Simon and Garfunkel Songs
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel first met in 1953 in elementary school and remained close friends throughout their childhood. They had their first musical hit as Tom and Jerry in 1957, with the song "Hey, Schoolgirl." However, the duo's real success began in 1964 when, now going by Simon and Garfunkel, they released the song "The Sound of Silence."
The early years
"The Sound of Silence" quickly sent the duo soaring into stardom. Over the next few years, Simon and Garfunkel had a string of hit songs including "I Am a Rock," "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" and "A Hazy Shade of Winter." In 1967, the movie "The Graduate," starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft came out, featuring music by Simon and Garfunkel. The movie proved a hit, earning several Oscars. The soundtrack also found much success, particularly because of the hit song, "Mrs. Robinson." A later version of the song, released on the album "Bookends" in 1968, won the pair a Grammy award in 1969.
Trouble and success
Over the years, the relationship between the two artists grew rocky, and their album "Bridge Over Trouble Waters" found itself delayed several times due to artistic differences. The duo ended up breaking up that year (1970), but the album went platinum. The title song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for six weeks. Other songs off of this album also achieved some success. "Cecilia" reached number four on the chart, and "El Condor Pasa" made it to number eighteen.
After the end
Though Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel never became an official duo again, they performed several reunion concerts over the years, and some of their music achieved later success. In 1975, Simon and Garfunkel performed the song "My Little Town" on the television comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live." Solo albums by both artists came out soon after, with the song included on both albums. "My Little Town" achieved success, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A boxed set entitled "Old Friends" came out in 1997, containing some of their most popular songs as well as some previously unreleased material. This album received Gold certification and led to a very successful Old Friends Tour and an international encore tour.
Other compilations of Simon and Garfunkel hits were released and have achieved quite a bit of success. Though their official time together lasted only five years, the duo's songs have remained popular and well-loved for decades.