Sounds of Silence

Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence".^[2] The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed by Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965.^[3]^[4] This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.

"Homeward Bound" was released on the album in the UK, placed at the beginning of Side 2 before "Richard Cory". It was also released as part of the box set Simon & Garfunkel Collected Works, on both LP and CD. Many of the songs in the album had been written by Paul Simon while he lived in London during 1965.

Solo acoustic versions of "I Am a Rock", "Leaves That Are Green", "April Come She Will", "A Most Peculiar Man", and "Kathy's Song" had appeared on The Paul Simon Songbook, released in August 1965 in England as had another version of the title track. "Richard Cory" was based on a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" was essentially a rewrite of the previous album's "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.", "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'" had appeared on the b-side of "The Sound of Silence" a few months before and "Anji" was a cover of an instrumental piece by guitarist Davey Graham whom Simon had met in England. Hence the only brand new Paul Simon composition on the album was "Blessed".

The album is also included in its entirety as part of the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970). On March 22, 2013, it was announced that the album will be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Simon, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"The Sound of Silence"		March 10, 1964 (basic track) June 15, 1965 (overdubs)	3:08
2.	"Leaves That Are Green"		December 13, 1965	2:23
3.	"Blessed"		December 21, 1965	3:16
4.	"Kathy's Song"		December 21, 1965	3:21
5.	"Somewhere They Can't Find Me"		April 5, 1965	2:37
6.	"Anji"	Davey Graham	December 13, 1965	2:17

Side two
No.	Title	Recorded	Length
7.	"Richard Cory"	December 14, 1965	2:57
8.	"A Most Peculiar Man"	December 22, 1965	2:34
9.	"April Come She Will"	December 21, 1965	1:51
10.	"We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'"	April 5, 1965	2:00
11.	"I Am a Rock"	December 14, 1965	2:50

Produced by Bob Johnston

Bonus tracks (2001 CD reissue)
Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
12.	"Blues Run the Game"	Jackson C. Frank	December 21, 1965	2:55
13.	"Barbriallen" (Previously unreleased)	Traditional	July 8, 1970	4:06
14.	"Rose of Aberdeen" (Previously unreleased)	Traditional	July 8, 1970	2:02
15.	"Roving Gambler" (Previously unreleased)	Traditional	July 8, 1970	3:03

Track 12 Produced by Bob Johnston Tracks 13-15 Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel & Roy Halee

Track listing (UK version)

All tracks written by Paul Simon, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"The Sound of Silence"		March 10, 1964 (basic track) June 15, 1965 (overdubs)	3:08
2.	"Leaves That Are Green"		December 13, 1965	2:23
3.	"Blessed"		December 21, 1965	3:16
4.	"Kathy's Song"		December 21, 1965	3:21
5.	"Somewhere They Can't Find Me"		April 5, 1965	2:37
6.	"Anji"	Davey Graham	December 13, 1965	2:17

Side two
No.	Title	Recorded	Length
7.	"Homeward Bound (UK Versions only)"	December 14, 1965	2:57
8.	"Richard Cory"	December 14, 1965	2:57
9.	"A Most Peculiar Man"	December 22, 1965	2:34
10.	"April Come She Will"	December 21, 1965	1:51
11.	"We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'"	April 5, 1965	2:00
12.	"I Am a Rock"	December 14, 1965	2:50

Notes

English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg lifted the opening lines of "Leaves That Are Green" ("I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long") for his song "A New England", which appeared on Bragg's 1983 EP Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy. These same lyrics can be found in the Kirsty MacColl version of this song. Released as a cover in 1984, the song was MacColl's biggest solo hit—reaching #7 in the UK and #8 in Ireland.
The Tremeloes' recording of "Blessed" became their 1966 "solo debut" single (without Brian Poole).
"Somewhere They Can't Find Me" is essentially a reworking of the title track of the duo's first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. It was recorded along with "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'" a few months before producer Tom Wilson dubbed electric instruments on "Sounds of Silence". The recurring descending bass line in the track as well as its introductory guitar riff were borrowed from Davey Graham's acoustic guitar piece "Anji", a cover of which follows on the album.
Two songs on the album deal with suicide: "Richard Cory" and "A Most Peculiar Man".
The song "Richard Cory" was based on a poem with the same title by Edwin Arlington Robinson. The chorus, however, is entirely of Simon's composition.
Them (with Van Morrison) recorded "Richard Cory" as a single in 1966. Wings (band) covered "Richard Cory" on their 1976 live triple album Wings over America.
The song "April Come She Will" bears structural resemblance to a traditional English rhyme, "Cuckoo, cuckoo, what do you do?", a phenology of the common cuckoo from April through September.
Nancy Wilson (of Heart) performs a cover of "Kathy's Song" on her 1999 album Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop.
Eva Cassidy covered "Kathy's Song" on her 2000 CD Time After Time, released four years after her death.

Cover

The album cover photo was shot at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles, California.
There are three cover variations of the LP:
- Original issue: SIMON & GARFUNKEL on one line; SOUNDS OF SILENCE on another, all in capital letters, no song titles on the front.
- Second issue: Enlarged title letters, with only the first letter of the words "Sounds" and "Silence" in the album title capitalized. The first letters in "Simon" and "Garfunkel" are capitalized, but the rest are in lower-case. Song titles also included on the front.
- Third issue: Same front cover as the second, the back cover has the copy of Tiger Beat magazine in Garfunkel's hand airbrushed out.
The original LP label mistakenly spells "Anji" as "Angie" and credits it to Bert Jansch, who had recorded the tune for his 1965 debut album. The back cover of the original LP sleeve properly credits Davey Graham as composer but retains the "Angie" misspelling. Both errors were corrected for subsequent reissues.
On older LP and CD issues of the album, "The Sound of Silence" is titled as "The Sounds of Silence" on both the cover and label. Similarly, "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'" is titled as "We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'".

Charts

Chart (1966)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	13
US Album Charts	21
Chart (1970)	Peak position
Spanish Albums Chart^[5]	2

Personnel

Paul Simon: lead vocals, guitar
Art Garfunkel: lead vocals
Fred Carter, Jr.: guitar
Larry Knechtel: keyboards
Glen Campbell: guitar
Joe South: guitar
Joe Osborn: bass guitar
Hal Blaine: drums
Bob Johnston: producer

Sounds of Silence was recorded in December 1965 at CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and Los Angeles, California. .

"The Sound of Silence" (electric overdubs) personnel:

Al Gorgoni: guitar
Vinnie Bell: guitar
Joe Mack: bass guitar^[6]
Bobby Gregg: drums

"The Sound of Silence" overdubs were recorded at Columbia's "Studio A" at 799 Seventh Avenue near 52nd Street by Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965.^[3]^[4]

References

↑ DeBolt, Abbe Allen (2011). Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 604. ISBN 978-0313329449.
↑ Mastropolo, Frank (March 10, 2015). "51 Years Ago: Simon & Garfunkel Record Their First Classic, 'The Sounds of Silence'". Ultimate Classic Rock.
1 2 Simons, David (2004). Studio Stories – How the Great New York Records Were Made. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. Cf. pp.94–97.
1 2 Charlesworth, Chris, The Complete Guide to the Music of Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel, Omnibus Press 1996. Cf. especially pp.17–18 on Sound of Silence.
↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
↑ "Joe Mack - Biography & History - AllMusic".

External links

Sony Music

Simon & Garfunkel

Paul Simon Art Garfunkel

Studio albums	Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Sounds of Silence Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Bookends Bridge over Troubled Water

Live albums	The Concert in Central Park Live from New York City, 1967 Old Friends: Live on Stage Live 1969

Compilation albums	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits Collected Works The Simon and Garfunkel Collection 20 Greatest Hits The Definitive Simon & Garfunkel Old Friends The Best of Simon and Garfunkel Two Can Dream Alone Tales from New York: The Very Best of Simon & Garfunkel The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) Tom & Jerry The Collection The Essential Simon & Garfunkel Before the Fame Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel The Collection: Simon & Garfunkel America: The Simon and Garfunkel Collection

Soundtrack albums	The Graduate

Videos	The Concert in Central Park Old Friends: Live on Stage

Discographies	Simon & Garfunkel Art Garfunkel Paul Simon

Other	Songs Paul Simon solo albums Paul Simon songs Art Garfunkel solo albums Bridge over Troubled Water (Paul Desmond album)

Book Category

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.