Columbia 9914
Producers: Paul Simon, Arthur Garfunkel, and Roy Halee
Track listing: Bridge Over Troubled Water / El Condor Paso / Cecilia / Keep the Customer Satisfied / So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright / The Boxer / Baby Driver / The Only Living Boy in New York / Why Don’t You Write Me / Bye Bye Love / Song For the Asking
March 7, 1970
10 weeks
One of the ironies of the music business is that success often leads to an act’s demise. Such was the case with Simon and Garfunkel. After scoring their second consecutive Number One album with Bookends and their second Number One single with “Mrs. Robinson,” Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel began to drift apart.
Bridge Over Troubled Water was a perfect title for the duo’s follow-up album, as Simon and Garfunkel were finding it increasingly difficult to work with each other. At times when the album was being recorded, the duo didn’t work together, as Garfunkel was in Mexico acting in Mike Nichols’s war comedy/drama Catch-22.
Simon addressed Garfunkel’s absence in the song “The Only Living Boy in New York.” Says Garfunkel, “Paul would say he wrote it with me in mind. I was down in Guaymas, Mexico, making this film.” As Garfunkel notes, Simon makes reference to the duo’s early stage name, Tom and Jerry, by using Tom in the opening line. “It’s very dear and very affectionate,” he says. “It’s a song about somebody missing his colleague.”
While Simon may have missed Garfunkel, there were likely other times when he was happy he was gone. Garfunkel objected to Simon’s politically charged “Cuba Si, Nixon No,” so the track was left off the album, much to Simon’s displeasure. That dispute and Garfunkel’s film commitments raised tensions between the two childhood friends.
“It was a tough album to make, but tough is one of the words that leads to great results,” says Garfunkel. “Tough leads to wanting to take a rest. Neither of us expected rest to mean the dissolution of Simon and Garfunkel.”
On Bridge Over Troubled Water and its title track, Simon and Garfunkel issued a fitting swan song. Simon originally wrote the tune on guitar as a gospel hymn with two verses. He opted to let Garfunkel sing lead, a decision he later regretted when it became one of the duo’s most popular songs. Simon added the third verse in the studio at Garfunkel’s request, as the song was transformed into a majestic piano ballad, complete with a sweeping string arrangement and Garfunkel’s alternating chilling and bombastic vocals.
Garfunkel says “Bridge Over Troubled Water” remains one of the duo’s crowning achievements. “The song is so damn strong. It constantly lives for me as a tender expression of ‘if you are hurting, I will try to provide some strength.’ It’s a little tough to sing ’59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)’ today, but not ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ because I didn’t grow beyond that sentiment. All I have to do is put my mind there and the hurt goes on. And the need to be soothed when things hurt is timeless.”
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” hit Number One on the Hot 100 on FebruÂary 28, 1970. A week later, the album hit the top spot. The album and single also simultaneously topped the British charts.
“The Boxer,” released well in advance of the album, reached number seven in May 1969, while “Cecilia” reached number four in May 1970. A fourth single, “El Condor Pasa,” Simon’s adaptation of a Peruvian folk song, stalled at number 18 in October 1970.
On March 16, 1971, Simon and Garfunkel swept the 13th annual GramÂmy Awards as Bridge Over Troubled Water won album of the year and the title track took record of the year, song of the year, best contemporary song, best arrangement accompanying vocalists, and best-engineered record.
By that time, however, the Simon and Garfunkel partnership was history. Art Garfunkel continued to pursue acting, landing a role in Carnal Knowledge, while Paul Simon’s solo career was just beginning.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of March 7, 1970
1. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
2. Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin
3. Abbey Road, The Beatles
4. Willie and the Poorboys, Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Chicago II, Chicago