Bookends (album)
Bookends | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 3, 1968 | |||
Recorded |
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Studio | Columbia 52nd Street, New York City | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 29:51 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | ||||
Simon & Garfunkel chronology | ||||
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Singles from Bookends | ||||
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Bookends is the fourth
Bookends is a concept album that explores a life journey from childhood to old age. Side one of the album marks successive stages in life, the theme serving as bookends to the life cycle. Side two largely consists of previously-released singles and of unused material for The Graduate soundtrack. Simon's lyrics concern youth, disillusionment, relationships, old age, and mortality. Much of the material was crafted alongside producer John Simon (no relation), who joined the recording when Paul Simon suffered from writer's block. The album was recorded gradually over the period of a year, with production speeding up around the later months of 1967.
Initial sales for Bookends were substantial in the US, and the album produced the
Background
During the sessions for Parsley, the duo cut "A Hazy Shade of Winter" and decided to release it as a single then, where it peaked at number 13 on the national charts.[2] Similarly, they recorded "At the Zoo" for single release in early 1967 (it charted lower, at number 16).[3] Simon began work for Bookends around this time, noting to a writer at High Fidelity that "I'm not interested in singles anymore".[4] He had hit a dry spell in his writing, which led to no Simon & Garfunkel album on the horizon for 1967.[5] Artists at the time were expected to release two, perhaps three albums each year and the lack of productivity from the duo worried executives at Columbia Records.[4] Amid concerns for Simon's idleness, Columbia Records chairman Clive Davis arranged for up-and-coming record producer John Simon to kick-start the recording.[6] Simon was distrustful of "suits" at the label; on one occasion, he and Garfunkel brought a tape recorder into a meeting with Davis, who was giving a "fatherly talk" on speeding up production, in order to laugh at it later.[7]
Meanwhile, director
Recording and production
"Being in the studio and making records in the sixties, I can tell you, it was very uncorporate. It was highly spirited. It was kids at play. It was just a wonder that you were allowed to do this, that two middle-class kids can sign a contract, rehearse and get their talent into the studio, and then find that the entire distribution network is waiting to put out their products. It was wonderfully simple, sincere, and uncynical."
—Art Garfunkel on the recording process[11]
Bookends was recorded sporadically from 1966 to 1968. John Simon's first session with the group was for "
The record's brevity reflects its concise and perfectionistic production. The team spent over 50 studio hours recording "Punky's Dilemma", for example, and re-recorded vocal parts, sometimes note by note, until they were satisfied.[14] Simon paid close attention to his vocal takes, and he strived to get each line perfect.[15] He took a bigger role in all aspects of production, and harmonies for which the band was famous gradually disappeared in favor of songs sung solo by each member.[16] Although the album had been planned long in advance, work did not begin in earnest until the late months of 1967.[17]
John Simon's work with the duo produced several tracks that ended up on Bookends, such as "Punky's Dilemma", "Save the Life of My Child", and "Overs".[18] In October 1967, Morgan Ames, writer for High Fidelity magazine, attended a recording session with the duo, Simon, Halee and an assistant engineer at Columbia's recording studio on 52nd Street in New York City.[18] Her observations were reported in the November edition of the magazine:
The team's working relationship is built upon listening to each other, asking advice, taking it, building each other's morale. Though it's obvious they enjoy working with John Simon, the last word seems to come from one partner to the other [...] Ideas are tried, accepted, rejected. Time passes. Too much time. Too little headway [...] "Punky's Dilemma" is put aside for the moment and Simon begins work on the title song for the new album, Bookends.[19]
Work on Bookends slowed by the beginning of the new year, with John Simon's departure from Columbia.[20] The duo and Halee completed production themselves, recording "America" on February 1, the final version of "Mrs. Robinson" on February 2, and "Old Friends" and the closing "Bookends Theme" on March 8.[20] Simon felt the album "had the most use of the studio" of all of the duo's albums.[15]
Composition
Music
The "
"Voices of Old People" is a
Side two consists of miscellaneous unrelated songs unused for The Graduate, with many possessing a more rock-based sound than the unified folk songs that precede it.
Lyrics
According to disc jockey and author Pete Fornatale, the album perhaps shares thematic qualities with another concept album, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released ten months prior. He equates "At the Zoo" and "Old Friends" to "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and "When I'm Sixty-Four", respectively.[32] Fornatale notes, however, that while Sgt. Pepper was notable for sonically colorful, psychedelic shapes, Bookends is starkly contrasted by moody, "black-and-white and gray" sounds.[32] While concept albums were fairly common among rock groups at this time—such as The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request, The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida—Bookends enjoyed massive success with the format not unlike the Beatles nearly one year before.[33] Garfunkel confirmed the influence of Sgt. Pepper's in a 2015 interview, commenting, "We were terribly impressed, and that shone a light on the path that led to Bookends."[34] Simon often smoked hashish when writing, and he was convinced he must be high to write. He felt the drug had a negative effect and caused him to "retreat more into myself." He often found himself alone while on tour, and his thoughts grew dark during these times. He attributed "the pain that comes out in some of the songs is due to the exaggeration of being high."[15]
Bookends contains many of Paul Simon's major themes, including "youth, alienation, life, love, disillusionment, relationships, old age, and mortality".
"
Release and commercial performance
Prior to the release of the album, the band helped put together, and performed at, the
Bookends was released by Columbia Records on April 3, 1968. In a historical context, that was just 24 hours before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., which spurred nationwide outrage and riots.[39] Fornatale opines that the album served as "comfort food" during rather tumultuous times within the nation.[40] The album debuted on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in the issue dated April 27, 1968, climbing to number one and staying at that position for seven non-consecutive weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 66 weeks.[27] Bookends received such heavy orders weeks in advance of its release that Columbia was able to apply for award certification before copies had left the warehouse, a fact that was touted in magazine ads.[41] The record became the duo's best-selling album to date. It fed off the buzz created by the release of The Graduate soundtrack album ten weeks earlier, creating an initial combined sales figure of over five million units.[42][33] In the United Kingdom, Bookends was a number one hit.[43] The album charted highly in both Australia and France, peaking in both countries at number three.[44][45]
The duo had a complicated relationship with Davis; Simon was particularly outraged when Davis suggested raising the list price of Bookends to $5.79 (US$51 in 2023 dollars
Critical reception
Reviews of Bookends upon its release in 1968 were largely positive. Allen Evans of the British publication
Later reviews were more positive. "In just over 29 minutes, Bookends is stunning in its vision of a bewildered America in search of itself", said
Accolades
"Mrs. Robinson" became the first rock and roll song to win Record of the Year at the 11th Annual Grammy Awards in 1969; it was also afforded the honor of Best Contemporary Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.[36]
In 2000 Bookends was voted number 338 in
Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
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Robert Dimery | US | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die | 2005 | * |
Rolling Stone | The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[54] | 2012 | 234 | |
The Top 25 Rock & Roll Albums of the '60s[55] | 1990 | 21 | ||
* denotes an unranked list |
Legacy
The album, alongside The Graduate soundtrack, propelled Simon & Garfunkel to become the biggest rock duo in the world.
Disc jockey and author Pete Fornatale writes that Bookends represents "a once-in-a-career convergence of musical, personal, and societal forces that placed Simon & Garfunkel squarely at the center of the cultural zeitgeist of the sixties".[32] Rolling Stone credited the record with striking a chord among lonely, adrift young adults near the end of the decade, writing that a lyric in "A Hazy Shade of Winter"—"Time, time, time, see what’s become of me..."—"defined the moment for a generation on the edge of adulthood".[55] Many viewed Bookends as the band's most accomplished work at the time, a breakthrough in production and songwriting. "Bookends was our first serious piece of work, I'd say", said Simon in a 1984 interview with Playboy.[36]
In 2010, "All gone to look for America"—a reference to a line from the song "America"—began appearing spray-painted on vacant buildings and abandoned factories in the town of Saginaw, Michigan, which is mentioned in the song. A loose group of artists, who eventually became known as "Paint Saginaw", began duplicating the phrase after the city's population had dwindled vastly, noting that the song now encapsulated a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era among the city's residents.[56]
"America" was also featured in an
Bookends was the last Simon & Garfunkel album to be mixed in separate mono and stereo mixes, as manufacturing of mono LP's alongside concurrent stereo issues was in the final stages of being discontinued in 1968. The mono mix was released as a promo issue to radio stations and given a very limited run for commercial sale. It was out-of-print very soon after release, and as of January 2017[update] has yet to see a digital re-release.
Track listing
All tracks are written by
No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
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1. | "Fakin' It" | June 1967 | 3:17 |
2. | "Punky's Dilemma" | October 5, 1967 | 2:12 |
3. | "Mrs. Robinson" (from the motion picture The Graduate) | February 2, 1968 | 4:02 |
4. | "A Hazy Shade of Winter" | September 7, 1966 | 2:17 |
5. | "At the Zoo" | January 8, 1967 | 2:23 |
No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
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13. | "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" | June 14, 1967 | 2:18 |
14. | "Old Friends" (demo, previously unreleased) | 1968 | 2:10 |
Personnel
Credits for Bookends adapted from AllMusic.[59] Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases.
- Paul Simon – vocals, guitar
- Art Garfunkel – vocals, tapes, percussion
Additional musicians
- Hal Blaine – drums, percussion
- Joe Osborn – bass guitar
- Larry Knechtel – piano, keyboards, bass guitar on "Mrs Robinson"[60]
- John Simon – synthesizer on "Save The Life Of My Child"
Production
- Simon & Garfunkel – producers (tracks: 1, 3, 5–7, 10, 12)
- Roy Halee – producer (tracks: 1, 3, 5–7 & 10), recording engineer
- John Simon – production assistant on "Save The Life Of My Child", "Overs", "Fakin' It" & "Punky's Dilemma"
- Bob Johnston – production assistant on "A Hazy Shade of Winter" & "At the Zoo", production
- Jimmie Haskell – arranger, arrangement preparation
- Richard Avedon – cover photography
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Eliot 2010, p. 89.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 57.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 58.
- ^ a b Fornatale 2007, p. 61.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 60.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 62.
- ^ a b c Fornatale 2007, p. 63.
- ^ Eliot 2010, p. 88.
- ^ a b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c Eliot 2010, p. 90.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 65.
- ^ a b Fornatale 2007, p. 64.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (August 7, 1988). "Streetscapes: CBS Studio on 52d; At One Time, the 'Last Word in Broadcasting Design". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ^ Simon & Garfunkel interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ^ a b c d Jon Landau (July 20, 1972). "Paul Simon: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone. No. 113. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
- ^ Eliot 2010, p. 97.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 70.
- ^ a b c Fornatale 2007, p. 66.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 67.
- ^ a b Fornatale 2007, p. 80.
- ^ a b c d Bennighof 2007, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f g Eliot 2010, p. 95.
- ISBN 978-0-674-01617-0.
- ^ a b Bennighof 2007, p. 36.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 91.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bennighof 2007, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e f Bookends (2001 Remaster) (liner notes). Simon & Garfunkel. US: Columbia Records. 2001. CK 66003.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b Bennighof 2007, p. 38.
- ^ a b c d Bennighof 2007, p. 39.
- ^ a b Bennighof 2007, p. 40.
- ^ a b Bennighof 2007, p. 41.
- ^ a b c d Fornatale 2007, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f Eliot 2010, p. 94.
- ^ Paul Lester (June 24, 2015). "Art Garfunkel: 'Weird is a fair word for me'". The Guardian. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ Bennighof 2007, p. 35.
- ^ a b c d e f Eliot 2010, p. 96.
- ^ Eliot 2010, p. 85.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 84.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 81.
- ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 82.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Eliot 2010, p. 93.
- ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ a b "Australiancharts.com – Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ a b "Lescharts.com – Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ISSN 0028-6362.
- ISSN 0025-9012.
- ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ Thom Jurek. "Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ Stephen M. Deusner (April 19, 2002). "Simon & Garfunkel: The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964–1970". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
- Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ ISSN 0035-791X.
- ^ "Finding Simon And Garfunkel's 'America' In Saginaw, Mich". NPR. National Public Radio, Inc. December 19, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ "New Sanders Ad Uses Simon & Garfunkel Classic 'America'". NBC News. January 21, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- ^ Corasaniti, Nick (23 January 2016). "No Split Between Simon and Garfunkel Over Bernie Sanders's Use of Their Song". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ^ "Art Garfunkel Official Site".
- Phononet GmbH. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ "Simon & Garfunkel Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ "American album certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends". Recording Industry Association of America.
Sources
- Bennighof, James (2007). The Words and Music of Paul Simon. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-99163-0.
- Eliot, Marc (2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8.
- Fornatale, Pete (2007). Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. Rodale. ISBN 978-1-59486-427-8.