Product Description

When Paul Simon fled New York for England in the early '60s, he was leaving behind a former life as part of doo-wop duoTom and Jerry in search of a more sophisticated folk sound,following the trend for intelligent collegiate types at thetime. In England he met and was affected by progressive folkies like Jackson C. Frank and Davy Graham, and developed his own sound. Simon & Garfunkel's debut album captures a couple of young, often cerebral, unfailingly earnest singers trying to create something new under the sun. The combination of creatively arranged folk standards and embryonic Simon originals sounds somewhat naive now, but is still affecting. The standout is the tune that--in a rearranged version on their next album, announcing the arrival of folk-rock--would make them stars and help set their musical course: the first great alienation anthem, "The Sounds of Silence".

Track Listing

1. You Can Tell the World
2. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
3. Bleecker Street
4. Sparrow
5. Benedictus
6. Sound of Silence
7. He Was My Brother
8. Peggy-O
9. Go Tell It on the Mountain
10. Sun Is Burning
11. Times They Are A-Changin'
12. Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18071 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-20
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Strangest dream
Overlooked, probably because it was written at a time of extraordinarily high-quality music and by a duo who would go on to do even better things (when did you last here a new song like Mrs Robinson?). This is lovely stuff, from the melancholy Bleeker Street to the symbolism and eloquence of Sparrow. The protest songs Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream and Sun is Burning are as relevant and surprisingly poignant (if as naive, perhaps)40 years on. What's striking to anyone who has followed Paul Simon's work is that the Everly Brothers-style harmonies would never be closer than on this album and Paul's voice is as angelic as Art's. What's missing, however, is the acerbic intelligence of an older Paul Simon, and sometimes the music sounds just a little too sweet.

One for Simon and Garfunkel completists only!
If you have any of the other four original S&G studio albums and you buy this...you may be disappointed.This is certainly not in the same league as the four classic albums that followed.
However, for the dedicated S&G fan there is still much of interest here.This was their first release and is a mix of Simon compositions and other standard 'folk' type songs.The original version of 'Sounds Of Silence' is an obvious standout and very appealing even without the later added 'electrics'.I also like 'Sparrow' and 'He Was My Brother' and their version of Dylans 'Times The Are A-Changing is also very catchy.
If you listen closely enough you can catch the unmistakeable talent that was to be captured fully in the later superb studio albums.As there are only four other original studio albums, this is definitely a bonus for the dedicated S&G fan.One to complete the collection!

Hugely underrated album
This always seems to be portrayed as the album from before Simon and Garfunkel became good. This is nonsense - this album is very much in the same league as the others. The pure folk sound without the rock elements added later display, in particular, the simple elegance of Art Garfunkel's guitar playing and the duo's ability with Everly Brothers influenced harmonies. Tracks like 'You Can Tell The World' and the hauting 'He Was My Brother' are as pacey and exciting as any rock and roll despite being only two guys and guitar, while the beautifully gentle (but by no means dull) 'Bleeker Street' and 'Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.' show are probably the highlights of this collection, except for the simpler version of 'Sound of Silence' without the electric backing.