Simon And Garfunkel Sound Of Silence Live In Central Park

[Astryd Boschee]

TheConcert in Central Park is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on February 16, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded on September 19, 1981, at a free benefit concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of 500,000 people.[1][2] A film of the event was shown on TV and released on video. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding. The concert and album marked the start of a three-year reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

The concept of a benefit concert in Central Park had been proposed by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis and promoter Ron Delsener. Television channel HBO agreed to carry the concert, and they worked with Delsener to decide on Simon and Garfunkel as the appropriate act for this event. Besides hits from their years as a duo, their 21-song set list included material from their solo careers, and covers. Amongst them were "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer" and Simon's "Late in the Evening", with the show concluding with a reprise of the latter. Ongoing personal tensions between the duo led them to decide against a permanent reunion, despite the success of the concert and a subsequent world tour.

New York City's Central Park, an oasis that functions as the city's "green lung", was in a state of deterioration in the mid-1970s.[3][4] Though Central Park had been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962,[5] at the start of the 1980s, the city lacked the financial resources to spend an estimated $3 million to restore[3] or even to maintain the park. The nonprofit Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980, and began a successful campaign to raise renovation funds.[6]

In the early 1980s, Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis, responsible for New York City's green areas, and Ron Delsener, one of the city's most influential concert promoters, developed the idea of helping Central Park financially with a free open-air concert, under the legal guidance of Bob Donnelly. The city would use profits from merchandising, television, and video rights to renovate the park. Earlier park performances by Elton John and James Taylor showed that this concept could be a success. Davis authorized the project, and Delsener entered discussions with cable TV channel HBO to decide who would perform.[7][8]

They decided on Simon & Garfunkel, a duo that had formed in New York City in the 1960s and had been one of the most successful folk rock groups through the late 60s/early 70s.[9][10] Simon & Garfunkel had broken up at the height of their popularity and shortly after the release of their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, which is deemed to be their artistic peak and which topped the 1970 Billboard charts for ten weeks; they had grown apart artistically and did not get along well with each other. In the following ten years, both continued musical careers as solo artists and worked together only sporadically on one-off projects.[11] Garfunkel made brief guest appearances at Simon's concerts, which were always successful.[7][8]

Delsener presented the plan to Paul Simon in the summer of 1981. Simon was enthusiastic about the idea, but questioned whether it could be financially successful, especially given the poor audience attendance of his last project, the autobiographical movie One-Trick Pony. Simon's confidence had declined and he had sought treatment for depression.[12][13] He questioned whether he and Art Garfunkel could work together,[9][10] but contacted Garfunkel, who was vacationing in Switzerland. Garfunkel was excited about the idea and immediately returned to the US.[7][8]

Planning and rehearsals for the concert took about three weeks in a Manhattan theater.[8] The rehearsals were characterized by past tensions that resurfaced between the performers under the intense time pressure. Paul Simon later said: "Well, the rehearsals were just miserable. Artie and I fought all the time."[13] An early concept was for each singer to give a solo performance, with Simon allotted the greater amount of time, and to conclude with the duo performing their joint works. This idea was rejected because, according to Garfunkel, "It didn't seem right to either of us that Paul should be the opening act for Simon & Garfunkel, and for him to follow Simon & Garfunkel didn't make show-business sense".[15]

The two decided to perform most of the show together, with room for each to showcase some solo material.[8] Simon, who had resumed songwriting after a hiatus, interrupted a series of studio recording sessions for the concert preparations. He used the live show as an opportunity to test one of his new songs in front of an audience. Garfunkel also contributed a new song, "A Heart in New York", from his soon-to-be released album Scissors Cut.[8]

The two differed on the presentation of the concert. Garfunkel wanted to recreate the duo's mid-1960s live performances, using only their voices backed by Simon's acoustic guitar. Simon felt that this was impossible, as an injury had rendered him incapable of playing guitar for the full length of a concert, and his newer material was typically arranged for larger ensembles that often included horns and amplified instruments such as electric piano and electric guitar. Garfunkel initially agreed to hire a second guitarist, but later rejected the idea. A group of eleven musicians was assembled for the concert,[13][16] most of whom were experienced studio musicians and had played on albums involving Simon or Garfunkel and these included Billy Joel's guitarist David Brown, Muscle Shoals guitarist Pete Carr, Anthony Jackson (bass guitar), Rob Mounsey (synthesizer), John Eckert and John Gatchell (trumpets), Dave Tofani and Gerry Niewood (saxophones), Steve Gadd and Grady Tate (drums, percussion), and Richard Tee (piano).[17]

The musical arrangements for the concert were written by Paul Simon and David Matthews. Some songs differed significantly from their original versions; for example, "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" featured more prominent Latin elements and included a salsa break, while the folk rock "Kodachrome" was set as a harder rock song and played together with the Chuck Berry single "Maybellene" as a medley.[14]

Garfunkel had difficulties in the rehearsals. Both men easily recalled their songs from the 1960s, but Garfunkel had to learn the harmonies and arrangements for Simon's solo songs, as modified for the reunion concert.[18] He was also uncomfortable that Simon had rewritten some of the lyrics for their old songs. Despite the need to adapt to Simon and his style, Garfunkel enjoyed some of the songs, and was glad to perform Simon's "American Tune".[16]

News reports[19] and the Michael Doret-designed posters[20] of the Central Park show named the musicians individually and did not bill them as "Simon & Garfunkel"; that the two singers would perform together on stage in a reunion was not officially announced until only a week before the concert when it was published in New York newspapers.[8] The two stated in interviews that further collaboration was not planned.[17][21]

The concert took place on Saturday, September 19, 1981, on the Great Lawn, the central open space of Central Park. The first spectators, many carrying chairs or picnic blankets, arrived at daybreak to secure a good spot.[22] The Parks Department originally expected about 300,000 attendees.[19] Although rain fell throughout the day and continued until the start of the concert,[23] an estimated 500,000 audience members[17] made this the seventh-largest concert attendance in United States history.[24]

The stage backdrop depicted an urban rooftop with water tank and air outlet, symbolic of New York's skyline. At twilight, the backing band went onstage, followed by New York's mayor, Ed Koch, who announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, Simon and Garfunkel!"[22] The duo entered through a side stage door, took center stage amid audience applause, shook hands, and began the concert with their 1968 hit "Mrs. Robinson".[17]

After the second song, "Homeward Bound", Simon delivered a short speech which began, "Well, it's great to do a neighborhood concert." He then thanked the police, the fire department, the park administration and finally Ed Koch. Some of the audience booed at the mention of Koch but applauded as Simon continued by tongue-in-cheek thanking "the guys who are selling loose joints [for] giving the city half of their income tonight."[25]

Simon & Garfunkel played twenty-one songs in total: ten originally recorded by the duo, eight from Simon's solo career, one recorded by Garfunkel, a cover of The Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie", and the medley version of "Maybellene". Each performer sang three songs alone, including one new song apiece. Garfunkel sang the Simon & Garfunkel songs "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "April Come She Will", as well as "A Heart in New York", a song written by Gallagher and Lyle that appeared on his album Scissors Cut, which had been released the previous month. Simon's solo performances were the title song of his 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years, the number-one single "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", and the unreleased "The Late Great Johnny Ace", which would appear on his 1983 album Hearts and Bones.

"The Late Great Johnny Ace" was interrupted when an audience member ran to the stage and shouted at Simon: "I need to talk to you!" The man was carried away by security, and Simon finished the song. The incident provoked associations to the song's lyrics, in which Simon speaks of the deaths of Johnny Ace, John F. Kennedy, and John Lennon. Lennon's murder by an obsessed fan had taken place less than a year previously, not far from the concert site.[26][27] Despite this association, Simon said that he was not afraid of any on-stage incidents. In May 1982 as a guest on Late Night with David Letterman, he explained that while it is not unusual for fans to jump onto the stage with flowers, this action was new to him, but also felt that the man simply appeared intoxicated. His greater concern was that the song's premiere was ruined.[28]

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