Originally known as Tom & Jerry, Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon formed a legendary partnership that lasted throughout the 1960s. Their records yielded such hits as The Sound of Silence, The Boxer, I Am A Rock, Mrs. Robinson, Scarborough Fair and Bridge Over Troubled Water, among many others.
Following their Grammy
award winning album Bridge Over Troubled Water, the duo broke up, choosing to
pursue their own musical interests. For Paul Simon, this would mean achieving
global success in the 1970s with songs like Me & Julio Down By The
Schoolyard, Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover, Still Crazy After All These Years,
and shorter-titled hits, such as Kodachrome. As the 80s approached, Simon chose
to present his ideas about the music industry in his critically acclaimed, but
commercially unsuccessful film One Trick Pony. Although the movie didn't shatter
any box office records, it did yield the hit single Late In The Evening.
A 1981 reunion concert with Art led to a world tour, and plans for a new Simon & Garfunkel album, tentatively titled Think Too Much. Eventually, Paul dropped Art's vocals from the record, and released it as Hearts & Bones. The album flopped, despite great reviews.
Because, as Paul himself puts it, "nobody was paying attention to me," he was able to pursue his admiration for South African music. A collaboration with prominent South African musicians, notably Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ray Phiri, Bakithi Kumalo and Isaac Mtshali as well as Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters, the East L.A. group Los Lobos and the Everly Brothers became Graceland. Awarded the Grammy award for Album of the Year, and selling 15 million copies worldwide, Paul brought African music to the ears of the world's audience.
In 1990, Paul released the Brazilian flavoured Rhythm of the Saints, featuring the percussion and melodies of South America. While he worked on Rhythm, Paul began the process of creating a Broadway musical. Based on the crime, imprisonment and eventual rehabilitation of Salvador Agron, The Capeman opened on the Great White Way in 1998, only to close a few months later. The story captivated Paul, because it told the tale of a Puerto Rican immigrant kid who grew up in the same city and same era as Paul, although their lives were worlds apart. Told in the language of doo-wop and Salsa, the Capeman achieved rave reviews for its haunting score and vivid sets, though serious problems of production and story-telling led to the show's downfall. Simon rebounded in 1999, touring the US during summer and fall with Bob Dylan. An album of new material is expected in early 2000.
