Just got into Simon and Garfunkel... Simply amazing.

Just saw Paul Simon play in Seattle a few weeks ago. Soo good. He played 2 Simon & Garfunkel songs: The Only Living Boy In New York (one of my personal favorites) and for the start of the encore set he played Sound of Silence solo. It was ****ing brilliant. Favorite S&G songs are probably The Only Living Boy in New York, The Boxer, Old Friends/Bookends, America, Kathy's Song, and maybe their version of Blues Run The Game.

And everyone should get Paul Simon's 2009 album Surprise. I think it's his best album to date (including the stuff he did with Simon & Garfunkel). He made Surprise with Brian Eno.

I didn't particularly like his 2011 album. There was a ballad that reminded me of his classic phase (early 70s or so) but the rest sounded more akin to the simple African influenced style which he later developed which has a pleasant sound but maybe doesn't have much for me 'chew on'.

But when talking about Simon and Garfunkel remember Paul Simon was the main musical force of it. He released his first solo album before the duo even released a record, it had an early version of I am a Rock. And the splitting with Garfunkel didn't affect Paul Simon's creativity much at all, in fact he was already branching out on the Bridge over Troubled Water album.

And I wouldn't really call S&G simply folk music either. The only folk tune I remember Paul Simon adapting was Scarborough Fair (showing the English folk influence). He really did a kind of folk-pop with Garfunkel in the 60s.

^ Thanks for the tips about the recent albums,Surprise and So beautiful or so what.
For me, Simon`s S and G songs were his best, though his solo albums also have their high-points; Graceland, of course being a triumph.

:laughing: Don`t think S and G ever behaved like this guy`s rabbits !

^ That`s right, and that`s why Only Living boy in NY starts out, " Tom, get your plane right on time. I know your part`ll go fine." Simon wrote it to tell Garfunkel, "Your solo acting career has my blessing." Nice gesture, nice song.

More trivia: Out of his early years doing the UK folk-club circuit, Simon crafted the beautiful but sad Homeward Bound song. Apparently while changing trains at Crewe Station, he came up with the lines, "I`m sittin`in a railway station. Got a ticket for my destination..."
Anyone else who`s changed trains at Crewe knows what a bleak, banal place it is, yet Paul Simon came away with an absolute jewel...

I discovered America sometime last year and ever since then I've rediscovered my passion for them. Absolutely phenomenal. Also, fun fact, the OP was me, but I was ****ing around by making up a second account. Every time this thread pops up I have to smirk a little. I don't know WTF i was thinking.

As for whether or not they are folk: I think they're absolutely folk. To not allow room for fusion, growth, or influence, I think you disparage folk. Is Cool Jazz not jazz? Is ambient rock not rock?

I think they're folk and their own style is in there. Other cultural movements always breed new ones when a personal spin is put on them.

I would say it's pop music but which is more vocal/acoustic based.

I've gone on a folk rock tear lately, and I think America is my current "favourite song of all time". Simon is a poet.

There is such beauty in the music of Simon & Garfunkel.

This song in particular has a permanent hold on my psyche.

Kathy's Song



"Sounds of Silence" in its entirety, as an album, is one of my most favorite albums of my entire life, actually.

I can honestly say that in it's entirety, they did such a fantastic job at this show that even if you weren't there, it feels as if you are.



I have this on vinyl and it sounds amazing.

The Boxer <3