![]() ![]() Art managed very well after the split too, his first two solo albums being absolutely sublime. He didn’t need support, as was shown by his string of incredible solo albums. I think the breakup was inevitable, not only because of the personality issues but because Paul Simon is essentially a one-man band, a singer-songwriter par excellence, possibly the greatest ever. But, after only one more album, the game-changing Bridge Over Troubled Waters, the duo split. It wasn’t really until Bookends when Paul was writing specifically for Simon and Garfunkel that, for me, the act really gelled. Simon and Garfunkel’s first couple of albums were largely rehashes of Paul’s old songs from his Songbook album, with Art putting on the harmonies and a bass and drums providing the rhythm. I was there when Homeward Bound had its first public performance and Paul (Art had gone back to New York by then) was so popular, even then, that people would pay to sit on the steps leading down to the basement just to hear him through a closed door. I remember when I first heard them sing in Les Cousins, the dingy basement folk club in Soho’s Greek Street in 1965, thinking that Art was a bit superfluous and Paul could manage very well by himself. He really had Art off to a tee, including all the quirky little movements, waistcoats and thumbs in the waistband. Philip Murray Warson, as Paul Simon, sang really nicely and played some tricky guitar parts well but it was Charles who was the front man. Although quiet and introverted Paul was very much the dominant partner, in this show it was Charles as Art who dominated. One thing that was different in this show from the real thing was the balance between the two performers. I doubt there are many singers in any genre that could come close to singing Bridge Over Troubled Waters as well as Art but Charles almost did, it was truly amazing. Charles Blyth, who sings Art in this show, comes incredibly close with a voice of the same purity, timbre and beauty. He has the voice of an angel which sometimes defies its human source. ![]() One of my original reservations was the casting of Art Garfunkel. Needless to say, the songs were excellent but so were the performances. Well, firstly let me say that it was a fabulous show, beautifully performed and presented. So, when I saw The Simon and Garfunkel Story was touring Holland I decided it was time I should finally take a look so I got in touch with Dean to fix it up – I still didn’t tell him that I had known Paul Simon – and I approached the show with what I hoped was an open mind. Even without knowing them they were special and I didn’t fancy seeing their memory besmirched by what could easily have been a second rate tribute act – although, to be fair I had seen Dean in the title role of Buddy and he had been excellent in that. I was/am a big fan of them, both individually and together, and was at their final London concert at the Albert Hall in April 1970 when, after a pitch invasion and being mobbed on stage, Paul said, prophetically, that they would never play London again. I have to confess there was a little resistance on my part, the reason being that I had known Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel personally, Paul especially, in London in the sixties. Its creator, producer and, original Paul Simon, Dean Elliott was keen for me to see the show in its very early days in England but I made excuses and never got round to it. ![]() I’ve known about this show for some years. ![]()
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