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Post by Kapitan on Nov 19, 2023 21:20:18 GMT
Going in to this series, I wasn't sure how confident I was in my recent assessments of S&G. This series has redoubled my confidence: Bridge Over Troubled Water is far and away the band's best album. And before returning to it for more specifics, I feel very, very confident in throwing this out there right now:
"The Boxer" is one of those recordings that has never been bested. Will I say it's better than this or that classic? No. But will I say they're better than it? Nope. Unbelievable song, unbelievable arrangement, unbelievable performances, unbelievable production. Great, great record.
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Post by jk on Nov 19, 2023 22:16:04 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. My favourite among their albums, although it took a while for it to grow on me. I only realized its true greatness after the title track left the charts (and the airwaves).
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 23, 2023 20:44:10 GMT
I remember checking this out from our local library, they had this album and "Sounds of Silence". They remain my two favorite S&G albums; but the winner is...."Bridge", by a large margin. It's one of those rare albums that is perfect, or as close to it as possible. Everything - the songs, the production, the vocals. And like the Beatles, S&G went out on top.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 24, 2023 19:07:01 GMT
Incredible. This is one of the greatest albums of all-time.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 25, 2023 13:48:28 GMT
Whenever I delve into Simon & Garfunkel, I can't help but be mystified. I cannot fathom how a group/duo who was so popular and successful could end the way they did - and never reunite for another studio album. They were so young and had so many years left and had so many opportunities...but it never happened. They could appear together on a stage but not in a studio, at least not long enough to record an album. For me, it will always be one of rock & roll's great mysteries.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 25, 2023 13:55:42 GMT
Whenever I delve into Simon & Garfunkel, I can't help but be mystified. I cannot fathom how a group/duo who was so popular and successful could end the way they did - and never reunite for another studio album. They were so young and had so many years left and had so many opportunities...but it never happened. They could appear together on a stage but not in a studio, at least not long enough to record an album. For me, it will always be one of rock & roll's great mysteries. I'm pretty sure they were going to do one in the early '80s. I'd have to double-check the details now, but I think some of what ended up on Simon's Hearts and Bones was intended for a reunion album. They had done that reunion tour in the early '80s and thought they could try it again, but of course they had yet another falling out. I'm not sure of the exact details as to the reasons for that collapse.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 25, 2023 14:03:09 GMT
Whenever I delve into Simon & Garfunkel, I can't help but be mystified. I cannot fathom how a group/duo who was so popular and successful could end the way they did - and never reunite for another studio album. They were so young and had so many years left and had so many opportunities...but it never happened. They could appear together on a stage but not in a studio, at least not long enough to record an album. For me, it will always be one of rock & roll's great mysteries. I'm pretty sure they were going to do one in the early '80s. I'd have to double-check the details now, but I think some of what ended up on Simon's Hearts and Bones was intended for a reunion album. They had done that reunion tour in the early '80s and thought they could try it again, but of course they had yet another falling out. I'm not sure of the exact details as to the reasons for that collapse. This is not a put-down or criticism of Artie, but I always thought he (Art) could/would - just to get a new album recorded - give full control over to Paul. Let Paul write the songs, let him choose the producer, let him record at his own pace, let him do basically whatever he wants, and then bring Art in for his vocals. Why would Paul object to that? All of that wouldn't have had to be disclosed to the press, and didn't that mostly happen with the past albums anyway. Yes, I've read that Artie did have input in the studio, but I'm not sure how significant it was.
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Post by jk on Nov 25, 2023 15:23:53 GMT
Going in to this series, I wasn't sure how confident I was in my recent assessments of S&G. This series has redoubled my confidence: Bridge Over Troubled Water is far and away the band's best album. And before returning to it for more specifics, I feel very, very confident in throwing this out there right now: "The Boxer" is one of those recordings that has never been bested. Will I say it's better than this or that classic? No. But will I say they're better than it? Nope. Unbelievable song, unbelievable arrangement, unbelievable performances, unbelievable production. Great, great record. Yes, an extraordinary song all round. At that time, information being scant, I assumed it was a Moog playing both the solo, and what one music mag hilariously described as a "thumping saxophone" in the verse that begins "In the clearing stands a boxer". Turns out the latter was Charlie McCoy on bass harmonica and the solo was Curly Chalker on pedal steel guitar playing in unison with a piccolo trumpet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boxer
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 26, 2023 1:41:22 GMT
I'm pretty sure they were going to do one in the early '80s. I'd have to double-check the details now, but I think some of what ended up on Simon's Hearts and Bones was intended for a reunion album. They had done that reunion tour in the early '80s and thought they could try it again, but of course they had yet another falling out. I'm not sure of the exact details as to the reasons for that collapse. This is not a put-down or criticism of Artie, but I always thought he (Art) could/would - just to get a new album recorded - give full control over to Paul. Let Paul write the songs, let him choose the producer, let him record at his own pace, let him do basically whatever he wants, and then bring Art in for his vocals. Why would Paul object to that? All of that wouldn't have had to be disclosed to the press, and didn't that mostly happen with the past albums anyway. Yes, I've read that Artie did have input in the studio, but I'm not sure how significant it was. That's what happened with Hearts and Bones. Paul did the basic tracks, then Art wanted to listen to him on one of his walks across America or Japan or...somewhere...to work out the harmonies. Paul wasn't happy with that; then he decided he didn't want Art's voice on the album at all, so he allegedly wiped all the Garfunkel vocals. Paul got used to having total control as a solo artist, and found it hard to have a partner again. BTW, Hearts and Bones is an excellent album. Honestly, I like Paul's solo albums from the 70's/early 80's better than any SG album not named Bridge.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 27, 2023 18:45:29 GMT
Honestly, I like Paul's solo albums from the 70's/early 80's better than any SG album not named Bridge. I do, too. I think if I were going to rank all the S&G, Paul Simon, and Art Garfunkel albums, Bridge might be the only one in the top five. Hard to say, though, because I do enjoy at least something of all of the S&G albums. But Simon has a few that are, I think, more consistently good from top to bottom. (And yes, I'm one of those boring people who rates Graceland at the top of the list. As with the Beatles and Sgt. Pepper, I guess I'm just prone to some of the old consensus ideas more than the revisionist or hot-take ones.)
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 2, 2023 19:58:57 GMT
I was listening to There Goes Rhymin' Simon last night, and I think that is my favorite solo album from Paul. Perfect mix of reflective, moody pop with some jazzy chords - Something So Right, Tenderness, St. Judy's Comet - along with some bouncy pop rock - Kodachrome, Loves Me Like a Rock; and the masterpiece called American Tune.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 2, 2023 20:19:35 GMT
I was listening to There Goes Rhymin' Simon last night, and I think that is my favorite solo album from Paul. Perfect mix of reflective, moody pop with some jazzy chords - Something So Right, Tenderness, St. Judy's Comet - along with some bouncy pop rock - Kodachrome, Loves Me Like a Rock; and the masterpiece called American Tune. That's what I think of maybe more than anything else when I consider Paul's 1970s solo material. Not that it all leans that direction, but there is a lot of it, including a lot of electric piano doing it.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 3, 2023 20:22:55 GMT
I was listening to There Goes Rhymin' Simon last night, and I think that is my favorite solo album from Paul. Perfect mix of reflective, moody pop with some jazzy chords - Something So Right, Tenderness, St. Judy's Comet - along with some bouncy pop rock - Kodachrome, Loves Me Like a Rock; and the masterpiece called American Tune. That's what I think of maybe more than anything else when I consider Paul's 1970s solo material. Not that it all leans that direction, but there is a lot of it, including a lot of electric piano doing it. Yes. Especially Still Crazy After All These Years. And some very unique chord changes. I think that's Paul's greatest strength - chords and melodies. And I'm gonna bite my tongue and not compare his abilities as a lyricist to Bob Dylan.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 19, 2023 2:09:12 GMT
Are we done here? Are we going to discuss the solo years? I must confess to only having listened to Angel Clare, Breakaway, and Watermark from Art. I'm pretty familiar with everything of Paul's up to Graceland or Rhythm of the Saints.
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Post by B.E. on Dec 19, 2023 2:18:10 GMT
Are we done here? Are we going to discuss the solo years? I must confess to only having listened to Angel Clare, Breakaway, and Watermark from Art. I'm pretty familiar with everything of Paul's up to Graceland or Rhythm of the Saints. On a personal note, I never did get around to posting my full thoughts on their final album. That said, I didn’t plan to continue on to their solo stuff at this time, but if you or anyone else wants to, that’s cool.
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