This time, Simon & Garfunkel's chart topper from '65 gets a fully vocal musical tribute. "The Sound of Silence' - The excitement for a brand new Pentatonix a cappella arrangement of a beloved pop or rock tune has become something of an achievement in an of itself. "At the Zoo" - In the Choral Explorations jazz series for developing choirs, this whimsical song from Simon & Garfunkel is a perfect introduction to style, technique and blend. With lyrics that express loneliness and longing for home and well-loved and familiar harmonies, choirs will enjoy recreating the sound of an earlier era. "Homeward Bound" - This iconic song by Paul Simon from the 1966 Simon & Garfunkel album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was also a hit single that same year. Beginning with a cool, almost tribal, percussive groove, new harmonies sweep in and out of this outstanding arrangement that only he could have created. After six weeks, the song was eventually displaced at number one by the Beatles’ “Let It Be” - also written with Franklin in mind."Bridge Over Troubled Water" - The incredibly talented Mark Hayes breathes new life into this inspirational favorite. At the ceremony, Franklin, whom Simon also had in mind when he wrote it, performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as Simon and Garfunkel looked on from the audience (here’s a clip of her performing it in 1971). The song also won an arranging Grammy, Best Contemporary Song, and the award for best nonclassical engineering. The song and album’s crowning achievement would arrive the following year, when “Bridge Over Troubled Water” won Song and Record of the year and the accompanying LP snagged album of the year. Columbia claimed that the Bridge Over Troubled Water LP sold nearly 2 million copies in three weeks. Everyone from Aretha Franklin and country banjo legend Earl Scruggs to cabaret star Peggy Lee covered it. charts but went Top 10 in South Africa, Malaysia, Lebanon, Denmark, Switzerland, and other countries. Released during an uncertain time in the country, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was the comforting balm that the culture, and the world, needed at that moment. They preferred the more rhythmic and upbeat “Cecilia,” but Davis felt there was something beautiful and universal about “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”Īs they often did, Davis’ instincts served him well. The next twist arrived when Clive Davis, head of Columbia Records, argued that “Bridge Over Troubled Water” should be the first single from the duo’s forthcoming album. Garfunkel eventually did sing the song, carefully adhering to the melody and transforming it from gospel to hymnal at the song’s climax, he reached for and hit a high note that would be one of his defining moments on record. A third - starting with “Sail on, silver bird” - arrived later, inspired by the moment Simon’s first wife, Peggy, looked in the mirror one day and saw a few early gray hairs. The formative version of the song only had two verses. A fan of gospel music, he had always loved the Swan Silvertones’ “Oh, Mary Don’t You Weep” and its opening line: ”I’ll be a bridge over deep water if you trust my name.”Īs Simon later told biographer Robert Hilburn, the song was written quickly in his apartment on New York’s Upper East Side: The “essence” took 20 minutes, and he said “the first two verses were done in two hours” - all exceedingly efficient for the notoriously methodical Simon. Musically, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” would be a key moment in Simon’s creative development, demonstrating that he wasn’t simply limited to folk rock. But 50 years ago, on February 28th, 1970, the song that would hit Number One and remain there for six weeks wasn’t a rocker but a ballad, and, it turned out, the ballad the country seemed to need at the moment as the tumultuous Sixties ended. Rock & roll was in full creative bloom, the film version of the Woodstock festival was about to open in theaters, and Led Zeppelin had overtaken the Beatles as favorite rock band in a U.K.
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