Refreshed

SIMON & GARFUNKEL
The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970
(Columbia/Legacy)
To a certain generation, Simon & Garfunkel defined the 60s. The voice-and-guitar duo observed the turbulent times and sang songs mocking, contemplating and lamenting the changes through which their country putting itself. To another generation, S&G are oldies radio staples, known more as the old duo that gave Paul Simon his start in the business. To them, it's hard to imagine the world music experimentalist of Graceland and The Rhythm of the Saints as part of a vocal harmony duo like this. Simon must've been itching to get out. Those old tunes sure are catchy, though.

To another, even younger generation, Simon & Garfunkel are old fogies that their parents, maybe even their grandparents, revere. They dismiss them out of hand—after all, how could they relate to a couple of folksingers offering commentary on the baby boomer generation just as it came of age? S&G have nothing to do with their generation, certainly not with the music they plug into their car stereos.

They don't know what they're missing. Simon & Garfunkel's music is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. Paul Simon, at least back then, had a gift for universalizing his subjects; he dug deep into the heart of his characters, bringing to the surface feelings with which anyone could identify. It's a talent he's arguably ignored for most of his solo career, preferring to elevate pure craft over emotional content. He continues to write often stunningly well-crafted songs that often feel cold and distant. In the 60s, though, when he was writing for the beautiful vocal blend he attained with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel, his songs were as much models for the perfect balance between craft and emotion as those of the Beatles. An expert guitarist grounded more in early rock 'n' roll (the Everly Brothers were a big influence) and Tin Pan Alley pop than folk, he seemed to effortlessly generate immediately catchy hooks and sublime melodies by the guitar caseful. Any contemporary pop songwriter worth his or her diminished fifths has borrowed or outright stolen at least a few of Simon's ideas.

And while Simon & Garfunkel may have started their recording career as folksingers, following the then-current trend started by the Kingston Trio and totally revamped by Bob Dylan, their roots in other music led them from guitar-and-voice nudity to intricately arranged, fully-fleshed out arrangements over the course of less than half-a-dozen albums. The magical combination of Garfunkel's soaring choirboy tenor and Simon's more conversational vocal style continues to inspire harmony singers everywhere. They define folk rock as much as the Byrds and electric Dylan, though they're rarely credited with it. Their records stand the test of time better than most of the music of the 60s, and they're worth rediscovering by a new generation. Now they can, thanks to Legacy's new boxed set The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970, which collects all five of the duo's studio albums, with remastered sound and bonus tracks. (more)