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Though I wish I'd been there when it took place, Simon and Garfunkel's release of "Simon and Garfunkel - Live 1969" takes me there, magically.

Music Review: Simon and Garfunkel — Simon and Garfunkel — Live 1969

Even though I absolutely adore the music of Simon and Garfunkel I’ll admit that my fascination for their music is one tinged with regret; born in 1971, I managed to come along just late enough to not have any chance at seeing them performing together in their prime years. Granted, they’ve since reunited and toured as recently as 2003… but that’s not the same, really.

Fortunately, with the release of Simon and Garfunkel – Live 1969, I’ve been given a sonic glimpse of what might have been. Recorded in the fall of 1969, at perhaps the height of their fame and precarious precipice of their working relationship, this 17-song disc chronicles what would turn out to be the duo’s final tour together for over 13 years.

My initial thought, you ask? This might be the loveliest “farewell,” ever.

The fact that it has taken so long to see the light of day — and to reach the ears of those it was meant to say “farewell” to — is, perhaps, something nearly as lamentable as the fact that I wasn’t even alive yet to have had a chance at seeing it take place in person.

Beginning and ending with the simple and pure sounds of Paul and Art’s voices accompanied only by Paul’s guitar, the duo are joined onstage (for the first time ever during one of their tours, actually) by a band… and what a band! Arranged on stage were the amazing studio musicians that were the backbone of Simon And Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water album, which was set to be released shortly after these concert venues.

Hal Blaine (drums), Joe Osborn (bass), Larry Knechtel (keyboards) and Fred Carter, Jr. (guitars) — yeah, I’d say that's a group worthy of joining them onstage.

Now that I think about it… I’m not sure that this has done anything to temper my regret over having been born too late to experience S&G in their prime. Instead, it’s probably added to it. Listening to the amazing versions of “The Boxer,” “Why Don’t You Write Me,” “At The Zoo,” That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine,” and “The Sound of Silence” — this album has left me in equal amounts of gratefulness and wistfulness.

I’m glad to have been able to listen to this and review it, but I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to be “there” and listen to it.

This is a lovely album and when it finally arrives in local music store on September 18th, 2007, I can’t recommend it enough.

With the duo having the wonderful choices allowed by working their way through a career of amazing songs, Simon and Garfunkel – Live 1969 is armed with an amazing set list:

01. Homeward Bound
02. At The Zoo
03. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)
04. Song For The Asking
05. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her
06. Scarborough Fair / Canticle
07. Mrs. Robinson
08. The Boxer
09. Why Don’t You Write Me
10. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
11. That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine
12. Bridge Over Troubled Water
13. The Sound Of Silence
14. I Am A Rock
15. Old Friends / Bookends Theme
16. Leaves That Are Green
17. Kathy’s Song

 

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