Maps of Music

Sounds of Silence (1966)

Where the lyrics of Sounds of Silence take you, and where it was really made.

The hit single was an electric overdub that Simon and Garfunkel did not know about until after it had been recorded.

Key places

Studio A, New York City (1966)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson recorded electric overdubs for The Sound of Silence at Studio A. Neither Simon nor Garfunkel knew about the session until after the overdubs were recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Trail at Franklin Canyon Park (1966)

Album cover Franklin Canyon Park — The cover photo of the duo on a trail was shot by Guy Webster at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles. The scarves they wear came from The Campion School in Hornchurch, UK. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Sounds of Silence: second studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel
• Released January 17, 1966
• Title is a slight modification of the duo's first major hit, originally released as The Sounds of Silence
• The song had earlier appeared in an acoustic version on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to The Graduate
• The electric version was released as a single in September 1965 and opens the album
• The album cover photo shows the duo on a trail looking back toward the camera

Background

• Many of the songs were 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 appeared on The Paul Simon Songbook, released in August 1965 in England
• Richard Cory was based on the poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson
• Somewhere They Can't Find Me was essentially a rewrite of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
• Anji was a cover of an instrumental piece by guitarist Davey Graham, whom Simon had met in England
• Blessed was the only brand new Paul Simon composition on the album

Recording

• Electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed on The Sound of Silence under Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965, without Simon or Garfunkel's knowledge
• Separate overdub session at Columbia's Studio A, 799 Seventh Avenue near 52nd Street, is dated July 22, 1965 in the source
• The album was recorded in April, June and December 1965 at CBS Studios in New York City and Los Angeles, California

Cover

• Photo shot by Guy Webster at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles, California
• The secondary school scarves worn by the duo came from The Campion School, Hornchurch, UK
• That school was attended by the boys of the Brentwood family, where Simon lodged during his time in the UK
• The back cover has candid shots of the duo and quotes a few lyrics from each song

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel met in school in Queens, New York City, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize.
• As teenagers they performed as Tom & Jerry; their 1957 single "Hey, Schoolgirl" sold more than 100,000 copies.
• They regrouped in 1963 and signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel.
• Their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), sold poorly.

Members

• Paul Simon: singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• Art Garfunkel: singer, with occasional percussion.

Career

• "The Sound of Silence" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after a rock remix in 1965.
• The Graduate (1967) and Bookends (1968) made them the biggest rock duo in the world.
• Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), their final studio album, became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• They split in 1970 and reunited several times, including the 1981 Central Park concert attended by more than 500,000 people.
• They won seven Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
• They have sold more than 100 million records.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The single version of The Sound of Silence reached number one on Billboard and Cash Box, according to the Spanish article
• The album came out in January 1966, after the electric single had already made the duo's name
• The album was built around the hit title, and the single version opens the record

Reappraisal

• On March 22, 2013, it was announced that the album would be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry
• The Library of Congress described the album as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant
• The album is included in full in the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970)

Records

• Sales: according to the Spanish article, the album has sold more than five million copies to date
• Ranking the album's sales in that article is given without a chart position for the album itself
• Single chart: 'The Sound of Silence' hit number one on Billboard and Cash Box
• Recording and sales facts above come from the cited sources only, with no critic reviews quoted in the material

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Richard Cory was based on Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem with the same title, but the chorus is entirely Simon's composition.
• On the original LP label, Anji was misspelled as Angie and credited to Bert Jansch; the back cover credited Davey Graham correctly, and both errors were corrected for later reissues.
• English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg borrowed the opening lines of Leaves That Are Green for his song A New England on his 1983 EP Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy.
• Nancy Wilson of Heart covered Kathy's Song on her 1999 album Live from McCabe's Guitar Shop, and Eva Cassidy covered it on her 2000 CD Time After Time.
• The Tremeloes' recording of Blessed became their 1966 solo debut single, without Brian Poole.

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

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