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Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1969
Time:
 37:28
Category: Pop/Folk
Producer(s): Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.simonandgarfunkel.com
Appears with: Paul Simon
Purchase date: 1997.10.08
Price in €: 14,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s

[1] Bridge over Troubled Water (P.Simon) - 4:52
[2] El Condor Pasa [If I Could] (P.Simon/J.Milchberg/D.A.Robles) - 3:06
[3] Cecilia (P.Simon) - 2:55
[4] Keep the Customer Satisfied (P.Simon) - 2:33
[5] So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (P.Simon) - 3:41
[6] The Boxer (P.Simon) - 5:08
[7] Baby Driver (P.Simon) - 3:15
[8] The Only Living Boy in New York (P.Simon) - 3:57
[9] Why Don't You Write Me (P.Simon) - 2:45
[10] Bye Bye Love (F.Bryant/B.Bryant) - 2:55
[11] Song for the Asking (P.Simon) - 1:39

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Paul Simon - Guitar, Arranger, Vocals, Producer
Art Garfunkel - Arranger, Vocals, Producer

Hal Blaine - Drums
Fred Carter, Jr. - Guitar
Ernie Freeman  Combo - Strings
Jimmie Haskell - Strings
Larry Knechtel - Arranger, Keyboards
Joe Osborn - Bass

Roy Halee - Producer, Engineer
Ted Brosnan - Recording
Bob Irwin - Reissue Producer
Vic Anesini -  Mastering
Angela Skouras - Art Direction
Bud Scoppa - Liner Notes
Henny Garfunkel - Arranger, Producer
Mike Cimicata - Packaging Manager
Tony Lane - Design
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

1969 LP Columbia CK-9914
1969 CS Columbia PCT-9914
1990 CD Columbia/Legacy 53444
1990 CD Columbia/Legacy 64421
1990 CD Sony 9914
1992 CD Sony 9914
1993 CD Sony 53444
1994 CD Sony 64421
2001 LP Classic Compact Disc 991445
2001 LP Classic Compact Disc 9914

Recorded between August 11 and November 15, 1969. Originally released on Columbia Records (9914).

After half a decade of pop superstardom, America's favourite folk-rock duo were just about ready to go their separate ways (at least Simon was), but not before releasing this gem of a swan song. Possibly S&G's most diverse album, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER firmly established them as creators of popstandards on a par with Irving Berlin or Johnny Mercer. Thetitle tune alone, a beautifully unfolding gospel-tinged vowof emotional commitment, places them in the pop hall of fame forever. The story obviously doesn't stop there. Foreshadowing Simon's solo work, the jubilant love song "Cecilia" and the poignant, yearning "El Condor Pasa" both turn to thetraditions of other cultures for musical inspiration. The highly metaphorical "The Boxer" is the only real throwback toSimon's more self-conscious early work. The transcendent production of "The Only Living Boy in New York" puts a pop sheen on an early example of Simon's nascent Randy Newman influence. What a way to say goodbye.

All songs written by Paul Simon except "Bye Bye Love" (Felice Bryant/ Boudleaux Bryant) and "El Condor Pasa" (18th century Peruvian folk melodyarranged by Jorge Milchberg, instrumental track by Los Incas, English lyrics by Paul Simon). Master Sound releases are 24-karat gold CDs remastered from first-generation masters. This process utilizes 20-bit technology and Sony's Super Bit Mapping system.



No one can say Simon & Garfunkel went out with a whimper. The popular duo's 1970 swan song produced four hit singles and won six Grammy awards, including Record, Album, and Song of the Year. An involving mix of sweeping epics ("The Boxer," the title track) and breezy throwaways (a live cover of the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love," the rock & roll trifle "Baby Driver"), Bridge was one of the most popular albums of its era. What's particularly striking about this collection is how brightly lesser-acclaimed songs like "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" and the gorgeous "The Only Living Boy in New York" shine. (The 2001 reissue adds a pair of demos to the original work, including the traditional "Feuilles-O.")

Steven Stolder - Amazon.com essential recording



Bridge Over Troubled Water was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of Bridge Over Troubled Water also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on Bookends - this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. And, ironically, it all grew out of events that went back more than two years, to the hookup between Simon & Garfunkel and film director Mike Nichols on the movie The Graduate. The creative contact between Paul Simon and Nichols had yielded one monster hit ("Mrs. Robinson") and some rejections from the film ("Overs," "Punky's Dilemma"), and also a soundtrack that had greatly broadened the duo's audience; and it had introduced would-be actor Art Garfunkel to Nichols. And, suddenly, Garfunkel was involved in the shooting of Nichols' Catch-22, which took up most of his time for the better part of a year, and Simon was left to his own devices during his partner's absences. Thus, the close collaboration between the two, which had existed in this phase of their lives since 1965, was frayed not just at the edges but down to its very core. The very idea of a concept album such as Bookends had been, even if a concept could have been suggested, was thus out of the question.

As it turned out, absent anything as powerful as the sustained first side of Bookends, much of the resulting material here is fine, albeit relatively lightweight: "Baby Driver" with its Jan & Dean-style harmonies and early-'60s rock & roll beat; the upbeat "Cecelia," utilizing the largest array of percussion ever heard on a Simon & Garfunkel song; the live rendition of the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love"; and the reggae beat of "Why Don't You Write Me." Moreover, it was possible to discern a recurring theme on Bridge Over Troubled Water, but this was much more a reflection of the condition of the partnership than a conscious artistic statement - where Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme had been built around middle-class teen and post-teen zeitgeist, and Bookends focused on the joys and dangers of growing old, Bridge Over Troubled Water had songs that quietly betrayed the fissures in the partnership: "The Only Living Boy in New York" was Simon's personal account of the isolation he felt on a creative level over Garfunkel's extended absence; "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" was a memorial to the architect, written for Garfunkel to sing, but it could just as easily be thought of as a farewell to his longtime collaborator Garfunkel (who had aspirations of being an architect); even "Why Don't You Write Me" was a song about lack of communication that seemed to slot into the division between the two partners.

Bridge Over Troubled Water had a lot more in common with the Beatles' Let It Be album than with any prior Simon & Garfunkel release - except that Simon, in reaching to the bottom of his song bag, along with Garfunkel and producer/engineer Roy Halee, in applying their arranging skills in this dire situation, came up with a transcendent album. The title track was the best example; by some accounts, Garfunkel had insisted that Simon sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on first hearing it. The piece evolved in their hands, however, and ultimately benefited from what many regard as the best recorded vocal performance of Garfunkel's career. Similarly, "The Only Living Boy in New York" was an obviously deeply personal song, but Garfunkel managed to add an extraordinary accompaniment to the composer's lead vocal. And there were places where the two were on the same page from the get-go, such as "El Condor Pasa." The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. Comparing other farewells of the same era, either to partnerships or the decade, the Beatles' Let It Be was a flawed, threadbare representation of the group's work, and the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, which marked the last musical contributions of Brian Jones and their last new work for their old label, was a nasty, unsettling statement. Bridge Over Troubled Water, at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing, and at other times, it was just plain fun.

The public in 1970 - a very unsettled time politically, socially, and culturally - embraced it, and whatever mood they captured, the songs matched the standard of craftsmanship that had been established on the duo's two prior albums. Between the record's overall quality and its four hits - "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "The Boxer" (which had been recorded and released prior to the LP), "El Condor Pasa," and "Cecelia," which kept the duo on the AM airwaves for months - the album held the number one position for two and a half months and spent years on the charts, racking up sales in excess of five million copies. It also managed to cross over between segments of the audience that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and others seldom reached - siblings from teens to early thirties bought it, and teenagers and their parents alike loved different parts of the record. The songs were widely covered by artists in virtually every category, and the entire LP's worth of material was rethought in a jazz vein by Paul Desmond on A&M Records. The irony was that for all of the record's and the music's appeal, the duo itself - the partnership - ended in the course of creating and completing the album. [The August 2001 remastering of Bridge Over Troubled Water is the first-ever CD version of the album that sounds good - properly mastered off of what sounds like the real first-generation tapes, it lives up to the expectations that one had for this record on CD. Neither of the two additional bonus tracks adds significantly to the record, although the demo of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" does give a hint of the song's evolution.]

Bruce Eder - All Music Guide



It wasn't clear at the time, but Bridge Over Troubled Water was an album about the end -- a casually ambitious look back at an expiring musical partnership (Simon and Garfunkel) and decade (the Sixties). Recorded in late 1969, it's largely remembered for a pair of big-themed production masterworks: "The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," led by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, respectively. "Bridge" quickly attained the beloved stature of a hymn, while "The Boxer" -- a metaphor for the immigrant experience in America -- ranks with Simon's finest songs. At the other extreme are sprightly tunes that hearken back to the duo's Fifties roots: "Cecelia," whose echoed hand claps sound like an early hip-hop drum loop, and "Keep the Customer Satisfied," the antic tale of a flimflam man staying ahead of the law. During the Bridge sessions, Garfunkel was often working on the film Catch-22 in Mexico; Simon gently notes his absence in "The Only Living Boy in New York." The notion of life chapters closing also permeates the folksy bossa nova "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright." It's ironic that "Bridge Over Troubled Water," a gospel-style song of reassurance and solidarity that Simon wrote as a vehicle for Garfunkel's golden tenor, would be one of their final collaborations. But they exited on an exhilarating note.

PARKE PUTERBAUGH - Apr 22, 2003
Rolling Stone


...[Their] final record is probably their best. It's certainly their most consistent....notable for the strength of its melodies, the force of its lyrics and the Abbey Road-style sophistication of its production."

Q (1/00, p.140) - 4 stars out of 5



"...One of the biggest-selling albums in pop history..."

Uncut (8/01, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5
  

 L y r i c s


BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.


EL CONDOR PASA

I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

CHORUS
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man grows older every day
It gives the world
Its saddest sound,
Its saddest sound.

I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

CHORUS


CECILIA

CHORUS
Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Come on home

CHORUS

Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom,
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed,
Someone's taken my place.

CHORUS

Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing

Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing.


KEEP THE CUSTOMER SATISFIED

Gee but it's great to be back home
Home is where I want to be.
I've been on the road so long my friend,
And if you came along
I know you couldn't disagree.

CHORUS
It's the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible
And I'm on step ahead of the shoe shine
Two steps away from the county line
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.

Deputy Sheriff said to me
Tell me what you come here for, boy.
You better get your bags and flee.
You're in trouble boy,
And you're heading into more.

CHORUS


SO LONG, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright.
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.

I'll remember Frank Lloyd Wright.
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.

CHORUS
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.


THE BOXER

I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.

When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.

CHORUS
Lie-la-lie.....

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers.
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there.

CHORUS

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home.

In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains

CHORUS


BABY DRIVER

My daddy was the family bassman
My mamma was an engineer
And I was born one dark gray morn
With music coming in my ears
In my ears.

CHORUS
They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
Hit the road and I'm gone ah
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels
Ba ba ba ba
Scoot down the road
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.

My daddy was a prominent frogman
My mamma's in the Naval reserve
When I was young I carried a gun
But I never got the chance to serve
I did not serve.

CHORUS

My daddy got a big promotion
My mamma got a raise in pay
There's no-one home, we're all alone
Oh come int my room and play
Yes we can play.

I'm not talking about your pigtails
But I'm talking 'bout your sex appeal
Hit the road and I'm gone ah
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.
Ba ba ba ba
Scoot down the road
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.


THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK

Tom, get your plane right on time.
I know your part'll go fine.
Fly down to Mexico.
Da-n-da-da-n-da-n-da-da and here I am,
The only living boy in New York.

I get the news I need on the weather report.
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.
Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile.
Da-n-da-da-n-da-da-n-da-da here I am
The only living boy in New York

Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where,
And we don't know here.

Tom, get your plane right on time.
I know you've been eager to fly now.
Hey let your honesty shine, shine, shine
Da-n-da-da-n-da-da-n-da-da
Like it shines on me
The only living boy in New York,
The only living boy in New York.


WHY DON'T YOU WRITE ME

Why don't you write me
I'm out in the jungle
I'm hungry to hear you.
Send me a card,
I am waiting so hard
To be near you.
(La, la, la)
Why don't you write?
Something is wrong
And I know I got to be there.
Maybe I'm lost,
But I can't make the cost
Of the airfare.
Tell me why
Why
Why
Tell me why
Why
Why

Why don't you write me,
A letter would brighten
My loneliest evening.
Mail it today
If it's only to say
That you're leaving me.
(La, la, la)

Monday morning, sitting in the sun
Hoping and wishing for the mail to come.
Tuesday, never got a word,
Wednesday, Thursday, ain't no sign,
Drank a half a bottle of iodine.
Friday, woe is me
Gonna hang my body from the highest tree.
Why don't you write me?


BYE BYE LOVE

CHORUS
Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
Till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

CHORUS

I'm through with romance
I'm through with love
I'm through with counting
The stars above
And here's the reason
That I'm so free
My loving baby
Is through with me

CHORUS


SONG FOR THE ASKING

Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile

This is my tune for the taking
Take it, don't turn away
I've been waiting all my life

Thinking it over, I've been sad
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad
To change my ways for the asking

Ask me and I will ply
All the love that I hold inside

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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