Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds Of Silence (1966)

Simon & Garfunkel are an American singer-songwriter duo, consisting of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

After their debut album's lack of success in 1964, Simon & Garfunkel split. However they soon got back together again, after a decision made on their behalf by their producer Tom Wilson. In 1965 The Byrds had introduced the potential of folk-rock, with their electrified Bob Dylan covers, and Wilson decided to leap onto the bandwagon whilst the duo were apart. He took one of their songs, "The Sound Of Silence", and overdubbed the original recording with electric guitar, bass and drums. The new electric version was released as a single, apparently without the knowledge of Simon & Garfunkel, and went on to become a massive hit. It got to #1 on New Years Day, 1966.
With sudden fame and chart success, they quickly re-united and recorded a second album. Sounds Of Silence experimented with the idea of folk-rock, mixing their folk roots with various rock and pop sounds and instrumentation. The result was a very diverse record, full of interesting sounds and ideas. The tunes themselves proved Paul Simon to be a first-class songwriter. Many of them actually had already appeared in solo form on his obscure 1965 UK-only album The Paul Simon Songbook. Also included was his version of the Davy Graham instrumental "Anji", proving him also to be a very talented guitarist.
A second single from the album, "I Am A Rock", also became a Top 10 hit (#3). In between the two singles was "Homeward Bound" (which reached #2), but that song wasn't included on the album.
Simon & Garfunkel were now big stars.

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM (1964) <|> Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
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