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Ladies and Gentlemen ….Simon …..and…..Garfunkel
At the dawn of 1970, Simon and Garfunkel released their fifth and final studio album, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, which would become the best-selling album of all time for years to come. The misunderstandings between the two musicians, which had already surfaced in previous years due to Garfunkel's increasing commitments as an actor, led to this second interruption (the first dates back to 1964 after the release of WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3 A.M., the first album which was inexplicably a commercial flop) of their artistic collaboration. However, this did not prevent the two from meeting again and performing together, albeit no longer as Simon and Garfunkel. Given that the tour at the end of 1969 (which included Oxford in Ohio, Carbondale in Illinois, L.B. Arena in Long Beach, and Carnegie Hall in New York, among others) represented the last dates realized by S&G, opportunities to share the stage again included the show supporting the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency, George McGovern (1972), and the performance on Saturday Night Live (1975), despite the reunion achieved with the song “My Little Town” (released on STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THIS YEARS by Paul Simon and BREAKAWAY by Art Garfunkel, both released in October 1975) giving hope for a renewed partnership.
It took several more years before many nostalgic fans and waves of new followers could see the two New Yorkers on the same stage again and enjoy classics re-performed. America was no longer the one of the 1960s, and the transition from the '70s to the next decade was palpable both in terms of musical and political changes, which would see the presidency pass from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan in January 1981. It was not politics that revived the myth of Simon and Garfunkel on stage but rather the superintendent for the care and promotion of green areas of the New York metropolitan area, Gordon Davis, who, in an effort to revitalize a city in stand-by, allowed for an economic stasis that seemed to have firmly rooted itself. The potential profits from this event would bring the revenues generated from the specially produced merchandising sales into the city's coffers, as well as the rights from the TV broadcast, which took place the following year and was handled by the cable network HBO, thus making it possible to release a VHS tape first and then a DVD.
The preparation of the show nonetheless brought up past misunderstandings between Tom & Jerry (besides the immediate recall of the famous cartoon, the pseudonyms under which they performed at the Forest Hills High School in New York were Tom Graph for Art and Jerry Landys for Paul), with Art preferring a classic duo performance with voices and guitar, while Paul (who eventually prevailed) wanted to rearrange the songs again, including his own pieces and featuring a real band.
At 6:30 PM on Saturday, September 19, 1981, in Central Park in New York, a massive cheer greeted the entrance of the two mature artists (both of whom would turn 40 within a few months), and the simple hint of “Mrs. Robinson” in a truly energetic version was able to evoke the unforgettable emotions that arose from watching THE GRADUATE (1967), where the gripping presence on screen was the educated images of a stunning Ann Bancroft in the role of Mrs. Roosevelt, to whom the song was initially dedicated, although it was actually meant for the First Lady, wife of President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Next came “Homeward Bound”, one of the first examples of Simon's writing while in Britain, evoking feelings of memory and reflection along with a strong desire to return home, as clearly expressed in the title. This expressive sweetness is retained even in the following “America” which starts with only a guitar accompaniment, setting the stage for all the instruments to elevate the song to a level of pride perfectly aligned with a text in which the search for the essence of one's country becomes evident, though unfortunately not found (<<I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why – Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike – They’ve all gone to look for America – I am suffering and aching without knowing why – Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike – All gone to look for America>>). The lively “Me and Julio down by the Schoolyard” (from Simon's 1972 solo album, although always sung as a duet) serves as a prelude to the song “Scarborough Fair” - where the two voices, while not layered as in the original featured on PARSLEY SAGE ROSEMARY AND THYME from 1966, - blend and merge in an enchanting version that will become equally popular. The pace slows with the tender “April Come She Will” (already on THE PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK from 1966 and then featured in the aforementioned THE GRADUATE in 1968) with Paul's guitar accompanying Art's gentle voice, while an engaging version of “Wake Up Little Susie” gets the audience dancing and serves as a deserved tribute to the inspirational model that the Everly Brothers represented for them.
In the preliminary phases of preparing for this event, its planning also included the performance of songs from both musicians' solo repertoires. For Simon, the moment arrives to propose songs from the so-called artistic maturity of his solo career, beginning with a touching version of “Still Crazy After All These Years”, the title-track from the 1975 album, then “American Tune” - which follows the calm melody of Bach's “St. Matthew Passion”, - the moderate rock’n’roll of “Late in the Evening”, and the lullaby-like rhythm of “Slip Slidin’ Away” (released only as a single in 1977!) also sung as a duet like the previous one, highlighting how for this last batch of songs, while remaining within a familiar atmosphere, the arrangements were conceived by Paul Simon and David Matthews, preferring a group sound over an acoustic atmosphere.
Great respect for both artists' solo careers and the time comes for “A Heart in New York” (from SCISSORS CUT, released just a month before), for which Garfunkel executes with his ethereal voice an impassioned interpretation that the audience seems to listen to in religious silence, thus making it perhaps one of the most beautiful tributes to the Big Apple. The accelerator is again pressed with “Kodachrome” (which emerged on THERE GOES THE RHYMIN’ SIMON from 1973) to which a tribute to the immortal Chuck Berry, “Mabellene”, is sewn, which ignites further thanks to an enthralling horn section involving a vast audience that between dances and songs becomes a co-star of a late summer evening destined to make history of music.
For the event, the band called upon to give the songs a new look included David Brown and Pete Carr (guitars), Anthony Jackson (bass), Steve Gadd on drums, Rob Mounsey and Richard Tee (keyboards), John Eckert, John Gatchell, Dave Tofani, and Gerry Niewood (horns).
The hint of the first piano notes leads us to “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, the duo's greatest commercial success, where Garfunkel's spine-tingling vocal opening reaches familiar peaks exalted by a marvelous orchestral accompaniment, while “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” restores lightheartedness, partly due to a text that addresses the delicate subject of the title with rhymed poetic sarcasm (<<She said it‘s really not my habit to intrude Furthermore, I hope my meaning won‘t be lost or misconstrued But I‘ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude There must be fifty ways to leave your lover Fifty ways to leave your lover: She said it‘s really not my habit to intrude - Furthermore, I hope my meaning won‘t be lost or misconstrued - But I‘ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude - There must be fifty ways to leave your lover - Fifty ways to leave your lover>>). Garfunkel asks the audience, “Are you cold?” and the guitar arpeggio that brings us to the creative pinnacle known as “The Boxer” starts. In a version intense yet different from that contained in BOTW, it is an enthralling snapshot of the artist's experience in which asperities and dark moments followed one another, inevitably confronting him with a choice that leaves more room for reflection in the final verse for the first time sung and associated with the experiences lived by both artists (<<Now the years are rolling by me They are rocking evenly I am older than I once was And younger than I‘ll be and that‘s not unusual. No it isn‘t strange After changes upon changes We are more or less the same After changes we are more or less the same: «Now the years are rolling by me, They are rocking evenly. I am older than I once was / Younger than I‘ll be / But this is not unusual / No, it‘s not strange / After changes and changes / We are more or less the same / After changes we are more or less the same>>). Upon leaving the stage, they are called back enthusiastically, and the sweet “Old Friends” is sung, perfectly fitting the situation where the two protagonists who saw their friendship bloom from school desks acknowledge the changes life brings, without transcending into a painful interpretation from which only sorrow emerges, but instead fostering a consolatory and positive reflection on what has been. Continuing in a relaxed atmosphere, “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” (present on the aforementioned PSR&T, which clearly inspired the theme for the children's show H.R. Pufnstuf and for which Simon was later added among the composers), the performance leans towards the final part of the show, which is closed by the immortal “The Sound of Silence”. This piece had an initially troubled existence, and before receiving due recognition, it was released on three LPs over a couple of years (WEDNESDAY MORNING 3 A.M., The PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK from 1965, and SOUNDS OF SILENCE from 1966). Only the insight of Tom Wilson (the brilliant producer of the golden Dylan triad THE TIMES THEY ARE a-CHANGIN’, ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN, and BRINGIN’ ALL BACK HOME), who decided to endow the song with guitar, bass, and drums, enriched its essential lyrical strength, eventually securing it the number one spot in the American charts on January 1, 1966. The version of this evening is intimate and delicate, evoking the simplicity that distinguished it in the early recordings, capable of enchanting and marveling with its nonetheless direct rhythmic pace, spreading a text from which questions and the bewilderment of a slightly over twenty-year-old in 1960s America emerge (<<In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone: In agitated dreams I walked alone through narrow and cobblestone streets>>), but also that missed identification with the myths proposed by the system (<<And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made: and the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they had created>>), which makes relief possible only by being embraced by the friendly night silence (<<Hello darkness my old friend, I‘ve come to talk with you again: Hello darkness, my old friend, I have come to talk with you again>>).
To delve further into the magic of a show that did not need either scenic ideas or spectacular effects for its success, and for which music's strength was enough, obtaining the DVD becomes a duty even if not a completist. The video support, which provides not only simple yet effective stage shots of all the musicians involved, also offers suggestive panoramic footage of nearly 500,000 people who flocked to Central Park, the reprise of “Late in the evening” in the finale, and the unforeseen event that occurred to Paul Simon during “The Late Great Johnny Ace” (these latter two tracks were excluded from the album), about which I will say nothing and perhaps you will discover on your own.
If you've reached this point in the reading, it's time to let the music speak by placing the needle on the record or simply pressing the play button, starting with the introduction by then New York Mayor Ed Cochran, which I took the liberty to use as the subtitle for the review.
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