Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. You Can Tell The World
2. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
3. Bleecker Street
4. Sparrow
5. Benedictus
6. The Sound Of Silence
7. He Was My Brother
8. Peggy-O
9. Go Tell It On The Mountain
10. The Sun Is Burning
11. The Times They Are A-Changin'
12. Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
13. Bleecker Street
14. He Was My Brother
15. The Sun Is Burning

Disc 2:

1. The Sound Of Silence
2. Leaves That Are Green
3. Blessed
4. Kathy's Song
5. Somewhere They Can't Find Me
6. Anji
7. Richard Cory
8. A Most Peculiar Man
9. April Come She Will
10. We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin'
11. I Am A Rock
12. Blues Run The Game
13. Barbriallen
14. Rose Of Aberdeen
15. Roving Gambler

Disc 3:

1. Scarborough Fair/Canticle
2. Patterns
3. Cloudy
4. Homeward Bound
5. The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
6. the 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
7. The Dangling Conversation
8. Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall
9. A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into
10. For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her
11. A Poem On The Underground Wall
12. 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night
13. Patterns
14. A Poem On The Underground Wall

Disc 4:

1. Bookends Theme
2. Save The Life Of My Child
3. America
4. Overs
5. Voices Of Old People
6. Old Friends
7. Bookends Theme
8. Fakin' It
9. Punky's Dilemma
10. Mrs. Robinson
11. A Hazy Shade Of Winter
12. At The Zoo
13. You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies
14. Old Friends

Disc 5:

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water
2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
3. Cecilia
4. Keep The Customer Satisfied
5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
6. The Boxer
7. Baby Driver
8. The Only Living Boy In New York
9. Why Don't You Write Me
10. Bye Bye Love
11. Song For The Asking
12. Feuilles-O
13. Bridge Over Troubled Water

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1741 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-21
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .81 pounds

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Though the American folk movement of the early '60s would influence bands like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield and a score of oh-so-sensitive '70s singer-songwriters, its two most looming successes during the decade--Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel--couldn't have seemed more disparate. While Dylan turned hard-left, outraging many a folk purist by zealously embracing rootsy blues-rock and its electrified cacophony, S&G veered toward the center, equally infuriating snooty pundits by embracing a Top 40 pop sense whose ostensible shallowness often belied its rich musical diversity. In retrospect, Simon and Garfunkel's career as a duo was remarkably brief (five albums in six years), if no less commercially potent (a slew of Top 40 singles, two Number One albums, and the requisite handful of Grammy Awards). This box set compiles digitally remastered versions of the original S&G albums, each expanded to include bonus tracks (mostly previously unissued demos with a few scattered outtakes, the quartet on Sounds of Silence the best of the lot) and a booklet featuring new notes for each album and song lyrics. It's a rewarding journey, wending from the almost slavish folk devotion of Wednesday Morning 3 AM through the greeting-card iconoclasm of Sounds of Silence, the madrigal-pop of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme to the increasingly impressionistic lyrical landscape of Bookends. It also covers the rich musical tapestry of Bridge over Troubled Waters, which foreshadowed Simon's own diverse solo career by embracing everything from the Everlys and Jan & Dean to Andean folk and R&B. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

"...And What A Time It Was..."
Simon and Garfunkel's five studio albums spent a total of 470 weeks on the album charts--that's nine years! As a child of the Sixties, this music helped create the soundtrack of my youth. Yes, I already owned Collected Works and I bought the box set Old Firends, and now this is part of my collection, too. Is it essential to own all three? It pretty much makes Collected Works obsolete. Collected Works had no liner notes or photos (a glaring omission corrected on this new box set). And the anthology Old Friends at best becomes dispensible. Of the 15 previously unreleased tracks on that anthology, only the eight live tracks and the two Christmas songs are not included here. [It does make you wonder about the greed factor on COlumbia's part when there are 49 tracks shared between the two.]

If you have not upgraded to CD with any of these three collections, the latest box wins hands down. Each of the five CDs comes in a miniature sleeve duplicating the original albums (both front and back). The 76-page booklet contains some terrific photos and new liner notes for each album by Bud Scoppa along with the original liner notes. Lyrics are also included--except for the bonus tracks. However, it would have been nice to have a running commentary from both Simon and Garfunkel on each of the songs or at least an extensive interview. Recording dates and session musicians would also have been a plus. But the main thing is the music--and it's never sounded better than it does here! Listen and enjoy. ESSENTIAL

Finally - the complete works as nature intended
Has this material been released before? Yes. Is it duplicated on other sets? Of course?

So why buy it?

Finally, after more than 30 years, the entire "official" canon of Simon and Garfunkel is released in the original form from the original master tapes (long thought lost, but as noted in the "Old Friends" box, recently unearthed). Comparing the past CD issues of these albums to these new masters is like comparing a MacDonald's hamburger to a filet mignon. The richness of the sonics, the presence of the instruments, this is an absolute feast.

Of course, the earlier albums weren't as remarkable as recordings as the later albums. Once they got to "Bookends" they were creating records that were both great music as well as imaginative recordings. "Bookends" in particular is one of the few post-psychedelic records that still holds up as well today as it did way back then. Frankly, when "Save the Life of My Child" begins, you'll be hoping to save the life of your sub-woofer.

And the good news - beyond the quaint reproductions of the original album sleeves and the fine booklet - is that should you not wish to buy this whole box, each of the CD's is also available individually.

So...yes, it's old music once again, but it's never sounded this good. And it's fair to say that if you have "Old Friends" you have much of this, but if enjoying the albums in pristine sonic quality as the artists intended you to, this is a wonderful box set.

Touch the Sounds
A few years ago, I reviewed COLLECTED WORKS, which at the time was the only comprehensive collection of Simon and Garfunkel's work (on 3 CDs). This is better. Much better.

One complaint, though, just to get it out of the way. I love the fact that the discs have the original label design on them, but BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER was also released on the same label as the others in its first edition (I own two such vinyl copies). That aside, onward and upward.

The music is what is important here. And it is given the royal treatment, beginning with WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3AM, a very good, if somewhat unassuming effort of basic folk arrangements. There are some standout tracks, indeed. "Sparrow", "Sounds of Silence", and the title track are among my personal favorites, but the rest of the album will not disappoint.

With 1966's SOUNDS OF SILENCE, the duo opted for a more folk-rock approach, which has been impuned for its commercial value. Commercial does not mean bad. The Beatles were, after all, the most commercial music group of all time. No one seems to mind. Neither should they here. "Leaves That Are Green", "Blessed", "Somewhere They Can't Find Me", "A Most Peculiar Man", and "I Am a Rock" never cease to captivate me. They were well on their way with this one.

Also in 1966, the duo released PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY, AND THYME. Let the opening title track work it's melodic and contropunal magic on you--it is hauntingly beautiful. PATTERNS is also first rate. In fact, very little on this record is not.

BOOKENDS (1968) is, I must admit not my favorite of their collections--just a bit pretentious. Still has "Hazy Shade of Winter" and "Mrs. Robinson", though, so it is not to be missed.

Finally 1970's BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER carried us to the brink of Simon's impending solo career. But songs like "The Boxer", "Cecilia", and "Keep the Customer Satisfied" are strong indeed.

The way the albums are released and presented here, with that one exception of the label on BRIDGE.

Even if you own COLLECTED WORKS, get this. You will be satisfied.

If you want an interesting presentation and better sound quality from their recordings, look here. I promise.