Simon & Garfunkel - The Lost BBC Sessions & More (2019)

STUNNING COLLECTION OF S & G BBC RECORDINGS 1965 - 1970 Forming both a friendship and a musical partnership while at school together in the 1950s, native New Yorkers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were fans of the newly emerging rock n roll groups, most notably the Everly Brothers, and soon formed their own duo, having their first hit single together as Tom & Jerry in 1957. The pair released a few more singles - none of which were successful - but after graduating high school they went their separate ways for a while, both in further education and as solo-performers. In 1963, however, they re-convened with a shared enthusiasm for folk music, and performed occasionally in Greenwich Village. New songs composed by Simon, such as The Sound Of Silence , Sparrow and He Was My Brother , caught the attention of Columbia producer Tom Wilson, who persuaded the label to sign them. Their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M, came out in October 1964, but initially only sold 3,000 copies, causing Paul Simon to move to England. There, he toured the UK folk clubs and befriended folk acts such as Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, Al Stewart, and Sandy Denny. Art joined Paul during summer 1964, but when Art returned to the US, Paul went back too. But in January 1965, Simon returned to the UK to find that, in his absence, his British landlady had sent a tape of his demos to the BBC. These were aired by the corporation on their Five To Ten morning show in late January, and were instantly successful. The BBC invited Simon back to record another session following the release of his first solo-album, The Paul Simon Songbook in July 65, and this time he turned up with Art, and together they recorded a BBC session which was broadcast soon thereafter across the nation. By early 1967 Simon & Garfunkel were internationally successful and were back in England promoting their Bookends album. They performed at Manchester s Free Trade Hall on 20th March, and again the BBC were on hand to record the event and transmit the recording. They had a final encounter with Britain s public broadcaster in 1970, in the wake of their final album together Bridge Over Troubled Water, when in April that year they performed at the prestigious Albert Hall, and the BEEB once again recorded and broadcast the results.