- Sounds of Silence · 1965
- Bridge Over Troubled Water · 1970
- Bridge Over Troubled Water · 1969
- Bookends · 1968
- Bridge Over Troubled Water · 1970
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme · 1966
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme · 1966
- Sounds of Silence · 1966
- Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. · 1964
- Bridge Over Troubled Water · 1970
- Bridge Over Troubled Water · 1970
- Bookends · 1968
- Bookends · 1966
Essential Albums
- Bridge Over Troubled Water marked the end of a lot of things, including the '60s, the partnership of one of the biggest acts of the era and that duo's reliance on the folk-rock sound they helped invent. But boy did they go out with a bang. The 1970 album is the most ambitious of Simon & Garfunkel's career, in both songwriting and production. Among other things, it prefigures Simon’s knowledge of and affection for international sounds and styles, a toolkit that would serve him well on 1986's Graceland. The Andean folk ensemble Los Incas on "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)", the Afro-inflected polyrhythmic base of "Cecilia" and the Brazilian bossa nova feel of "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" all take Simon & Garfunkel sailing far from their folkie past. Besides bearing a batch of huge hits that would remain ubiquitous on radio for decades, Simon & Garfunkel's swan song contains a pair of tunes destined to become dyed-in-the-wool American standards. The album's title track is an epic, gospel-swathed ballad of enduring compassion, with Garfunkel’s soaring vocal a tour de force that's widely regarded as his finest moment. "The Boxer", one of the few songs harking back to the duo's earlier sound, is the poignant jeremiad of a young man making his way in the big city; its "lie-la-lie" refrain became as resonant a part of the Simon & Garfunkel legacy as anything. Bridge was one of the era's biggest albums—both its scope and its success set a high bar for Simon's subsequent solo career. Fortunately he'd prove up to the task.
- Simon & Garfunkel's fourth album takes on psychedelic influences, the changing cultural climate of the ’60s and their own ever-growing ambitions. Side One forms a cycle-of-life suite, from the chaotic "Save the Life of My Child" to the youthful wanderlust of "America" to the autumnal reflection of "Old Friends". Side Two finds the duo at their trippiest on "Fakin' It", their most whimsical on "At the Zoo" and their most rocking on "Hazy Shade of Winter". And we haven't even mentioned "Mrs. Robinson"…
Albums
Artist Playlists
- The duo's harmonies bridged the gap between coffeehouse folk and earthy rock.
- Velvety jazz, rousing folk and pop harmonies blend into one.
- Lilting story-songs with hushed harmonies.
Live Albums
Compilations
More To Hear
- Knox Fortune picks the 5 Best Songs on Apple Music.
- Albert Hammond Jr picks the 5 Best Songs on Apple Music.
About Simon & Garfunkel
One of pop music’s most influential duos, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel parlayed a childhood friendship growing up in Queens, NY, into a tempestuous career that sprang from the folk revival but quickly reflected rock music’s rapidly expanding landscape during the second half of the '60s. While still in high school, the duo scored a minor hit as Tom & Jerry with “Hey Schoolgirl”, a bald homage to their vocal-harmony heroes, The Everly Brothers. They re-formed under their own names in 1963, inspired by the folk explosion, and then promptly disbanded following their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.. But after producer Tom Wilson added rock-band overdubs to “The Sounds of Silence”—without their knowledge—it became a massive hit and the title track to their eventual second album. The pair went on to make four studio albums between 1966 and 1970; their popularity climbed as they took control in the studio, kaleidoscopically expanding their vision with each recording. They masterfully echoed shifts in pop music, embracing the folk-rock sound of The Byrds and the baroque arrangements of The Beatles, while retaining their signature vocal harmonies, as Simon’s songs conveyed the era’s turmoil—whether personal journeys or anti-war sentiment—with literary concision. Those harmonious sounds notwithstanding, they ruptured soon after 1970’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, one of the best-selling albums in history at the time, spurred by the empathic, gospel-tinged title track (which quickly became a standard). Simon & Garfunkel sporadically reunited for concerts over the ensuing decades, including one in Central Park in 1981 that attracted a half-million listeners. Their sonic fingerprints live on, spanning ’60s peers like Crosby, Stills & Nash and 21st-century folk-rockers such as Fleet Foxes.
- ORIGIN
- Queens, NY, United States
- FORMED
- 1963
- GENRE
- Pop