The Simon and Garfunkel concert that was bigger than Woodstock
Anyone who saw them at the very beginning will have been able to tell you that Simon and Garfunkel would be big. The folk genre seemed relatively set in its ways when they initially started making music, but the duo managed to bring originality to a genre that had a working system. This led to their incredibly successful career, which, despite being well-documented, often seems to be overlooked.
The duo had always been keen on bringing something new to established sounds. Right from age 15, they managed to score a top 50 single when they released ‘Hey, Schoolgirl’, an Everly Brothers knockoff. It wasn’t the move that would eventually propel them to fame, but it showed their early potential and the original way in which they could approach music.
Despite being incredibly well-known, Simon and Garfunkel are often not given the level of praise that they deserve. When they split in 1970, they had just released Bridge Over Troubled Water, an album that shot them into the stratosphere of cultural relevance. It became the best-selling album of all time and stayed in the top spot after accumulating 25 million sales worldwide.
Simon was well aware of the duo’s impact, as he quite honestly said in an interview in 1972. “I never compare myself with The Rolling Stones,” he admitted, “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.”
It’s hard to assess whether, if the duo stayed together, they would have the status that The Rolling Stones continue to have. Still, it’s not inconceivable to think that they would be doing the same-sized gigs and amassing a similar number of fans. The stature of Simon and Garfunkel can never be understated, but it is often diminished because they stopped making music together so long ago.
Arguably, one of the most significant indicators of the band’s true impact can be seen in their performance at Central Park. The gig was a free benefit concert that over 500,000 people attended (which is more people than Woodstock and all other significant festivals today). A film of the event was shown on TV, and an album recording of the gig was also released. It was the band’s first live album, which seems fitting, given how much of a milestone it was.
The two performers were under intense pressure for the gig, where they only had three weeks to rehearse and had to combat their past tensions in the process. “Well, the rehearsals were just miserable,” said Simon, “Artie and I fought all the time.” This tension is a good representation of why the band could never stay together, which has resulted in their legacy often being undermined.
There is no question that Simon and Garfunkel will always be one of the most influential folk acts on the planet, as they injected originality into a sound that was set in its ways. The duo’s innovation resulted in some of the best-selling albums of all time and one of the biggest concerts ever held. Yet, people still don’t give them the full recognition they deserve.
