Roy Halee: The secret master behind Simon and Garfunkel’s success
When Simon and Garfunkel first rose to fame, their sound appealed to many people. Their ability to harmonise, alongside their sweet-sounding ornate lyricism, made it so that people could connect to them on a surface and a deeper level. They had a lot that separated them as a band, and it touched people right away.
The originality that Simon and Garfunkel were going to incorporate into their music was clear from the moment they started making it. From age 15, they managed to score a top 50 single with a brilliant Everly Brothers knock off ‘Hey, Schoolgirl’. Though this wasn’t the song that would project them to fame, it shows how excited they were about making music immediately and what potential they had.
Their influence manifested itself clearly in their careers, as they played to some of the biggest recorded crowds in history. In fact, it could be argued that the duo don’t get enough credit for their massive impact on music. Sure, they’re both successful, and everybody knows that, but they aren’t regarded as icons who changed the shape of music, which they were.
Paul Simon was always well aware of the duo’s impact as he once said, “I never compare myself with The Rolling Stones. 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.”
Unpacking all the elements contributing to Simon and Garfunkel’s success is difficult. So much goes into their music, and each factor plays a part in creating the fantastic partnership that the two had (excluding the tension that eventually rose within the band). However, one of Paul Simon’s secret weapons, which played a massive part in helping him achieve his unique sound, was Roy Halee.
Halee was a sound engineer and record producer who worked with a number of different artists, but most notably with Simon and Garfunkel. He was great at seeing the duo’s vision and understanding what they were going for with the music they were making. Not only that, but he was also excellent with effects, which made Simon and Garfunkel’s music sound a lot more intimate. When you hear a song like ‘The Sound of Silence’, the slight echo and reverb on it makes it sound warm, as if the two are in the room singing to you rather than coming through a speaker.
His influence on the two and the amount that they respected him is best reflected in the fact that even after the band’s nasty break-up, Halee continued working with them on their solo projects. Paul Simon once spoke about his relationship with Halee when discussing the track ‘Stranger To Stranger’, where he highlighted just how much of a critical role he has played in his success.
“Roy was the engineer when we did the Simon and Garfunkel audition tape for Columbia Records,” he said, “That’s how long I go back with Roy. He did Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Graceland, too. He is absolutely still at the top of his game, and knows more about using echo than anyone else on Earth. I’m totally comfortable collaborating with him, and I trust his taste and opinions – It’s a partnership.”
