The No1 song in the US on this day, January 7th 1966, was The Sounds Of Silence from the album Wednesday Morning. It was Simon and Garfunkels first of three No1 hits and remained at No1 for two weeks. It was not released as a single in the UK. The first recording was an acoustic version on Simon & Garfunkels first album, which was billed as exciting new sounds in the folk tradition, and sold about 2000 copies. When the album tanked, Simon and Garfunkel split up. Trying to take advantage of the folk-rock movement, Columbia Records had producer Tom Wilson add electric instruments to the acoustic track. Simon and Garfunkel had no idea their acoustic song had been overdubbed with electric instruments, but it became a huge hit and got them back together. If Wilson had not reworked the song without their knowledge, Simon and Garfunkel probably would have gone their separate ways. When the song hit No1 in the States, Simon was in England and Garfunkel was at college. Paul Simon was looking for a publishing deal when he presented this song to Tom Wilson at Columbia Records. Simon wanted to show him how it could work with two singers, so he and and Art Garfunkel sang it to the guys at Columbia Records, who were impressed with the duo and decided to sign them. Paul Simon took six months to write the lyrics, which are about mans lack of communication with his fellow man. He averaged one line a day. This was used in the movie The Graduate. The films director Mick Nichols put it on as a work track and was going to replace it, but as the film came together it became clear that the song was perfect for the film. Nichols didnt just use this song, but felt Simon & Garfunkel had a sound that fit the tone of the movie very well. They commissioned them to write Mrs. Robinson specifically for the movie, and also added Scarborough Fair and April Come She Will to the film. This has a lot of meaning in the movie. The lyrics refer to silence as a cancer, and if people in the movie had just been honest and not afraid to talk, all the messy things would not have happened. Problems can be solved only by honesty. Simon & Garfunkel did not write this about the Vietnam War, but by the time it became popular, the war was on and many people felt it made a powerful statement as an anti-war song. Heres Simon and Garfunkel performing The Sounds of Silence in 1966..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 19:43:17 +0000
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