Simon and Garfunkel
The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970

Wednesday Morning,3 AM, Sounds of Silence, Parsley Sae, Rosemary, and Thyme, Bookends, Bridge over Troubled Water
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu

Simon and Garfunkel arrived as another bunch of Dylan imitators in the mid '60s and ended that decade as being the vanguards of folk rock and thoughtful pop. They emerged as being one of pop's most successful duo thanks to Paul Simon's colloquial songwriting, Art Garfunkel's gentle and heroic singing, and the duo's blending harmonies. Though they only recorded five studio albums, Simon and Garfunkel's music was a soundtrack to the turbulent Sixties and provided sanity as the '70s dawned. These reissues bring the entire duo's output into focus with some additional bonus tracks and new liner notes. In addition to the reissue of the five individual studio albums, Legacy has assembled an exquisite boxed set in which the albums are reproduced to replicate the original vinyl albums, as well as a booklet containing the aforementioned new liner notes, lyrics, and photos.

The first album Wednesday Morning 3AM (1966) arrived and sounded emblematic of the times, pretty much like any record that was put out by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, or the Kingston Trio. Basically just Simon playing guitar and the duo harmonizing, the output on this first album was a mixture of traditional numbers and songs by other musicians ("Go Tell It To the Mountain," "The Times They Are a Changin'," "He Was My Brother") and originals ("The Sounds of Silence," acoustic of course). That album went nowhere, and for a while so did the group.

As the story goes, "The Sounds of Silence" became a fluke #1 hit thanks to producer Tom Wilson adding electric guitar and drums-the success brought the duo together again to record a quickie follow-up (1966) . This time this record contains mainly Simon originals ("Richard Cory," "A Most Peculiar Man") and two hits in the title track and "I Am a Rock," a sort of anthem for youth at the time.

Parsley...(1967) is where the duo's music separated itself from the rest-it represents Simon's songwriting at its peak as well as his and Garfunkel's harmonies, especially in the classical-influenced "Scarborough Fair/Canticle," the yearning "Homeward Bound," and the sunny "The 59th Street Bridge Song." Simon also chimes in with songs of social protest in "A Simple Desultory Philippic" and the devastating "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" in which a news anchorman reads the news of the day against the solemn tone of the Christmas song.

Bookends (1968) is Simon and Garfunkel's most ambitious record to date and ranks alongside with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds in terms of studio experimentation as art (i.e. "Voices of Old People," "Save the Children"). Bookends also display some rockier tracks like "Mrs. Robinson," "Fakin' It" and "A Hazy Shade of Winter," and whimsical ones such as "At the Zoo" and "America."

Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) was Simon and Garfunkel's final album-a break-up that was indicated by songs such as "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" and a treatment of the Everly's "Bye Bye Love." Like Bookends, Bridge also showcased the duo's higher musical ambitions in "The Boxer," the Peruvian feel of "El Condor Pasa" (an early sign of Simon's venture into world music), and the jugband blues of "Cecelia." Of course, it's the title track (representing Art Garfunkel's singing at its high watermark) of the eternal bond of friendship that and began the '70s on an uplifting, spiritual note.