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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 17, 2023 23:50:19 GMT
The five songs from this album that I'm familiar with - Scarborough Fair/Canticle, Homeward Bound, The 59th Street Bridge Song, The Dangling Conversation, For Emily Whenever I May Find Her - are great ones IMO. Some of the duo's best. And all so different. Diverse. Very "pop". I especially like Artie's vocal on "Emily". "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is a personal favorite; I like the haunting feel. "Homeward Bound" can strike a chord, an emotional one.
I'm finding the conversation on Paul's lyrics interesting. I agree(d) that some of his words can be pretentious, but I guess I've always viewed them - or accepted them - as just Paul, or just his style of writing. I think some writers/musicians are more instinctive, and they quickly write songs/lyrics and record them and get them out. I'm not a Paul Simon scholar, but he always reminded me of a songwriter who took his time, who took his craft very seriously, especially the lyrics. He knew exactly what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. Not quite Van Dyke Parks-like, but in that vein. And, I think Paul Simon was a little...different. Wasn't he always kind of on the quirky side?
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Post by B.E. on Oct 22, 2023 17:06:09 GMT
I wonder what (or whether) Dylan thought of "A Simple Desultory Philippic." Me too. As an aside, I've also been wondering the same about Bruce Springsteen regarding "Tweeter and the Monkey Man".
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Post by B.E. on Oct 22, 2023 17:52:04 GMT
Okay, so my first impressions are that while this is clearly a high-quality album, and I do like it, I think I actually prefer their first two albums (if only by a small margin). I rated Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. a low 8, Sounds of Silence a high 7, and this one a mid 7. I think the main reasons are 1) lack of cohesion (again) 2) lyrical style and 3) the best track towering over the rest (again again). Perhaps I'm not familiar enough with the group yet, but I find their varying styles a little jarring. Mainly between softer and more rockin' tracks, but also many have more of a solo vs group vibe. To be clear, this is a minor criticism, but it matters when comparing them to other legendary groups and albums, I think. Lyrically, I think what Kapitan was alluding to regarding "pretentious" lyrics is out in full-force on this album. I didn't/don't really hear it on their previous albums but it affects my enjoyment of some of the songs here. "The Dangling Conversation" is the worst offender (IMO) and by far my least favorite track of theirs to this point. I also think Paul Simon just has a "wordier" lyrical style than I had realized. I didn't think I'd hear so much "Dylan" in his lyrics. That said, "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)" is one of my favorites on the album! I think that's a lot of fun and that they really pulled it off. "Homeward Bound" is the all-timer, though. I love that one. I also really dug "Patterns". I liked the vibe of it, and "The 59th Street Bridge Song", too. I also liked the overlapping vocal lines of "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" a lot, but the song itself isn't a big favorite. Again, some of this is surely just a lack of familiarity. Listening to something once or twice will give you a sense, but it's not hard for songs to go in one ear and out the other when listening to an album for the first or second time. Has "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" been released without the news broadcast? I'd love to hear that. Anyway, it's a good album, a pleasant listen, and it's got a handful of tracks that'll surely be on my Simon & Garfunkel playlist that's bound to result from this exercise...but I'm still waiting for that album to rate a 9 or 10. We'll see!
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 22, 2023 18:17:10 GMT
Has "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" been released without the news broadcast? I'd love to hear that. That's funny, I was wondering the same thing when I listened for this thread. What popped into my mind was the Beach Boys's "Auld Lang Syne."
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Post by B.E. on Oct 22, 2023 18:21:37 GMT
Has "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" been released without the news broadcast? I'd love to hear that. That's funny, I was wondering the same thing when I listened for this thread. What popped into my mind was the Beach Boys's "Auld Lang Syne." And I actually like the concept/execution of the track, but I LOVE "Silent Night" and they're singing it so well!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 22, 2023 18:37:39 GMT
Has "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" been released without the news broadcast? I'd love to hear that. To the best of my knowledge, no, but people have "made" their own versions (hear below). I wish Simon & Garfunkel would've recorded a Christmas album. It would've been a great one. I made my own little EP that I enjoy each holiday season:
Simon & Garfunkel...At Christmas
1. O Come All Ye Faithful - Art Garfunkel 2. Star Carol - Simon & Garfunkel 3. Comfort And Joy - Simon & Garfunkel 4. Silent Night - Simon & Garfunkel
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 24, 2023 5:38:29 GMT
I just picked up an S&G cassette for a dollar at Value Village. I'll talk more about it when we get to that album.
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Post by B.E. on Oct 29, 2023 13:58:14 GMT
Bookends is the fourth studio album by Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the album was released on April 3, 1968. It followed the release of The Graduate soundtrack, which featured alternate versions of "The Sound of Silence", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "April Come She Will", "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine", and "Mrs. Robinson". Bookends is a concept album that explores a life journey from childhood to old age. Side one of the album marks successive stages in life, the theme serving as bookends to the life cycle. Side two largely consists of previously-released singles and of unused material for The Graduate soundtrack. Simon's lyrics concern youth, disillusionment, relationships, old age, and mortality. Much of the material was crafted alongside producer John Simon (no relation), who joined the recording when Paul Simon suffered from writer's block. The album was recorded gradually over the period of a year, with production speeding up around the later months of 1967. Initial sales were substantial in the US, and the album produced the number-one single "Mrs. Robinson". The album sold well in the US and in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number one. Bookends was considered a breakthrough for the duo, placing them on the same level as artists such as Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones at the forefront of the countercultural movement in the 1960s. The album has continued to receive critical acclaim and is often debated by critics as to whether it or Bridge Over Troubled Water is Simon & Garfunkel's best album. 12 tracks; 30 minutes 1. Bookends Theme 2. Save the Life of My Child 3. America 4. Overs 5. Voices of Old People 6. Old Friends 7. Bookends Theme 8. Fakin' It 9. Punky's Dilemma 10. Mrs. Robinson 11. A Hazy Shade of Winter 12. At the Zoo
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2023 14:24:34 GMT
The album has continued to receive critical acclaim and is often debated by critics as to whether it or Bridge Over Troubled Water is Simon & Garfunkel's best album. This has been my personal experience, too. For years, I chose Bookends. More recently I've preferred Bridge, even if only for "The Boxer," which I rate as one of the greatest pop songs (and recordings) of all time. It's been some time since I've listened to Bookends, though, and now I'm really looking forward to a fresh run through it. By the way, a year and a half between albums (not counting The Graduate soundtrack) in the mid-60s! Talk about cache with the label, to pull that off.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 4, 2023 16:24:06 GMT
I just want to say, I know I am behind on this but I do still plan to listen to this one and comment. So I hope you're not itching to move on, B.E..
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Post by B.E. on Nov 4, 2023 16:34:38 GMT
Take your time. I haven’t listened to it yet. We’ll probably move on next weekend.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2023 20:42:43 GMT
Listening twice today, I can't believe I used to rate this as their best album. Now I think it's highly inconsistent, and some of the experiments are at best unsuccessful (and at worst--here's that word again--pretentious and annoying).
But the first thing to jump out at me today was how funny it is that I've always kept in my mind that S&G were primarily a folk-influenced vocal duo. As "Save the Life of My Child" begins, it's hard to keep thinking of them that way, a bit like hearing Pet Sounds and insisting the Beach Boys are a surf group. Several other songs fit roughly into that same kind of studio-heavy category, like "Hazy Shade of Winter."
"Voices of Old People" is even more annoying than I'd remembered it.
Really only "Mrs Robinson" and especially "America" are top-notch tunes. I like several others, like "Hazy," "Save the Life," and "Fakin It," among others. But it really doesn't even feel like a full album at under 30 minutes and with audio verite and the like, much less a consistently great album.
In hindsight, it's interesting how little new material Paul Simon created during this group's lifespan. Several albums were fleshed out with old songs or previously released songs, and there were only five studio albums across those seven years of 1964-70. Granted, that would seem like a lot in today's market, but for the mid-to-late 60s it wasn't much at all. Still, there's no doubt they did some of the best music of that decade (or any decade), too.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 7, 2023 19:59:23 GMT
Listening twice today, I can't believe I used to rate this as their best album. Now I think it's highly inconsistent, and some of the experiments are at best unsuccessful (and at worst--here's that word again--pretentious and annoying). But the first thing to jump out at me today was how funny it is that I've always kept in my mind that S&G were primarily a folk-influenced vocal duo. As "Save the Life of My Child" begins, it's hard to keep thinking of them that way, a bit like hearing Pet Sounds and insisting the Beach Boys are a surf group. Several other songs fit roughly into that same kind of studio-heavy category, like "Hazy Shade of Winter." "Voices of Old People" is even more annoying than I'd remembered it. Really only "Mrs Robinson" and especially "America" are top-notch tunes. I like several others, like "Hazy," "Save the Life," and "Fakin It," among others. But it really doesn't even feel like a full album at under 30 minutes and with audio verite and the like, much less a consistently great album. In hindsight, it's interesting how little new material Paul Simon created during this group's lifespan. Several albums were fleshed out with old songs or previously released songs, and there were only five studio albums across those seven years of 1964-70. Granted, that would seem like a lot in today's market, but for the mid-to-late 60s it wasn't much at all. Still, there's no doubt they did some of the best music of that decade (or any decade), too. My feelings exactly. This thread has kind of rubbed it into my face that S&G weren't a great albums act. Really, there's only one album of theirs that I consider nearly perfect - and we haven't got to it yet. Simon has never been a prolific writer, so to have him as the foundation for the duo..well, if they had stayed together into the 70's, they wouldn't have been cranking out an album every year like most artists did. I think S&G are served very well by a greatest hits comp.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 19, 2023 14:11:04 GMT
I've listened twice this weekend. I agree that it's inconsistent and I'd add overproduced. I do wonder, though, if I were a bigger fan of the group would I be more into/enamored with the experimentation? It's quite obviously influenced by 1967-Beatles. (But, I'm just a casual fan, so...) I do think there's a remix of this album that could be very, very good, if not great. I think lessening the sound effects and experimentation and improving the sequencing would help a lot. For instance, overlay a snippet of "Voices of Old People" over "Old Friends" or something and otherwise drop the track. It just goes on way too long and doesn't really add anything worthwhile. (And while they're at it, dial back the strings at the end of "Old Friends" ten fold.) Anyway, I find Side 1 to almost be a chore to listen to, but Side 2 very enjoyable. I may be an odd duck, though, because I've never really been all that moved by "America". It was nice to discover "Overs" on Side 1, though, that's a good one. As the pattern goes, there's one "10" anchoring the album. First (and second) there was "The Sound of Silence", then "Homeward Bound", and now "Mrs. Robinson". I really dug "A Hazy Shade of Winter". "At the Zoo" is a lot of fun. "Fakin' It" is good. Like I said, Side 2 all the way.
7/10
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Post by B.E. on Nov 19, 2023 21:10:25 GMT
Bridge Over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970. Following the duo's soundtrack for The Graduate, Art Garfunkel took an acting role in the film Catch-22, while Paul Simon worked on the songs, writing all tracks except Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's "Bye Bye Love" (previously a hit for the Everly Brothers). Bridge Over Troubled Water topped the charts in over ten countries and received six Grammy Awards at the 1971 Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year. The album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time and at the time of its release, the best-selling album ever. It has been ranked on several "greatest" lists, including number 51 on Rolling Stone's 2003 and 2012 "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Despite the accolades, the duo decided to split up, and parted company later in 1970; Garfunkel continued his film career, while Simon worked intensely with music. Both artists released solo albums in the following years. Bridge includes two of the duo's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful songs, "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer", which were listed on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
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