Bookends [PA]

Performer: Simon & Garfunkel
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Personnel includes: Paul Simon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals); Jimmy Haskell (arranger). Producers include: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee. Reissue producer: Bob Irwin. Recorded between September 7, 1966 and October 16, 1968. Originally released on Columbia Records (9529). Includes liner notes by Bud Scoppa. Ultradiscs are mastered from the original master tapes using Mobile Fidelity's proprietary mastering technique, then plated with 24 karat gold and housed in a stress-resistant lift-lock jewel box. Personnel includes: Paul Simon (vocals, guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals). Producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee. Simon & Garfunkel's first consistently excellent album, 1968's BOOKENDS is a brief (12 songs in less than 30 minutes) but beautiful song cycle that sums up all of Paul Simon's '60s themes of alienation and identity in a newly orchestrated and elegant style far removed from the skeletal folk-rock of their earlier albums. The entire first half, bracketed by the lovely "Bookends Theme," has a suite-like feel even though it encompasses songs as varied as the chaotic "Save the Life of My Child" and the subtle acoustic reverie "Overs," not to mention the anthemic "America" and Art Garfunkel's audio-verite "Voices of Old People." The second half is the closest Simon & Garfunkel ever came to rock & roll, featuring not only the classics "Mrs. Robinson" and "Hazy Shade of Winter," but the lesser-known, quirky gems "Fakin' It" and "Punky's Dilemma," two of Simon's weirdest and most playful songs. An eclectic and multi-dimensional album, BOOKENDS is probably Simon & Garfunkel's masterpiece. Simon & Garfunkel's first consistently excellent album, 1968's BOOKENDS is a brief (12 songs in less than 30 minutes) but beautiful song cycle that sums up all of Paul Simon's '60s themes of alienation and identity in a newly orchestrated and elegant style far removed from the skeletal folk-rock of their earlier albums. The entire first half, bracketed by the lovely "Bookends Theme," has a suite-like feel even though it encompasses songs as varied as the chaotic "Save the Life of My Child" and the subtle acoustic reverie "Overs," not to mention the anthemic "America" and Art Garfunkel's audio-verite "Voices of Old People." The second half is the closest Simon & Garfunkel ever came to rock & roll, featuring not only the classics "Mrs. Robinson" and "Hazy Shade of Winter," but the lesser-known, near-psychedelic oddities "Fakin' It" and "Punky's Dilemma," two of Simon's weirdest and most playful songs. An eclectic and multi-dimensional album, BOOKENDS is probably Simon & Garfunkel's masterpiece.

Q (Summer/01, p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Unfathomably moving..." Uncut (8/01, p.92) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Their masterpiece...brilliant....no aspiring songwriter should be without a thoroughly-played copy..." Uncut (8/01, p.92) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Their masterpiece...brilliant....no aspiring songwriter should be without a thoroughly-played copy..."

New Yorkers Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel began as a late-1950s doo-wop group called Tom & Jerry. In the '60s, they turned to folk, with an extended stay in London bringing a heavy British folk influence into Simon's work. When a rock band was overdubbed onto the original acoustic version of their single "The Sounds of Silence," a hit resulted and helped further the then-nascent folk-rock movement. The pair's subsequent albums produced a long stream of catchy-but-brainy hit singles and also explored various musical styles, foreshadowing the eclecticism of Simon's solo career. Although the duo split after 1970's BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, they have reunited for performances on a few occasions, including a tour in 2003.

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