Old Friends - Live On Stage - Simon & Garfunkel Album Review

Album Review

Old friends become old enemies and become old friends again. This album celebrates 50 years of their on-off friendship, since they were cast together at 6th Grade (11 years of age) in Queens New York, in an elementary school graduation production of Alice in Wonderland. Garfunkel was the Cheshire Cat: Simon was the White Rabbit. They began singing together at 13 years of age, and started arguing at 14. According to Simon they don’t argue anymore: now they say, “ That’s your opinion, and I respect that.”They made their first record, Hey Schoolgirl, when they were 16, as the duo of Tom and Jerry. The rest as they say,is history.

This collection was recorded from shows at New Jersey Meadowlands’ Continental Airlines Arena and New York City’s Madison Square Garden, December 3 – 8, 2003, it’s Simon and Garfunkel’s first new recordings since 1981’s Central Park Concert.In the summer of 1982, I was lucky enough to catch them do the same Central Park set at Wembley Stadium, but not this year when they played Manchester’s Evening News Arena.This, what in effect is, a greatest hits live, more than compensates for that disappointment.The concert is fantastic despite both voices sounding frayed at times.No wonder, as both are now in their early 60’s. What was youthful innocence and optimism,has been replaced by experience and comfort zone of the enormous global achievements. Having seen and met Art Garfunkel two years ago in Liverpool, I knew his voice had developed a huskiness,which is just as effective.

They even manage to bring on their heroes, The Everly Brothers for a stirring Bye Bye Love. S&G remain the most successful duo of all time, even though they only charted in the UK with six studio albums – Sounds Of Silence (1966)Bookends (1968) Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme(1968)The Graduate( film soundtrack 1968) Wednesday morning 9 AM, and finally the awesome Bridge Over Troubled Water(1970) All the others are compilations. So in four incredible years, they reached the masses like no other singer songwriters of their generation. Like old gloves they fit perfectly together, as they take a stroll in the park through some of their best material, backed by a superb band. Songs from over 40 years ago resonate as much now as they did in the pair’s heyday, proving the their timeless quality.Ultra best bits: the improvised guitar and piano on Homeward Bound, their vocal pairing on Sound Of Silence, and the hair raising version of Bridge, as the crowd go nuts when they’ve finished. There’s the bonus of an old song Simon wrote but never recorded – Citizen of the Planet.

Incredibly they only scored one number one single Bridge Over troubled Water ( voted Best Single of All Time at the Brit Awards in 1977) and two number one albums – Bookends, and Bridge Over etc.

They were inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2003. Their singles spent 87 weeks on chart, whilst their albums spent 1103 weeks.

Elly Roberts