Simon and Garfunkel By: Isabel Arco Aguilar

Simon and Garfunkel was a folk rock duo consisting of Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkel. Simon and Garfunkel were very popular artists in the 60s. Some of his best known songs are The Sound of Silence,Mrs. Robinson and Bridge Over Troubled Water. They have received several Grammys and are included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York. They were classmates at the Institute of Forest Hills, New York, and sealed their friendship during childhood. In 1955 Simon wrote some songs and proposed to Garfunkel form a duo with just 16 years, they started with the name Tom and Jerry. Simon was Jerry Landis Sue Landis, a girl and Arthur was Tom graph. They began writing their own songs in There was a song that seemed to be well received by the students to interpret at school dances, he risked and decided to record a demo of the song. Soon after they released their first professional recording Hey, Schoolgirl under the name Tom & Jerry. Sid Prosen, a talent scout who heard the song, promised they would become great artists, reached an agreement and signed by the label Big Records. The album sold 100,000 copies, reaching number 57 on the Billboard magazine charts and reported in the top 10 of New York. Simon and Garfunkel have acknowledged taking influences from The Everly Brothers group, and most of his songs such as Hey, Schoolgirl, this influence is very noticeable. The November 22, 1957 made ​​ appearance on American Bandstand, a television program broadcast live, interpreting the theme Hey, Schoolgirl after Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls Fire interpreted. They also performed at the show Ala Freed. In 1958, Paul Simon recorded a solo single with the label Big Records, under the nickname Taylor True, the A-side containing " True Or False ", a composition of his father, while the B-side contained the song "Teenage Fool ". This fact did not like to Garfunkel, who took it as an offense and negatively mark their relations in the coming years. Throughout the year 1958 released several singles under the name Tom and Jerry, all of them were a complete failure and did not sell as expected. After finishing high school, the artists were separated in different universities. Simon enrolled at Queens College graduation in English and Garfunkel did the same in Columbia University to study mathematics. The beginning

Attempts In 1959, Paul Simon meets Carole Klein, a fellow of the institute with whom he formed a duo called the Co- Sines. Paul played guitar and bass, and Carole piano and sometimes drums. Carole also composed and dedicated themselves to recording demos for artists of the time. But Carole, who had to change his name to Carole King, began composing his own songs, for which he won a resounding success, and continued his solo career. This experience earned Simon to become familiar with everything related to recording studios, marking a positive impact on their subsequent publications. Later starts in an unsuccessful attempt solo under the name Jerry Landis. In those years he was composing several issues in 1962 wrote The Lone Teen Ranger, a parody of a TV series called The Lone Ranger, with which peaked at 97 on the charts. In 1960 he sang with the group The Mystics, but were unsuccessful. In 1960 Simon joined the group The Crew Cuts were changed name Tico & The Triumphs, but the simple edited were also unsuccessful and left the group in Later try luck with the name Paul Kane, but neither was successful. Art Garfunkel recorded some songs for the label Octavia Records while attending college under the name Artie Garr. He recorded some ballads composed by himself, as Private World. However, none of these simple reaped success and could not prosper as a soloist.

In early 1964, Simon left the Brooklyn Law School and was sent to London, where he met Kathy, and falls for her. This woman was a strong support shaft Simon, who composed many of his most famous songs in mind, and storing many of the issues that appear later. While in the UK, Simon was devoted to play by some folk night clubs Liverpool, London, Cambridge, Widnes, and many other cities, even participating in the Folk Festival, held in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. That same year he recorded a single with the Oriole Records label, the single will be comprised of two songs, " Carlos Dominguez " and " He Was My Brother", and was published in the U.S. under the nickname of Paul Kane. In 1963, Paul was re-united with Garfunkel, and the duo unveiled their own names " Simon and Garfunkel " performing in various folk clubs as el Gerde's Folk City Club, who witnessed many of his performances. In 1963 they were invited to the festival of folk music in New York, performing with musicians of the stature of Bob Dylan, plus play along with The Everly Brothers group. Simon and Garfunkel finished college, and both developed a strong interest in folk music. Simon Garfunkel taught some folk songs he had composed while in college. These three songs were included five songs Simon, a topic of Bob Dylan, and several traditional songs, and released their first album with Columbia Records Label : Wednesday Morning, 3 AM recorded at the CBS Records in New York. It was released on October 19, 1964, but proved to be commercially absolute failure.

Shortly after finishing recording, the duo split and Simon moved to England, where in 1965 he recorded his first solo album The Paul Simon Song Book in London. The songs were performed entirely by Simon and his guitar. During his stay in London he collaborated with Bruce Woodley, singer of the group The Seekers. Meanwhile, Art Garfunkel returned to Columbia University to continue his studies in mathematics. While Simon was in England in the summer of 1965, the local radio stations in Florida received requests from listeners of a song called The Sound of Silence album Wednesday Morning, 3 PM. Shortly after the song began to play in Boston. Taking advantage of what happened, the American producer Tom Wilson and Bob Johnston versionaron the original song, adding a faster pace with electric guitar, bass and drums, and released as a single. With this release, the style of the song changed from folk to folk -rock, creating this new concept, gender had to be added to the Top 40. After all this change Simon was quite surprised. In September 1965 Simon learns that his song had entered the lists of hits. The song reached in 1966 his most successful, reaching the top position. and published The Hit Sound of Simon & Garfunkel. This album consisted of ten tracks recorded from the late '50s and early '60s, when the group was still called Tom and Jerry. Simon and Garfunkel Label sued Pickwick because they presented the music as recently recorded item, not as songs written five years ago. Soon afterwards, Pickwick withdrew The Hit Sound of Simon & Garfunkel Marketplace. By then, the duo enjoyed great popularity and had managed to sell several million albums. That same year, Simon and Garfunkel contributed actively to perform the soundtrack to the film directed by Mike Nichols, The Graduate, which was released on January 21, 1968, and contained a few old songs the duo. The most famous song on the album was Mrs. Robinson, who rose to the top spot as a single. In 1968 edited Bookends. The album contained re-recorded a new version of the song Mrs. Robinson, and the song America, but the main attraction of this album lies in its focus on the elderly, since for this album, Garfunkel spent several weeks with several nursing homes. The success of this album made ​​ the duo tell, at that time, with two albums in the top of the list of Billboard magazine. In March 1969 Grammy Awards were held, and Mrs. Robinson was awarded as the best recording of the year and Simon received the award for best original soundtrack for a movie.

In 1969 the duo was actually very popular and known. Despite its success, Garfunkel did not feel too comfortable, because Simon is fully responsible for the composition of the songs, and decided to show her acting skills in a movie career, representing the main role of Nately in the film Catch-22, an adaptation of Mike Nichols 's novel of the same name. He also participated in another film by the same director, a year later, Carnal Knowledge. The personal relationship between the two artists continued to worsen. On the tour of 1969, Paul was complaining about the lack of dedication of Art Duo. Acted in Carbondale (Illinois ) on 8 November and the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio on November 11, where they released some of their new songs, including Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Boxer, reaching the latter to the post 7 lists. The concert of the " University of Miami " was recorded and used for recording a music broadcast on TV, then out in pirate form. In mid- 1969, Paul married Peggy Harper, born in Tennessee, who was the wife when he met his agent Mort Lewis. On November 30, "Songs Of America ", a special TV program is broadcast, although there was much controversy around him, especially with the sponsors, as the program could be interpreted as a criticism of the American Society of time. The January 26, 1970 published Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album was one of the best sellers of the decade and had a great impact. Reached first place in music charts and remained there for ten weeks. In March 1971 Grammy Awards, and both the album and single of the same name won the award for best album and best single of the year respectively, and also win the award for best contemporary song and song of the year were held. And begin a tour that took them through Europe, highlighting the concert in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, and ending July 18, 1970 at Forest Hills, the neighborhood that saw them grow neighborhood. After this tour, the duo finally separated, and both artists continued their musical careers in different ways. In October 1970, Simon donated several thousand dollars to New York 's City College for a teaching education program aimed at blacks. The Foundation adopted the name " Mrs.Robinson Scholarship ".

In 1972 removed Simon and Garfunkel 's Greatest Hits, a collection of the greatest hits of the duo, which reached fifth place in the U.S. charts. That same year, they do a benefit concert in honor of George McGovern, a Democratic president candidate, but that concert was that Paul and Art distanced further. Arthur continued playing roles in movies, and occasionally publishing occasional solo album. In 1973 he released the album Angel Clare, produced by Roy Halee, which contained the ballad "All I Know". He managed to reach number one with his song " I Only Have Eyes For You", and continued to record songs by various composers, including Jimmy Webb. Meanwhile, Simon continued writing and had considerable success in his solo career, managing to introduce several topics at the top comoKodachrome, Still Crazy After All These Years, and 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. He recorded several important albums like " There Goes Rhymin ' Simon" in 1973 and "Still Crazy After All These Years " in 1975, without neglecting the album he recorded in 1986 and would be the album 's most successful of his career as a soloist, " Graceland ". subsequent actions After that break, the two met in 1972 for a concert for the Democratic candidate for the White House McGavern at Madison Square Garden. The October 18, 1975 the duo on the second program Saturday Night Live, broadcast by NBC TV. At the interpreted program topics The Boxer and My Little Town, the latter subject, belonging to his first single since the band split and recorded that year, appearing in both artists released albums that year alone. In the late '70s, Paul tried his luck in cinema, writing and producing the film "One -Trick Pony", the film tells the story of an unfortunate composer trying to resurface and return to fame in the era of punk and New Wave. The film, despite receiving good reviews, was a failure commercially. The soundtrack of the film turned out to be one of the most intense recordings of Paul, highlighting the success "Late In The Evening".

Since then, the duo has met on several occasions, such as the September 19, 1981, when Central Park gave the city of New York in a concert attended by more than half a million people. The event was broadcast on television, and a disc titled The Concert in Central Park was also recorded. With the success of that concert, the duo performed the following year toured Europe and Japan, and in 1983 by the United States and Canada. After the success of the concert and touring, the duo was planning to record a new album, initially thought of calling Think Too Much, however, the songs were all of Paul, and most of the material was influenced by their relationships personal ( Peggy Harper, his first wife, and Carrie Fisher, his girlfriend at the time). Knowing the personal sense of all the material, it is not surprising that return to be disagreements and differences between the two members, reached the point where Paul decided to delete the entire contents of Art in songs and publish the solo album. The album, after many months of work, "Hearts and Bones" was titled. In 1985, Paul decided to explore new music and rhythms, and traveled to South Africa, where he fell in love with the sounds of the slums of the city. Paul found several talented artists in South Africa, and was influenced by them to publish Graceland, his next work, in The album was well received both critically and commercially, and won the title of Album of the year delivering the grammys Paul Simon in Olympia.

The next public performance was in 1990, when they made an act which is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ( Hall of Fame Rock and Roll). Three years later, in 1993, accounted for 21 concerts in New York, in which half of the performances was Paul Simon solo, and the other half jointly with Garfunkel. That same year they also performed at benefit concerts, such as the Bridge School Benefit Concert of Neil Young. In July 2002, Columbia released a previously unreleased live recording of a Simon and Garfunkel concert, "Live In New York City, 1967." They had not met since 1993, and February 23, 2003, Simon and Garfunkel are back together to kick off the awards the Grammys, playing the song The Sound of Silence. The good impressions generated in the Grammy, to give long tours led by the United States and Canada, and for twenty years had made no tour. In this tour gave him the name of Old Friends, acted in forty occasions, through twenty different cities, and the not inconsiderable group company The Everly Brothers. The success of the tour brought them back to repeat, but this time also in Europe, performing in twenty occasions in June and July They completed the tour at the Colosseum in Rome, and according to the media, most fans at the concert on Central Park. In 2004 published an edition on CD and DVD of the tour Old Friends, featuring a new song, Citizen of the Planet. In September 2005, a benefit concert is organized by reason of the passage of Hurricane Katrina in which they appear, along with many other musicians, Simon & Garfunkel, singing Homeward Bound, Mrs. Robinson and Bridge Over Troubled Water. In May 2007, he delivers to Paul Simon Greszwin prize, a musical ceremony accompanying the award, among them Steve Wonder, The Dixie Hummingbirds, and the eldest son of Paul Simon, Harper Simon. But undoubtedly the most acclaimed person was his "friend in every way " Art Garfunkel, who appeared on stage, gave a hug to her friend Paul and I pulled two characteristic themes of Simon & Garfunkel stage : Bridge Over Troubled Water and Cecilia.

I hope that you liked it Here is a song: Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson (Audio) - YouTube