Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel were an American popular music duo comprised of Paul Simon and Arthur "Art" Garfunkel. Simon and Garfunkel were among the most popular recording artists of the 1960s, and are best known for their songs "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". They have received several Grammys and are inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early history

In 1956, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were juniors at Forest Hills High School in New York City. They began playing together as a group called Tom and Jerry, with Simon as Jerry Landis and Garfunkel as Tom Graph, so called because he always liked to track ("graph") hits on the pop charts. As seniors in 1957, they then started writing their own songs in the Everly Brothers' rock and roll style. They managed to record one of their first songs, "Hey, Schoolgirl", for Sid Prosen of Big Records. Released on 45 and 78 rpm records, the single — backed with "Dancin' Wild" — sold 100,000 copies, hitting #49 on the Billboard charts.

Related Topics:
1956 - Paul Simon - Art Garfunkel - Forest Hills High School - New York City - 1957 - Everly Brothers - Rock and roll - Big Records - Billboard

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They later performed their hit on American Bandstand, right after Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire".

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American Bandstand - Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire

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Subsequent efforts in 1958 did not reach near their initial success, and after high school the duo split, with Simon enrolling at Queens College and Garfunkel matriculating into Columbia University.

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1958 - Queens College - Columbia University

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In 1963 they found prominence as part of the same New York City folk music scene as Bob Dylan, with close harmony singing inspired by the Everly Brothers, combined with Simon's acoustic guitar playing. Simon, who had finished college but dropped out of Brooklyn Law School, had — like Garfunkel — developed an interest in the folk scene. Simon showed Garfunkel a few songs that he had written in the folk style: "Sparrow", "Bleecker Street", and "He Was My Brother" — which was later dedicated to Andrew Goodman, a friend of both Simon and Garfunkel, and a classmate of Simon's at Queen's College, who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, on June 21, 1964.

Related Topics:
1963 - Folk music - Bob Dylan - Guitar - Brooklyn Law School - Andrew Goodman - Neshoba County, Mississippi - June 21 - 1964

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These three efforts were among five original songs by Simon included on their first album for Columbia Records, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which initially flopped upon its release on October 19, 1964.

Related Topics:
Columbia Records - Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. - October 19 - 1964

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