January 17: Sounds of Silence

Simon & Garfunkel released their second album, Sounds of Silence, on this date in 1966, and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on this date in 1990. The duo grew up in Kew Gardens, Queens, and met in an elementary school production of Alice in Wonderland (Paul Simon played the White Rabbit, Art Garfunkel the Cheshire Cat). They had been performing together on and off since 1955. The album included their hit song, “The Sound of Silence,” as well as “Richard Corey” and “I Am a Rock” — a total of 11 songs in all, 10 of which were written by Paul Simon. As a duo, they brought elements of folk music, whimsy, and pop rock into soul-searching, literary, original songs that skirted “bubblegum music” and sold millions of records. Paul Simon’s musical genius, however, ultimately eclipsed Art Garfunkel’s vocal and arranging contributions and burst into a solo career after their acclaimed 1970 album, Bridge Over Troubled Water. “Many songs, I was a silvery edge around Paul Simon’s coffee-brown lead front part,” Garfunkel told Esquire in 2011. “. . . I don’t care if it’s seven-eighths Paul and one-eighth Arthur. Look how the silvery edge makes the record work.”

“Many people portray the Sixties in a caricatured way. They don’t get how healthy the Sixties were. What a bust-out of spirit in America. How vital! How wonderfully questioning! They don’t get that. They just go to the daisies.”—Art Garfunkel

JEWDAYO ROCKS! Susanna Hoffs, guitarist and vocalist with the Bangles, born on this date in 1959. To see them performing Simon & Garfunkel’s Hazy Shade of Winter (she’s at the center microphone), see below.