Like most younger siblings, my tastes growing up were greatly influenced by my two older brothers. Lucky for me, they rarely steered me wrong, introducing me to the likes of Gordon Lightfoot (my first concert, back in 1979), Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jim Croce, and, most importantly, Simon and Garfunkel, about whom they were most obsessive. While other people I know recall growing up listening to their parents' Beatles or Rolling Stones albums, I remember spending hours downstairs in our "semi-finished" basement on East 13 Mile Road listening to "Sounds of Silence," "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme," "Bookends" and "Bridge Over Trouble Water" over and over on our "fancy" stereo underneath the electric fireplace. (Bill actually had this "Bookends" poster in his bedroom in Madison Heights, many years after they'd disbanded.) Recently, I've gotten all of the duo's remastered and expanded CDs (packed with interesting demos and other unreleased material), and they sound better than ever, making me wonder how I lived without them in the years between vinyl and digital. Given that Paul Simon's solo career is indisputably better than his former partner's (I've also gotten all of the remastered and expanded Simon solo albums too and am still left in awe when I play them, particularly the masterpiece that is "There Goes Rhymin' Simon"), it made it all the more surprising that I actually fell in love with Garfunkel's solo work first, thanks to his own two masterpieces, "Breakaway" and "Watermark."
After releasing his much-anticipated solo debut, "Angel Clare," in late '73 (Jimmy Webb's "All I Know" was a Top 10 hit and "I Shall Sing" just reached the Top 40), he enlisted hitmaker Richard Perry to produce his sophomore effort, "Breakaway," and the song selections were much stronger and sound was more polished. "I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever)," "Lookin' for the Right One," "99 Miles From L.A.," "Waters of March," the titled track and the reunion classic with Simon, "My Little Town," are some of my favorite pop moments of the 1970s. (The album ended up being his biggest-seller to date.)
To follow up the success of "Breakaway," Garfunkel decided to record an album of all Jimmy Webb songs (a perfect union in my mind: does it get any better than "Wichita Lineman"?). The charming lead single, "Crying in My Sleep" -- featuring the sexiest phone operator ever on record -- was the should've-been smash of 1977, but when it failed to chart, the label delayed and tinkered with the project and called in -- who else? -- Paul Simon to collaborate on a tacked-on cover of "(What A) Wonderful World," an obvious move that nonetheless couldn't have been more satisfying in part because of the addition of James Taylor. (That song is played constantly on easy-listening stations to this day, but surprisingly only peaked at No. 17 back in 1978.) Still, the rest of the album does not disappoint. From the upbeat "Saturday Suit" and passionate "Shine It on Me" to the precious "Marionette" and melancholy "All My Love's Laughter," it was clear Garfunkel + Webb = magic.
In the years since, most of Garfunkel's albums have been decidedly uneven affairs, usually containing a couple goods songs plus an enjoyable cover single ("Since I Don't Have You," "So Much in Love," and "When a Man Love's a Woman"). While this doesn't bode well for his legacy, it did make for an exceptional "best of" album in 1990's "Garfunkel," which includes the hard-to-find classic "Second Avenue," plus "Bright Eyes," his wistful theme song to "Watership Down," plus "A Heart in New York," one of the standout tracks from 1981's "Scissors Cut." Simon was certainly the genius of the group, but there's no denying that Garfunkel had something genius of his own in his high tenor voice, the likes of which haven't been matched since.
Like most younger siblings, my tastes growing up were greatly influenced by my two older brothers. Lucky for me, they rarely steered me wrong, introducing me to the likes of Gordon Lightfoot (my first concert, back in 1979), Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jim Croce, and, most importantly, Simon and Garfunkel, about whom they were most obsessive. While other people I know recall growing up listening to their parents' Beatles or Rolling Stones albums, I remember spending hours downstairs in our "semi-finished" basement on East 13 Mile Road listening to "Sounds of Silence," "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme," "Bookends" and "Bridge Over Trouble Water" over and over on our "fancy" stereo underneath the electric fireplace. (Bill actually had this "Bookends" poster in his bedroom in Madison Heights, many years after they'd disbanded.) Recently, I've gotten all of the duo's remastered and expanded CDs (packed with interesting demos and other unreleased material), and they sound better than ever, making me wonder how I lived without them in the years between vinyl and digital. Given that Paul Simon's solo career is indisputably better than his former partner's (I've also gotten all of the remastered and expanded Simon solo albums too and am still left in awe when I play them, particularly the masterpiece that is "There Goes Rhymin' Simon"), it made it all the more surprising that I actually fell in love with Garfunkel's solo work first, thanks to his own two masterpieces, "Breakaway" and "Watermark."
After releasing his much-anticipated solo debut, "Angel Clare," in late '73 (Jimmy Webb's "All I Know" was a Top 10 hit and "I Shall Sing" just reached the Top 40), he enlisted hitmaker Richard Perry to produce his sophomore effort, "Breakaway," and the song selections were much stronger and sound was more polished. "I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever)," "Lookin' for the Right One," "99 Miles From L.A.," "Waters of March," the titled track and the reunion classic with Simon, "My Little Town," are some of my favorite pop moments of the 1970s. (The album ended up being his biggest-seller to date.)
To follow up the success of "Breakaway," Garfunkel decided to record an album of all Jimmy Webb songs (a perfect union in my mind: does it get any better than "Wichita Lineman"?). The charming lead single, "Crying in My Sleep" -- featuring the sexiest phone operator ever on record -- was the should've-been smash of 1977, but when it failed to chart, the label delayed and tinkered with the project and called in -- who else? -- Paul Simon to collaborate on a tacked-on cover of "(What A) Wonderful World," an obvious move that nonetheless couldn't have been more satisfying in part because of the addition of James Taylor. (That song is played constantly on easy-listening stations to this day, but surprisingly only peaked at No. 17 back in 1978.) Still, the rest of the album does not disappoint. From the upbeat "Saturday Suit" and passionate "Shine It on Me" to the precious "Marionette" and melancholy "All My Love's Laughter," it was clear Garfunkel + Webb = magic.
In the years since, most of Garfunkel's albums have been decidedly uneven affairs, usually containing a couple goods songs plus an enjoyable cover single ("Since I Don't Have You," "So Much in Love," and "When a Man Love's a Woman"). While this doesn't bode well for his legacy, it did make for an exceptional "best of" album in 1990's "Garfunkel," which includes the hard-to-find classic "Second Avenue," plus "Bright Eyes," his wistful theme song to "Watership Down," plus "A Heart in New York," one of the standout tracks from 1981's "Scissors Cut." Simon was certainly the genius of the group, but there's no denying that Garfunkel had something genius of his own in his high tenor voice, the likes of which haven't been matched since.
2 comments:
Okay, your music boxes are delightful but if I jumped the shark a while back by not tarring and feathering Madonna over the whimsical bunny ears, you gotta see you have jumped the shark twice with Art Garfunkel! Even his own family plugs their ears! haha
I always found the cover of Breakway pretty bizarre. What's going on there? The song, however is a delight. "I Only Have Eyes For You" was good as well.
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