6 Comments on “The Sound of Silence: Simon and Garfunkel”

1. katry Says:

   
   June 3, 2010 at 11:15 am

   yousendit link:

   https://download.yousendit.com/OHo3aUNOR0ZHa00wTVE9PQ
2. Bob Says:

   
   June 3, 2010 at 11:19 am

   The song that helped define our generation.
   • katry Says:

     
     June 3, 2010 at 9:30 pm

     Bob,
     I absolutely agree!
3. sblake Says:

   
   June 3, 2010 at 8:33 pm

   and here I yam:

   The first recording was an acoustic version on Simon & Garfunkel’s first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which sold about 2000 copies. When the album tanked, Simon and Garfunkel split up. What they didn’t know was that their record company had a plan. Trying to take advantage of the folk-rock movement, Columbia Records had a producer named Bob Johnston add electric instruments to the acoustic track. Simon and Garfunkel had no idea their acoustic song had been overdubbed with electric instruments, but it became a huge hit and got them back together. If Wilson had not reworked the song without their knowledge, Simon and Garfunkel probably would have gone their separate ways.

   This was produced by Tom Wilson and finished by Bob Johnston. Both men had worked with Bob Dylan. Wilson was Dylan’s producer for about 2 years starting in 1963, and helped Dylan make the transition from acoustic folk to electric rock. Wilson went on to work with The Velvet Underground and later became a record company executive. Johnston was Dylan’s producer until 1970.

   Paul Simon took 6 months to write the lyrics, which are about man’s lack of communication with his fellow man. He averaged one line a day.

   In an interview with Terry Gross of National Public Radio (NPR), Paul Simon explained how he wrote the song while working at his first job in music: “It was just when I was coming out of college. My job was to take the songs that this huge publishing company owned and go around to record companies and see if any of their artists wanted to record the songs. I worked for them for about 6 months and never got a song placed, but I did give them a couple of my songs because I felt so guilty about taking their money. Then I got into an argument with them and said, ‘Look, I quit, and I’m not giving you my new song.’ And the song that I had just written was ‘The Sound Of Silence.’ I thought, ‘I’ll just publish it myself,’ and from that point on I owned my own songs, so that was a lucky argument.

   I think about songs that it’s not just what the words say but what the melody says and what the sound says. My thinking is that if you don’t have the right melody, it really doesn’t matter what you have to say, people don’t hear it. They only are available to hear when the sound entrances and makes people open to the thought. Really the key to ‘The Sound Of Silence’ is the simplicity of the melody and the words, which are youthful alienation. It’s a young lyric, but not bad for a 21-year-old. It’s not a sophisticated thought, but a thought that I gathered from some college reading material or something. It wasn’t something that I was experiencing at some deep, profound level – nobody’s listening to me, nobody’s listening to anyone – it was a post-adolescent angst, but it had some level of truth to it and it resonated with millions of people. Largely because it had a simple and singable melody.”

   My brother actually picked up the hitchiking Simon in 1964 when he was on his way to Colchester(England) from London to a gig.When auditioning for a lead guitar role in Simon’s band in the late 70’s I actually got the job by reminding him of this event. So I thank my oldest brother for his act of kindness
   • katry Says:

     
     June 3, 2010 at 9:33 pm

     sblake,
     That was the best background for this song, almost the best you’ve given us. It gave me a greater understanding of the songs Simon writes.

     Loved the story of your brother and Paul Simon. Did you get the job?
     • sblake Says:

       
       June 4, 2010 at 10:39 pm

       yup, one week tourinbg California

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