Simon And Garfunkel biography

Back in America, former folk icon Bob Dylan had 'gone electric' and was finding much success, along with bands like The Byrds. So producer Tom Wilson decided to enhance Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound Of Silence track - adding bass, drums and electric guitar. The result was powerfully evocative and the single reached No.1 in the US prompting the duo to reunite sharpish for what would become the most commercially successful period of their career. They recorded the album Sound Of Silence in 1966 - essentially an electric version of Simon's British solo album and during that year the album's tracks Homeward Bound and I Am A Rock became hit singles in the UK and US. Follow-up album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme polished up the duo's clean cut harmonies and saw Simon's songwriting developing rapidly. He tried out different styles - from cleverly splicing two traditional songs (Scarborough Fair/Canticle) to the joyful pop of The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) and the romanticism of For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her.

By now Simon and Garfunkel were consciously orientating themselves to college audiences. In the summer of 1967 the duo played the Monterey Pop Festival (Simon had a major hand in organising the whole event) and headlined the first day. After the release of their semi-psychedelic single Fakin' It, the duo were signed to provide the soundtrack for Mike Nichols' cult film about disaffected youth, The Graduate. Released in 1968 the soundtrack album contained instrumental pieces by Dave Grusin, several old Simon compositions and one new song, the fizzy pop of Mrs Robinson which reached No.1 in the UK. The film's success helped to give the duo the top three slots in the US album charts in 1968.

The band's next album, Bookends, is regarded by many critics as representing the peak of the duo's career. It was an ambitions set, the first side intended as a concept song cycle, leading from youth (Save The Life Of My Child) through to the evocative America - a mediation on the state of the nation, to old age with the wistful Old Friends. But even greater success was to come in 1970 when the duo created pop history by simultaneously topping the UK and US single AND album charts with Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album's title track would become its main selling point, an epic, exquisitely arranged ballad which would become the duo's signature tune. The album included some of Simon's most accomplished writing. Highlights included the celebratory Cecilia, The Boxer and the adapted Peruvian folk tune, El Condor Pasa.

But Garfunkel was becoming disillusioned at Simon dominating songwriting duties and the duo%u2019s direction. So, at the peak of their fame, citing the classic artistic differences, the duo split up, creating a legend in their wake. Garfunkel concentrated on acting, appearing in Catch 22 in 1970, Carnal Knowledge in 1971 and the Nic Roeg psycho-sexual drama Bad Timing in 1980. He cut a series of largely indifferent solo albums. 1978's Watermark was the most critically well received, containing a hit version of I Only Have Eyes For You. Paul Simon meanwhile embarked on a highly successful solo career almost immediately after the split. The pop-reggae stylings of Mother and Child Reunion became a Top 5 hit single in 1972 and the similarly titled album also hit the UK No.1 spot. Simon continued to experiment with an array of musical styles on follow up albums, There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973) and 1975's Grammy Award winning Still Crazy After All These Years.

In 1986 Simon created headlines with his Graceland album by teaming up with South African musicians for inspiration. The result was a highly infectious exotic fusion of Simon's pop sensibilities and African rhythms on tracks like Boy In The Bubble and Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes. The album won a Grammy despite the furore surrounding Simon's supposed breach of the anti-apartheid cultural boycott (through recording and touring the album in S. Africa). Four years later, he delivered The Rhythm of the Saints which did for Brazilian music what Graceland had done for South African music and was another multi-platinum seller.

As a duo, Simon and Garfunkel reunited intermittently. They gave a free concert in New York in 1982 and released the album, The Concert in Central Park. More recently, in 2004 they reunited for a money spinning world tour (that took in London's Hyde Park) releasing the results on the album, Old Friends, Live On Stage.

• Discography