• “The Sound of Silence” is a song released in 1964 that became a smash hit worldwide, making it to the top 10 list in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan. But the song had a humble beginning before it kick-started the careers of Simon & Garfunkel.
• Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize. Simon began tinkering with songwriting. The two lived only three blocks from each other and attended the same schools, where they appeared in school plays, sang for school dances, and formed a street-corner doo-wop group. As teenagers, under the stage name Tom & Jerry, they had minor success doing gigs in the area. By 1964 they were ready to release their debut album, “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”
• The album included “The Sound of Silence” which was written by Simon at the age of 21. He explained that he used to write songs in the bathroom, because it was tiled and had good acoustics. He’d turn off the light to cut down on distractions, and turn on the faucet because the sound was soothing. He’d sit and play and compose in the darkness. He wrote the song in a single day, and then took three months to tweak the lyrics. It was a natural to include on their first album, recorded for Columbia Records.
• Unfortunately, the album flopped, selling a paltry 3,000 copies. The discouraged duet broke up, with Simon flying to London to work on a solo career, while Garfunkel returned to college.
• Then something unexpected happened. Columbia producer Tom Wilson found out that the song was gaining traction on radio stations throughout Florida and also in the Boston region. Encouraged, he re-mixed the song without knowledge or permission from Simon and Garfunkel.
• Wilson used several musicians from Bob Dylan’s backup band to add some pizzazz. The newly released single began a steady climb up the charts. Paul Simon only learned of this when he picked up a copy of “Billboard” magazine in London and saw his name, and his song, in the top ten. This remixed version was released as a single in September 1965 and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending on New Year’s Day, 1966.
• Simon and Garfunkel reunited and quickly released their second album, entitled “Sound of Silence.” The album also included other tunes that became hits such as “I Am a Rock” and “Kathy’s Song.”
• The song gained even more popularity when it was featured in the 1967 movie “The Graduate.” The producer of the film felt that Simon and Garfunkel’s music fit the theme of the movie, and included other of their songs as well. The song “Mrs. Robinson” was written specifically for the movie, and the songs “April Come She Will” and “Scarborough Fair” appeared in the movie as well. These songs were all included on the soundtrack for the film, released in 1968, giving the duo extra exposure.
• Simon and Garfunkel had artistic disagreements and broke up in 1970. Their final studio album, “Bridge over Troubled Water” was released that January, becoming one of the world’s best-selling albums. It was the best-selling album in 1970, ‘71 and ‘72.
• The duo have reunited several times; their 1981 concert in Central Park attracted more than 500,000 people, one of the largest concert attendances in history
• In 1972, “The Sound of Silence” was included on the album “Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits.” In 2012, it was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being culturally important.
