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Paul Simon: Paul Simon Songbook
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In a career dating back to the 1950s, Paul Simon has established himself among the best and most popular songwriters of the rock era. Growing up in Queens, NY, Simon befriended schoolmate Art Garfunkel, who had an angelic tenor voice, and the two teamed up as Tom & Jerry, taking the names of the cartoon characters. In the winter of 1957-1958, they scored a chart hit with "Hey Schoolgirl"; both were 16 years old. Simon continued to try to score hits in the late '50s and early '60s, reaching the charts briefly in 1962 in the group Tico & the Triumphs with "Motorcycle" and under the name Jerry Landis in 1963 with "The Lone Teen Ranger." He and Garfunkel teamed up again as a folk duo in Greenwich Village, signed to Columbia Records, and released Wednesday Morning, 3 AM (October 1964). The album flopped initially, but Simon, who had been spending a lot of time in England, was picked up as a solo artist by CBS and recorded The Paul Simon Songbook, released only in Great Britain in the spring of 1965.
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During this time, Paul traveled to England in order to try and find new songwriting inspiration. While in England, he composed many songs with deep, dark lyrical images, akin to traditional English folk songs. These songs gained popularity in the clubs around England, as Paul embarked on a long and brutal, albeit popular, tour of “one-night-stands” (later referred to in “Homeward Bound”). After catching the eye of Judith Peipe (an older woman who was very supportive of up-and-coming folk artists), Paul soon found himself recording for the BBC as an “inspirational artist.” These songs were hastily recorded for Columbia Records (a subsidiary of EMI Records in the U.K.), and The Paul Simon Songbook was released to critical acclaim and modest sales.
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There was a brief reunion of Simon and Garfunkel in 1964 for the relatively unsuccessful acoustic album "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M" but Garfunkel returned to school and Simon travelled to England. Whilst here, he experimented with his musical style, creating dark and emotional lyrics. He toured around England, was recorded for the BBC and released "The Paul Simon Songbook". Back in the USA, an edited version of "The Sound of Silence" taken from "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M." had reached number one in the charts - this success prompted Simon's return to New York where he went on to record a new album with Garfunkel - ... entitled "Sounds of Silence" which in 1966 saw the pair established as a popular folk-rock duo. Two equally successful albums followed "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme" (1966) and "Bookends" (1968). During this time, the success of Simon's masterly songwriting ability prompted the director Mike Nichols, to request that he write the soundtrack to "The Graduate".
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Paul Simon Songbook