Sept 13th in Pop History
On this day, September 13th, in:
• 1965 - It was a famous day in Rock Era history as Simon & Garfunkel released the single The Sounds Of Silence
Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize together and began writing material. By 1957, under the name Tom & Jerry, the teenagers had their first minor success with Hey Schoolgirl, a song imitating their idols, the Everly Brothers. Then in 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel.
Their debut, Wednesday Morning, 3am, sold poorly, and they once again disbanded; Simon returned to a solo career, this time in England. In June 1965, a new version of The Sound of Silence overdubbed with electric guitar and drums became a major U.S. hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. And now suddenly Simon & Garfunkel are back and in a big way! With a number one record!
The duo reunited to release a second studio album, Sounds of Silence, and tour colleges nationwide. On their third release, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, (1966), the duo assumed more creative control. Their music was featured in the 1967 film The Graduate, giving them further exposure. Their next album Bookends (1968) topped the Billboard 200 album chart, and included the number-one single Mrs. Robinson from the film.
The duo's often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Their final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was released in January of that year, becoming their most successful release and one of the world’s best-selling albums.
Simon & Garfunkel won 10 Grammys, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Rolling Stone ranked them number 3 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time. They are among the best-selling music artists ever, having sold more than 100 million records. Bridge over Troubled Water is ranked at number 172 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. They are ranked 40th on Rolling Stone’s list of the Greatest Artists of All Time.
The Album
As referenced above, Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, The Sound of Silence which originally was released as The Sounds of Silence (seems like so much silence shouldn’t be so confusing). The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3am, and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate.
Without the knowledge of Simon or Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed by Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.
Homeward Bound was released on the album in the UK, placed at the beginning of Side 2 before Richard Cory. It was later released in the US on the following album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. It was also released as part of the box set Simon & Garfunkel Collected Works, on both LP and CD. Many of the songs in the album had been written by Paul Simon while he lived in London in 1965.
Though Simon & Garfunkel were sometimes perceived as being too clean cut for the psychedelic period in which they emerged onto the folk rock scene of the late 60s, they nonetheless gathered a massive following. Their sound and the brilliant lyrics of Simon’s songwriting, resonated with the lonely, alienated youth culture of that period. And it still does, even to this day. Like the song title, their music represented something of a bridge over the troubled waters of the chaotic 1960s landscape.
And now Sounds of Silence on Spotify:
Their Greatest Hits (S&G) on Spotify:
And continuing on Sept. 13th…
• 1965 - Also, on the same day, the Beatles released the single Yesterday in the U.S.
• 1971 - Cat Stevens released his great single Peace Train
• 1971 - Paul & Linda McCartney celebrated the birth of daughter Stella in London. Stella McCartney has become a world renowned fashion designer with more than 50 shops across Europe and the U.S.
On this day in…
• 1980 - Hold Out, the great album by Jackson Browne, moved to # 1, replacing Emotional Rescue from the Rolling Stones. The Soundtrack to Urban Cowboy was third, followed by The Game by Queen and Diana from Diana Ross. The rest of the Top 10: Christopher Cross, the "Fame" Soundtrack, Give Me the Night by George Benson at # 8, Glass Houses from Billy Joel, and the "Xanadu" Soundtrack
