Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

I was touched by both of these talented duet musical artist(s).  The first time I came to know them from the song Sound of Music which I am unable to sing it well.  As for the song Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, El Condor Pasa (If I Could), we often played that over our guitar and now I can play it over my harmonica.  Right after I failed reached round 2 with the song We are the world on my BGT 2013, this song came to me while I was on the street in London.  Suddenly I took this song seriously and felt in love with it.  At first I was thinking it was an easy song to sing.  Once I started to sing this song I began realised the difficulty singing this lovely song.  Due to my passionate singing it, eventually I manage to learn the new way to sing this song like Art Garfunkel.  The more I know about both of them I felt sorry for them.  I am longing to meet them in person and sing alone with both of them someday in New York.  While I continue pray for the long healthy life.

When I started sing this song on the streets, some homeless friends will ended in tears.  Once I was invited to a Birthday party and I sang this song there too.  The birthday girl got unto tears of joy.  I enjoyed singing this song so much and sang it very where I go in England.  I might re-introduce this song again in England very soon.  Hope this song will able to bring to final stage of xfactor.  If I become professional singer I would make Bridge Over The Trouble Water single album and profits from this song album would go to the homeless friends in the street of London and in England especially in Sunderland and Brighton area.  Not forgetting wakefield too and one of my dearest homeless friend called Anthony.

Here is some of information about both of them in wikipedia.

Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the bestselling music groups of the 1960s and became counterculture icons of the decade's social revolution, alongside artists such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. Their biggest hits—including "The Sound of Silence" (1964), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "The Boxer" (1969), and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide.

The duo met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize together and began writing original material. By 1957, under the name Tom & Jerry, the teenagers had their first minor success with "Hey Schoolgirl", a song imitating their idols The Everly Brothers. In 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel. Their debut, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., sold poorly, and they once again disbanded; Simon returned to a solo career, this time in England. In June 1965, a new version of "The Sound of Silence", overdubbed with electric guitar and drums, became a major U.S. AM radio hit in 1965, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. They reunited to release a second studio album, Sounds of Silence, and tour colleges nationwide. On their third release, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966), the duo assumed more creative control. Their music was featured in the 1967 film The Graduate, giving them further exposure. Bookends (1968), their next album, topped the Billboard 200 chart[2] and included the number-one single "Mrs. Robinson" from the film.

Their often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements, which resulted in their breakup in 1970. Their final studio record, Bridge over Troubled Water, released that year, was their most successful, becoming one of the world's best-selling albums. After their breakup, Simon released a number of acclaimed albums, including 1986's Graceland.[3] Garfunkel released some solo hits such as "All I Know", and briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in two Mike Nichols films, Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge, and in Nicolas Roeg's 1980 Bad Timing. The duo have reunited several times, most famously in 1981 for "The Concert in Central Park", which attracted more than 500,000 people, the seventh-largest concert attendance in history.[4]

Simon & Garfunkel won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.[5] Bridge over Troubled Water is ranked at number 51 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[6] Richie Unterberger described them as "the most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s" and one of the most popular artists from the decade.[1] They are among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 100 million records.[7]

Bridge Over The Trouble Water ...

Bridge Over Trouble Water ...

I love sing this song on the street of London. It touches many homeless friends ... New version will be out next month.

"Bridge over Troubled Water" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, the song was released as the follow-up single to "The Boxer" in January 1970. The song is featured on their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). Composed by singer-songwriter Paul Simon, the song is performed on piano and carries the influence of gospel music. The original studio recording employs elements of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique using L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew.[1][2]

It was the last song recorded for their fifth and final album, but the first fully completed.[3] The song's instrumentation was recorded in California while the duo's vocals were cut in New York.[3][4][5][6] Simon felt his partner, Art Garfunkel, should sing the song solo, an invitation Garfunkel initially declined but later accepted.[7] Session musician Larry Knechtel performs piano on the song, with Joe Osborn playing bass guitar and Hal Blaine closing out the song with drums. The song won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971, including Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The song became Simon & Garfunkel's biggest hit single, and it is often considered their signature song. It was a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, and it also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and New Zealand. It was a top five hit in eight other countries as well, eventually selling over six million copies worldwide, making it among the best-selling singles. It became one of the most performed songs of the twentieth century, with over 50 artists, among them Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, covering the song. It was ranked number 48 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Bridge over Troubled Water" was composed by Paul Simon very quickly, so much so that he asked himself, "Where did that come from? It doesn't seem like me." [7] The title lyric was inspired by Claude Jeter's line "I'll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in me," which Jeter sang with his group, the Swan Silvertones, in the 1958 song "Mary Don't You Weep."[8] According to gospel producer and historian Anthony Heilbut, Simon acknowledged his debt to Jeter in person, and handed Jeter a check.[9] Simon wrote the song initially on guitar but transposed it to the piano to better reflect the gospel influence and suit Garfunkel's voice.[3] Simon told his partner, Art Garfunkel, that Garfunkel should sing it alone, the "white choirboy way".[7] Garfunkel felt it was not right for him;[3] he liked Simon's falsetto on the demo and suggested that Simon sing. At the suggestion of Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee, Simon wrote an extra verse and a "bigger" ending, though he felt it was less cohesive with the earlier verses.[10] The final verse was written about Simon's then-wife Peggy Harper, who had noticed her first gray hairs ("Sail on, silvergirl").[11][12] It does not refer to a drug abuser's hypodermic needle, as is sometimes claimed.[13] The verse was Garfunkel's idea, and Simon has never cared for it.[14] "Bridge over Troubled Water" was the final track to be recorded for the album but the first completed, with an additional two weeks of post-production.[3] Simon initially composed the song in G major, but arranger and composer Jimmie Haskell transposed the song to E-flat major to suit Garfunkel's voice.[15] The song was recorded in California, to make it easier for Garfunkel to go to Mexico to film Catch-22.[6] Simon wanted a gospel piano sound, and hired session musician Larry Knechtel. Joe Osborn played the two bass guitars, one high and the other low. A horn section rounded off the song. The drums were played by Hal Blaine in an echo chamber to achieve a hall effect and Los Angeles session percussionist Gary Coleman played the Vibraphone. The arranger, Jimmy Haskell, labeled the string arrangement as "Like a Pitcher of Water".[16] Simon and Garfunkel returned to New York to record the vocals.[17][4][3] The vocal style in "Bridge over Troubled Water" was inspired by Phil Spector's technique in "Old Man River" by The Righteous Brothers.[18] After two months the song was finished. Simon said it sounded like the Beatles' "Let It Be", stating in a Rolling Stone interview: "They are very similar songs, certainly in instrumentation."[19] As their relations frayed preceding their 1970 breakup, Simon began to feel jealous that he allowed Garfunkel to sing it solo: He felt I should have done it, and many times on a stage, though, when I'd be sitting off to the side and Larry Knechtel would be playing the piano and Artie would be singing "Bridge", people would stomp and cheer when it was over, and I would think, "That's my song, man..."[7]