Once created, sound lasts forever. For a man, he can disappear, but he continues to last in silence, which is his greatest power. (Nikola Tesla)
On January 17, 1966, the group’s second studio album was released Simon & Garfunkel “Sounds of Silence”named after the song of the same name.
„The Sound of Silence“ is, with „Bridge over Troubled Water“, the biggest hit of this acoustic duo, and an indispensable soundtrack of the 60s. Paul Simon he wrote it after the assassination of JF Kennedy in 1963, which influenced the unique sensibility that the song possesses, but the song was released only on the group’s debut album „Wednesday Morning, 3 AM“ in 1964. However, the better-known version of the song was published the following year in 1965, when he was the producer Tom Wilsonunbeknownst to the already disbanded duo, recorded bass, electric guitar and drums on the existing recording and released a remix, which became a big hit. This version is also one of the reasons why Simon & Garfunkel continued to work together, releasing the second album “The Sounds of Silence” in 1965. In 2013, he was included in National Recording Registry at the US Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant work”.
Paul Simon i Art Garfunkel have different memories of the moment when they found out about the great success of the song “The Sound of Silence“:
Paul Simon: “We just got back from a tour in New York. I was staying in my old room at my parents’ house and Artie was staying at his parents’ house. I remember one evening we were sitting in the car, parked on a street in Queens, and the radio came on: “Number One – Simon & Garfunkel.” Artie then told me, “That Simon and Garfunkel… must be having a great time somewhere right now.” And we sat in the darkness of the night at the end of the street and smoked a joint. And we didn’t know what to do with ourselves.”
Art Garfunkel: “We were in a hotel in Los Angeles. We were still staying in the same room then. Our manager called us and said, “Well, congratulations. Next week you go from number five to number one on the Billboard charts.” I remember that we opened the curtains wide and let the sun into the dark room and then ordered the servants to bring us food and drinks to the room. That was really good.”
Source: balkanrock.com
