154 Hello Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel - Homeward Bound

Chart  entered : 24  March  1966

Chart  peak : 9

Number  of  hits : Paul  Simon 19, Art  Garfunkel  10  ( 7  together )

Well  here's  two  more  guys  with  a  long  gap  between  their  first  US  and  UK  hits   ( although  in  this case  they waited  almost  as  long  for  their  second  US  hit  together ). Even  without  any  back  story  I would  argue  their  music  is  classic  but  the  endlessly  fascinating  saga  of  their  relationship  is  a  gift  to music  writers  and  documentary  makers. Here  also is  where  another  story  begins, the  separation between  album  and  singles buyers  in  the  late  sixties, the  duo's  very  modest  haul  of  hits  belying  their superstar  status  in  the  LP charts. When  I  was  at  school  every  teacher  under  35 ( and  some  of   those  over )  seemed  to  own their  albums.

Both  guys  were  born  in  1941  in  a  Jewish  neighbourhood   within  Queen's  New  York. They  went through  school  together  and  their  friendship  started  when  they  appeared  together  in  a  performance of  Alice  In  Wonderland.  By  their  mid-teens  they  had  formed  a  duo  Tom  and  Jerry, heavily influenced  by  The  Everly  Brothers  and  got  a  deal  with  Big  Top  records. Their  first  record , in  1957  "Hey, Schoolgirl" ( ironically  in  the  light  of  their  subsequent  history,  a  co-write )  managed  to  cross  over  into  the  charts ( number  49)  and  they  got  to  appear  on  American  Bandstand. The  song  sounds  far  more  like  The  Everlys  than  their  subsequent  work  and  it's  difficult  to  pick  out  who's  doing  which  part but  it's  certainly  a  creditable  effort  for  a  couple  of  teenagers.

As  referred  to  above, they  had  to  wait  a  long  time  for  their  next  chart  appearance. " Our  Song " the  follow-up  released  nearly  six  months  later  was  a  bit  too  clever  for  its  own  good  with  its references  to  "Our  favourite  DJ "  and  "jukeboxes"  and  though  tuneful  enough  didn't  break  through.
"That's  My  Story "  saw  a  switch  of  style  to  doo  wop  with  Art  taking  a  lead  role  albeit  in  a  lower  register  than  subsequently. They  don't  quite  pull  it  off- it  sounds  a  bit  amateur-ish - but  the  ambition  was  clear.

However  Art's  enthusiasm  for  further  recording  waned  after  that  while  Paul  pushed  out  a  stream  of solo  singles  beginning  with  "Teen Age  Fool"  under  the  pseudonym  True  Taylor  in  March  1958, a fairly  worthless  Elvis  pastiche. In  August  the  following  year  he  reverted  to  the  Jerry  Landis  name
for  the  dreary  plod  of  "Loneliness"  which  all  too  obviously  reveals  his  vocal  limitations. Two  months later  Art  put  out  his  own  first  solo  single  the  bizarre   "Dream  Alone"   which  draws  you  in  with  a nice  intro  and  then  doesn't  go  anywhere  just  keeps  repeating  it.

That  was  the  last  record  either  of  them  made in  the  fifties  as  both  went  on  to  university. Art continued  a  parallel  academic  career  throughout  the  next  decade.  Paul /Jerry's  next  release  was  "Shy"  in  June  1960  a  pretty  but   vacuous  teen  pop  number. The  same  goes  for  "I'd  like  To  Be ( The  Lipstick  On  Your  Lips )". He  also  sang  on  one  or  two  singles  by  a  doo wop  outfit  The  Mystics  in  this  period. His  next  single  "Play  Me  A  Sad  Song"  from  February  1961  is  in  that  vein  and  is  something  of  an  improvement  on  its  predecessors  making  good  use  of   his  female  backing  vocalists.

In  August  1961  Art  had  another  crack  with  "Private  World" , by  far  the  best  pre- S & G   recording with  his  untouchable   pure  tones  now  fully  matured  on  a  sparse, haunting  song  that  begs  the question  why  he  couldn't  have  picked  up  his  pen  a  bit  more  often  during  his  career.

From  October  1961, Paul's  " I Wish  I  Weren't  In  Love"  mimics  Dion  and  the  Belmonts  but otherwise  it's  not  bad. In  1962  he  changed  tack  and  formed  a  band  Tico  and  the  Triumphs  to  play  surf  rock. Their  first  release  "Motorcycle"  featuring  his  friend  Marty  Cooper  got  a  toehold  in  the  charts  at  number  97.  It's  completely  generic. "Wildflower "  matches  the  Bo  Diddley  beat  to  mariachi  stylings  for  an  interesting  crossover  of  styles  and  "Get  Up  And  Do  The  Wobble"  is  probably  the  first  Beach  Boys  pastiche  ( and  not  a  bad  one ).

As  Jerry,  Paul  scraped  another  hit  ( number  99 )  with  the  surf  novelty  "The  Lone  Teen  Ranger"    at the  end  of  the  year. That  probably  necessitated  another  name  change  to  Paul  Kane  for  the  single "Carlos  Dominguez"  in  summer  1963. The  serious-minded  acoustic  folk-pop  of  this  song  with  its echoes  of  Dylan's  Masters  Of  War  marks  a  decisive  break  from  the  pastiches  of  the previous years.

Art  was  happy  to  pursue  this  new  direction  and  the  duo  auditioned  for  Columbia  Records  in  early 1964. Clive  Davis  signed  them  up  but  felt  the  Tom  and  Jerry  tag  had  outlived  its  usefulness  and  so  Simon  and  Garfunkel  was the  new  moniker. In  October  1964  their  LP "Wednesday  Morning  3AM"  was  released. By  far  the  least  known  of  their  five  studio  albums  it  only  charted  on  re-release  and  contains  just  five  songs  by  Paul. Art's  only  credit  is  a  joint  one  for  the  re-arrangement  of  the  Renaissance  motet  "Benedictus"  ( there's  a  strong  Christian  theme  for  an  album  by  two  Jewish  boys ).  Homage  to  Dylan  is  paid  with  a  version  of  "The  Times  They  Are  A  Changing"   that's  inessential  but  a  good  deal  more  respectful  than  his  wretched  assault  on  "The  Boxer"  on  Self Portrait  and  there's  also  a  song  , "The  Sun  Is  Burning",  by  Ian  ( father  of  Ali  and  Robin ) Campbell.  The  album  caused  few  ripples  on  release  and  the  duo  broke  up  with  Art  retreating  to his  studies  and  Paul  moving  to  Europe  to  tour  the  folk  clubs.

Paul  wasn't  universally  loved  there  , his  self-possession  and  prickly  personality  raising  some  hackles   although  he  formed  a  productive  friendship  with  The  Seekers'  Bruce  Woodley.  In  the  summer  he recorded  a  solo  album  "The  Paul  Simon  Songbook"  in  London  with  all  twelve  tracks  self-composed  and  road-tested  in  England, France  And  Denmark. He  released  his  valedictory  "I  Am  A Rock"  as  a  single.  Neither  sold  but  unbeknownst  to  him,  his  American  producer  Tom  Wilson  had received  reports  of  one  of  the  "Wednesday  Morning..."  tracks  "The  Sound  Of  Silence"  picking  up radio  play  and  decided  to  overdub  it  with  electric  guitar  and  drums. Fearing  the  duo  would  not consent  to  reunite  he  released  it  as  a  single  without  consulting  them  and  it  became  a  sleeper  hit slowly  creeping  up  to  the  number  one  spot. Nevertheless  it  wasn't  a  hit  in  the  UK ( for  them )   until  its  appearance  on  an  EP  in  1969

Paul  returned  from  Europe, yanked  Art  from  his  books  and  the  two  recorded  the  album  "Sounds Of  Silence"  ( largely  made  up  of  re-worked  songs  from  the  solo  LP )  for  release  at  the  beginning of  1966. For  some  reason  the  US  version  of  the  album  doesn't  include  this  song.

"Homeward  Bound"  was  definitely  written  in  England  during  Paul's  spell  there  but  the  exact  location  of  the  railway  station  mentioned  in  the  first  line  has  been  the  subject  of  conjecture  since   a  plaque  went  up  on  Widnes  station  asserting  its  own  claim  to  be  the  inspiration. Paul  has  only  been  able  to  pinpoint  it  as  "in  Liverpool"  so  I  guess  we  can  never  be  certain. It's  one  of  his  simplest  lyrics, a  performer  starts  longing  for  the  comforts  of  home  and  their  lover,  and a  well-used  theme  since (e.g. Super  Trouper  , Run  For  Home  ).  Paul  sings  lead  in  a  suitably  jaded  tone  with  Art  softly  sweetening  the  pill  in  the  background  before  the  joyous  chorus. The  emphasis  on  their  vocal  harmonies  has  sometimes  obscured  how  inventive  their  arrangements  were  and  this  one's  no  exception  with  its  frequent  shifts  in  tempo  ( session  drummer  Bobby  Gregg  deserves  a  mention  for  his  contribution ).