Simon & Garfunkel

在希望与恐惧交叠翻腾的60年代，Simon & Garfunkel优美悦耳的声音成了那个年代的心灵寄托，这支双人组合以叙事民谣的细腻情感铺陈，观察周遭时局的生活笔触，跟潜藏于吉他拨弦指法与人声演唱里的情感，创造了流行民谣最亲切的性格。 　　 纽约Forest Hills高校六年级，Paul Simon与Art Garfunkel两人因参与舞台剧「爱丽丝梦游仙境」演出而认识，跟大家一样狂热于50年代摇滚乐的这两个青少年，却也在寻觅着一种将流行摇滚乐与民谣音乐合而为一的可能性，陶醉于The Everly Brothers乐团与一些doo-wop类型音乐的Simon、Garfunkel以Tom & Jerry之名追逐音乐美梦，加盟Big Records音乐厂牌，57年11月，在电视名人Dick Clark所主持的电视歌唱节目「American Bandstand」中曝光演唱创作曲「Hey， Schoolgirl」，单曲成功打进排行榜TOP 50，销售破了15万张，可惜接续的单曲未能再造佳绩，59年，随着两人高校毕业，Tom & Jerry就跟着散摊， Garfunkel前往哥伦比亚大学研习数学与建筑， Simon到昆士区大学潜修英国文学，并改以Jerry Landis之名发窗体曲唱作，更与当时的同窗才女歌手Carole King加入词曲出版的摇篮「Brill Building」，60年为Ritchie Cordell、The Fashoions乐团担任创作与制作，Garfunkel则以Artie Garr之名发了两首单曲，Simon转念法律系后，就与当时准备完成数学学位的Garfunkel组成Simon & Garfunkel，开始演唱民谣小品，64年，Simon从法律系辍学，前往伦敦的民谣圈摸索创作，64年，停摆一段时日的Simon & Garfunkel正式加盟哥伦比亚音乐厂牌。 　　 64年加盟哥伦比亚音乐厂牌的首张专辑「Wednesday Morning，3A.M.」发行之初并未引起太大的瞩目，辑中的单曲「The Sounds Of Silence」直到66年初才以重新混音的版本跃登全美排行冠军，Simon & Garfunkel的音乐旅程平步青云，一年之内，以「Wednesday Morning，3A.M.」、「Sounds Of Silence」(#21)、「Parsley，Sage，Rosemary And Thyme」(#4) 3张TOP 30专辑跟「I Am A Rock」 (#3)、「Homeward Bound" (#5)等TOP 10单曲持续拉高人气，68年为达斯汀霍夫曼主演的电影「毕业生」原声带创作音乐，主题曲「Mr. Robinson」与原声带双双夺冠，勇夺年度唱片与最佳流行重唱两座葛莱美大奖，68年专辑「Bookends」再攀排行冠军巅峰，70年大碟「Bridge Over Troubled Water」与深具灵魂福音乐动容气氛的同名标题曲「Bridge Over Troubled Water」双双在美夺冠，同时掳获葛莱美奖年度专辑、年度唱片、年度歌曲、最佳流行歌曲、最佳重唱歌曲编曲、最佳录音等6项殊荣，专辑蝉连英美两地冠军榜，全球狂销1300万张，「Cecilia」(#4)、「The Boxer」(#7)、「El Condor Pasa(If I Could)」(#18)都是辑中的畅销佳作。 　　 70年夏季于Forest Hills网球体育场举行演唱会后，两人就鲜少一起公开露面，不睦与解散的传闻甚嚣尘上，直到75年才又合录单曲「My Little Town」，81年9月19号，Simon & Garfunkel于纽约中央公园举行免费演唱会，引爆50万名乐迷的热情参与，80年代开始，两人的音乐理念渐行渐远，重组之说烟消云散，88年，Paul Simon以专辑「Graceland」在葛莱美奖上大放异彩，90年以「The Rhythm Of The Saints」勇夺英国金榜冠军。90年， Simon & Garfunkel入选为摇滚名人殿堂一员。90年初，两人一起参与慈善义唱活动，93年更在纽约与亚洲远东地区展开巡回演唱，尽管Garfunkel仅在前后几场场次现身，不过却被某些月弥视为弥足珍贵的重组同台象征，足见Simon & Garfunkel的深刻影响力。回首两人在1964-1970年间，累计写下3张冠军专辑、3张TOP 10专辑、3首冠军单曲、13首TOP 40单曲。 　　 Simon & Garfunkel将歌声化作了一种最和谐的呈现，那份平易近人的感动，随着时间的传承而加深了歌声的隽永性，这个被称作是唱民谣的知识分子的知性魔力，值得你在臣服于酥醉旋律与合声之余，花点时间细细咀嚼一番。 　　 在Simon & Garfunkel的歌声中，您更能深刻体会到，那种平凡的生活，从他们的口中唱出来就成了悦耳的音符，成了我们都喜爱反复去听的民谣。 The most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel crafted a series of memorable hit albums and singles featuring their choirboy harmonies, ringing acoustic and electric guitars, and Simon's acute, finely wrought songwriting. The pair always inhabited the more polished end of the folk-rock spectrum and was sometimes criticized for a certain collegiate sterility. Many also feel that Simon, as both a singer and songwriter, didn't truly blossom until he began his own hugely successful solo career in the 1970s. But the best of S&G's work can stand among Simon's best material, and the duo did progress musically over the course of their five albums, moving from basic folk-rock productions into Latin rhythms and gospel-influenced arrangements that foreshadowed Simon's eclecticism on his solo albums. Simon & Garfunkel's recording history actually predated their first mid-'60s hit by almost a decade. Childhood friends while growing up together in Forest Hills, NY, they began making records in 1957, performing (and often writing their own material) in something of a juvenile Everly Brothers style. Calling themselves Tom & Jerry, their first single, "Hey Schoolgirl," actually made the Top 50, but a series of follow-ups went nowhere. The duo split up, and Simon continued to struggle to make it in the music business as a songwriter and occasional performer, sometimes using the names of Jerry Landis or Tico & the Triumphs. By the early '60s, both Simon and Garfunkel were coming under the influence of folk music. When they reteamed, it was as a folk duo, though Simon's pop roots would serve the act well in their material's synthesis of folk and pop influences. Signing to Columbia, they recorded an initially unsuccessful acoustic debut (as Simon & Garfunkel, not Tom & Jerry) in 1964, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. They again went their separate ways, Simon moving to England, where he played the folk circuit and recorded an obscure solo album. The Simon & Garfunkel story might have ended there, except for a brainstorm of their producer, Tom Wilson (who also produced several of Bob Dylan's early albums). Folk-rock was taking off in 1965, and Wilson, who had helped Dylan electrify his sound, took the strongest track from S&G's debut, "The Sound of Silence,&a