Legends of Rock & Roll by James Hoag

Author:James Hoag [Hoag, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sixties music, 60s music, mrs robinson, paul simon, sound of silence, art garfunkel, bridge over troubled water, concert in central park, simon and garfunkel
Publisher: James Hoag
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Bridge Over Troubled Water”

But it wasn’t quite dead, yet. They still had one more album to release, and they were up for a television special in the fall of 1969. During the summer of 1969, Paul was working on what he considered his best effort yet, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Paul said later than when he would lay down a verse of the song, it seemed almost like a spiritual experience. Tears would come to his eyes. He was positive it was the best thing he had ever written, and he wanted Art to sing it solo. No harmony on this song.

Paul had always been interested in Gospel music and remembered a song from 1958 called “Mary Don’t You Weep,” a gospel song done by Claude Jeter who most people don’t know unless you’re really familiar with Fifties Gospel music. Yet, a line from that song “I’ll be a bridge over deep water, if you trust in me” had stuck with Paul all those years, and he finally had a chance to use it in a song.

Art came back from working on Catch-22 in Mexico and when he first heard it, he didn’t really like it that much. Paul was crushed. They argued about the song for days until, finally, Art agreed to sing the song solo. This underscored how they had separated on what each felt was good music. Art liked “Bridge,” he just didn’t think it was Paul’s best work.

The song originally had only two verses, but Art and producer Roy Halee thought it needed a little more, so they convinced Paul to write a third verse. By now, Paul was married to Peggy, and he had noticed a gray hair. The words “Sail on, silvergirl” are a reference to Peggy, his wife.

The song was released in late January of 1970 and about a month later, on February 28, it hit number one where it stayed for six weeks, easily becoming the biggest hit of their career. The song also hit number one in England, Canada, France, and New Zealand. The song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” won the 1970 Grammy for Record of the Year and the album of the same name won the Grammy for Album of the Year (awarded in March of 1971). Rolling Stone Magazine rates the song as number 47 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

“Bridge” was first heard by the public during a television special that aired on November 30th, 1969. Now this is an interesting show. It was originally sponsored by AT&T (Bell Telephone) and when they saw the tapes of what Simon & Garfunkel planned to put on the air, they were very upset. They felt the music was “too political.” During the playing of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Paul showed scenes in the life of John Kennedy and his brother Robert as well as that of Martin Luther King. AT&T complained that they were all Democrats and that would offend the right wing viewers in the country.

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