s honesty.”
To Garfunkel, Taylor perfectly captures everything that is pure and golden about music-making. He’s the perfect mixer of skill and feeling, combining talent with emotion in a way that can’t be taught and is hard to even explain. But the mix of the two has always been what moves the artist as he believes technicality is nothing without feeling, stating that Taylor’s merge of both is what makes him so special. “If vocal-cord vibration were like surfing off the swelling of the heart, James would be my favourite rider on the cusp — a little in the air, sublime in the spray,” he said, waxing lyrical about the artist.
The Simon and Garfunkel member isn’t the one person who recognises all this in Taylor. When he first emerged onto the scene, it seemed to be a unified opinion that he was instantly something special. “It’s no accident that the Beatles’ Apple Records signed James Taylor at its inception,” Garfunkel said, stating, “He is the finest of us Americans.”
At the end of his gushing ode to one of his favourite artists, Garfunkel returns to a humble and solemn tone. There’s a sense that he feels honoured to be working at the same time as Taylor, navigating the same folk waters as him as he looks to the musician time and time again both as a peer and as an inspiration. “I hope he reads this tribute of mine and recognizes what a great personal value his existence is to one of his colleagues,” he tells the magazine as if to pass on his most sincere ‘thank you’ to his favourite fellow artist.
