Maps of Music

Angel Clare (1973)

Where the lyrics of Angel Clare take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title comes from a character in a Thomas Hardy novel, and its most controversial track is a Randy Newman song that Garfunkel reshaped with strings.

Key places

Where Angel Clare was recorded (1973)

Recording site Grace Cathedral — Angel Clare was recorded at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the recording site named in the album's source. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Angel Clare: debut solo studio album by Art Garfunkel
• Released September 11, 1973
• Highest-charting solo album by Garfunkel in the United States
• Produced by Roy Halee with Art Garfunkel
• Title taken from a character in Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles
• Ten tracks across two sides, including the singles All I Know and I Shall Sing

Background

• Roy Halee was a long-time Simon & Garfunkel producer
• The album marks Garfunkel's first solo effort after his work with Paul Simon
• Released in the United States by Columbia Records, with a quadraphonic version on LP and 8-track tape
• The quadraphonic LP was encoded in the SQ matrix format
• Reissued in the UK in 2018 by Dutton Vocalion on Super Audio CD
• The 2018 SACD edition contains both the stereo and quadraphonic mixes

Recording

• Angel Clare was recorded at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
• Roy Halee and Mark Friedman worked as recording engineers
• Roy Halee handled the remix at CBS Studios in San Francisco
• Stan Ross gave technical assistance and George Horn mastered the album
• Paul Simon sang harmony on Down in the Willow Garden
• Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead played lead guitar on Down in the Willow Garden

Cover

• Photography by Jim Marshall
• Art direction by Ron Coro
• The cover credits Garfunkel as the artist on the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Arthur Ira Garfunkel, born November 5, 1941 in Forest Hills, Queens, New York.
• Met Paul Simon in sixth grade at PS 164, both cast in an elementary school play, Alice in Wonderland.
• Performed as Tom & Jerry in the late 1950s, imitating the Everly Brothers' close two-part harmony; "Hey, Schoolgirl" reached number 49 on the pop charts in 1957.
• Studied at Columbia University, earning a bachelor's in art history in 1965 and a master's in mathematics education in 1967.

Career

• Simon & Garfunkel reformed in 1963; "The Sound of Silence" reached number one on the Billboard pop charts in 1965 after producer Tom Wilson added electric backing.
• Hits included "Mrs. Robinson" (written for The Graduate, 1967), "Scarborough Fair", "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water".
• The duo split after Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), then reunited occasionally, including for "My Little Town" (1975) and The Concert in Central Park (1981).
• Solo: Angel Clare (1973), Breakaway (1975), Watermark (1977), and Fate for Breakfast (1979), which gave him his first UK number one with "Bright Eyes".
• Acted in Mike Nichols films Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971); nominated for a Golden Globe for the latter.
• Earned eight Grammy Awards in total, and he and Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
• Reunited with Simon for a 2003 world tour, followed by a 2004 free concert at the Colosseum in Rome.
• Released Father and Son with his son Art Garfunkel Jr. in 2024; on April 10, 2023 he cancelled his remaining concert dates.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone magazine: bad press over the Old Man version, according to the account of Randy Newman's reaction
• Angel Clare reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, the highest peak of any Garfunkel solo album in the United States
• It also contained two other Top 40 hits
• Traveling Boy reached No. 102 on the Hot 100 Bubbling Under chart and No. 38 on Adult Contemporary
• I Shall Sing reached No. 38 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Adult Contemporary
• All I Know, the first single, became Garfunkel's only US Top 10 hit as a solo artist

Reappraisal

• Randy Newman, the composer of Old Man, said he loved Garfunkel's version
• Garfunkel himself admitted that he tended, in those days, to listen to the melody before the words
• Garfunkel was happy to embed a strong string arrangement and vocal changes in Old Man
• Strings for Old Man were supplied by Peter Matz, Stuart Canin, Ernie Freeman and Jimmie Haskell

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 5, the highest-charting solo album of Garfunkel in the United States
• All I Know: his only US Top 10 hit as a solo artist
• I Shall Sing: No. 38 on the Hot 100, No. 4 on Adult Contemporary
• Traveling Boy: No. 102 Bubbling Under the Hot 100, No. 38 Adult Contemporary
• All I Know: first single, and Jimmy Webb's composition became Garfunkel's highest US charting single

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The calypso-based I Shall Sing was later a hit for Boney M, according to the source.
• Garfunkel took three takes on the vocal for Traveling Boy, and the first two failed.
• Jerry Garcia was less pleased with his guitar result on Down in the Willow Garden.
• The original LP came with a 33" x 22" fold-out poster.
• Garfunkel and Linda Grossman married on October 1, 1972 at her Nashville home and divorced in August 1975.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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