How did Simon and Garfunkel meet?
Do you ever find yourself wondering at which fork in the road you made a life-altering decision? At what point in, say, Paul Simon’s life, did he make the decisions that led him to become one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and what was the key to that choice? And then, at which point did I fluff whatever may have been my opportunity to pick my nose instead? Trying to trace the lineage of greatness can be a can of worms, that’s for sure, but it’s comforting to know that in the case of some, it was nothing more than fate.
When Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s voices harmonise, it’s hard to argue that their collaboration was anything but fate. Emerging from an already rich scene of soft rock and folk, they stunned the 1960s with their seamless blend of genres, which saw introspective lyrics delivered with effortless harmony.
Before their eventual fallout, they went on to leave an indelible mark on music, culminating in their 1967 soundtrack album for The Graduate. With ‘Mrs Robinson’ becoming a Grammy winner and Sounds Of Silence becoming an unlikely hit, the artists were led into a realm that proved the introspective could be deeply popular; it felt as if the world was their oyster.
Simon, in particular, had a deep understanding of his band’s power, once saying, “I never compare myself with The Rolling Stones.”
He continued, “I always was well aware of the fact that S&G was a much bigger phenomenon in general, to the general public than The Rolling Stones.”
Simon knew it, and so did the rest of the world. Their music had earned them a spot at the big table alongside some of the greats. But what was it about Simon and Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, and even The Beatles that they could elevate themselves to otherworldly figures? Well, they all seemed to have met in their childhoods. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards remembered they were classmates after bumping into each other at a train station; John Lennon and Paul McCartney met as teenagers at a local church fete while Simon and Garfunkel planted their seed of greatness right there in the classrooms.
The pair met in 1953 in the halls of Public School 164 in Queens, New York, as a pair of music-crazed 11-year-olds. During school musical productions and choir practice, divine musical intervention hit them both as they were confronted with their unique ability to harmonise with one another. When they decided to try and pen their own songs, they were offered the opportunity to head into a Manhattan studio and record the track, ‘Hey, Schoolgirl’.
The end result caught the attention of Sid Prosen, who ran a small record label called Big Records. After an appearance on American Bandstand under the name Tom and Jerry, the pair got a taste for the sort of commercial success they would soon become accustomed to. Recalling the halcyon days of their artistic emergence, Simon told Rolling Stone, “It was an incredible thing to have happen to you in adolescence.” He continued, “I had picked up the guitar because I wanted to be like Elvis Presley, and suddenly there I was.”
When did Simon and Garfunkel break up?
Well, shortly after their breakout show on American Bandstand, Garfunkel got a taste of the sort of resentment that would ultimately lead to the band’s demise. When Big Records boss Prosen asked Simon if he had any other songs in his back catalogue, an industry-naive boy obliged and recorded them solo for Prosen, much to Garfunkel’s dismay.
“He made a record without telling me,” Garfunkel told The Guardian. “That was 1956, maybe 1957. He was my best friend and I thought friendship involves candor and telling a friend what’s up, so the fact that he had a hidden surprise shocked and hurt me.”
That encounter gave a little insight into what would eventually tear the two apart. At the heart of their greatness seemed to exist a sort of toxic jealousy between them, which undoubtedly manifested more on Garfunkel’s part, who felt his proportion of acclaim wasn’t on par with his songwriting partner.
It’s surprising then that their final studio album, and what is undoubtedly considered their opus, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was released in 1970. It became their best-selling release, one of the world’s best-selling albums, and somewhat of a farewell record for the world as they split in that year.
Of course, the duo has reunited several times for live performances, the most notable being the 1981 concert in Central Park, which attracted over 500,000 people—one of the largest concert attendances in history. Ultimately, their story is one of greatness forged out of intense competitiveness that allowed their harmonising voices to represent both the light and dark of the everyday human experience.
