In 2011, folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel performed The Sound of Silence at Madison Square Garden after 53 years since their last live rendition of the song.
Simon & Garfunkel are as synonymous as bread and jam, ketchup and mayo. Yet for five decades, the duo rarely got together after a flurry of early successes.
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According to allmusic.com, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel came out of Queens, New York. The two struck up a friendship in 1953. Both were into the Everly Brothers. They learned to harmonize like their favorite band. They called themselves Tom & Jerry. The teens got some attention with the hit Hey Schoolgirl.
After their school days, they both went their separate ways. Instead of harmonizing with someone else, they chose to go solo. But in 1963, the duo signed with Columbia. Folk music was becoming big. Those harmonies fit the new sound. They recorded an album that didn’t do well. Then, they disbanded again.
The Sound of Silence
Simon and Garfunkel got together again in 1981, according to Biography. Paul had gone to England to make his musical mark with no luck. Things really changed for the duo. They recorded the song The Sound of Silence and everything changed.
This song combined their folk sensibilities with a bit of electric guitar. The duo started to tour college campuses and their sound and words became anthems for the new generation.
The Graduate Soundtrack
By the time Simon and Garfunkel did The Graduate soundtrack, they had achieved a lot of success. In just a few years, they had gone from failures to winning seven Grammy Awards!
Despite getting more creative control, it seemed that they wanted to achieve that of creative control from each other as well. Despite the accolades, and selling over 100 million albums worldwide, the duo split up. Paul Simon went on to achieve quite a bit of solo success. His album Graceland became a huge commercial and critical hit, earning him even more Grammys.
Simon & Garfunkel Reunion
Since their split in 1970, Simon & Garfunkel have had many memorable reunions. One being after 9/11. They performed The Sound of Silence on SNL. The native New Yorkers helped bring unity and comfort to Americans everywhere.
The duo has also performed together for charity events. In 1982, the duo performed at Central Park in front of 500,000. This was to earn money to help the upkeep of this iconic New York area.
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