Bridge Over A Troubled Relationship: Simon and Garfunkel

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, a couple of childhood friends from Queens, New York, had become nationally known as a top-selling folk rock duo.

On March 7, 1970 — 55 years ago next Saturday — Simon & Garfunkel saw their latest release, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

It would be their final album. But they didn’t know that quite yet.

The Childhood Friends Were Slowly Drifting Apart

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had met in elementary school and began singing together at an early age. As teens, they began performing Everly Brothers songs and even recorded a song of their own, which peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957.

The duo eventually broke up and went off to college. A few years later, they got back together and began singing folk rock on the college campus circuit. By 1965, they had scored their first No. 1 single. In 1968, their music was highlighted in a hit movie, “The Graduate,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.

But by the end of that year, the partnership was wearing a bit thin. Garfunkel knew he was a valuable part of the duo’s sound, but felt like a lesser partner, since Simon did most of the composing. The duo was offered roles in the film “Catch-22,” but Simon’s role was later dropped. Garfunkel stayed with the project, which took him to Mexico for several months in early 1969 and put an end to their hopes of issuing their fifth studio album before the 1969 holiday season.

When Simon and Garfunkel reunited in June 1969, they had only two songs done — and one of those had been issued as a single that spring. Simon wrote furiously, and the duo, their record producer and their studio band worked long hours to put songs on tape.

The two would occasionally argue. Simon wrote a song called “Cuba Sí, Nixon No” that Garfunkel vetoed. Garfunkel talked Simon into writing a third verse for what Simon considered his “Yesterday” song: “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” When the duo resumed playing concerts that fall, Simon would introduce the song and then exit the stage, leaving Garfunkel in the spotlight for a solo. The enormous applause Garfunkel received added to Simon’s growing resentment

“That’s my song,” Simon said he would think. “And I’m not even out there.”

Four Singles From 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'

The Boxer, RELEASED: March 21, 1969

Simon said he wrote this song about himself and the anxiety he had felt early in his career as a songwriter. He simply changed the singer’s vocation to boxing. He wrote the song while returning to New York from a concert, making notes and writing lyrics on the edges of pages on the in-flight airline magazine. He said he tried to avoid sounding self-congratulatory for his success, like in “My Way,” which was written by Paul Anka and made into a hit by Frank Sinatra.

Simon said he felt bad about the “lie la lie” placeholder lyric. “Every time I sing that part, I’m a little embarrassed,” he said.

Peaked at #7 in the Hot 100, with 4 weeks in the Top 10

Bridge Over Troubled Water, Released: Jan. 20, 1970

Simon said the song just came to him. “It was one of the most shocking moments of my songwriting career,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘This is considerably better than I usually write.’ ”

Simon wrote just two verses but as they recorded other instruments that join in as the song progresses, Garfunkel suggested they add a third verse. That morning, Simon’s wife had grown upset after finding a gray hair. Simon offered her lyrical encouragement, with his line, “Sail on, Silvergirl.”

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is reportedly the biggest-selling single Columbia Records has ever released.

Peaked at #1 in the Hot 100, with 10 weeks in the Top 10

Cecilla, Released: April 11, 1970

Late one night while partying at a house Garfunkel had rented in the Hollywood Hills, the friends began banging on a piano bench with pieces of wood and silverware and smacking their thighs.

Simon had recorded the party and found one section of just over a minute long he felt was particularly inspired. He had that bit cut out of the tape and then put on a loop, around which he constructed this song. “It was like a little piece of magical fluff, but it works,” Simon said.

At one point, Simon and Garfunkel had thought “Cecilia” should be the first single from the album, but label executives felt differently.

Peaked at #4 in the Hot 100, with 5weeks in the Top 10

El Condor Pasa (if I Could), Released: Sept. 12, 1970

Simon heard a South American group, Los Incas, play an instrumental song they called “Paso Del Condor.” He fell in love with the song and was told it was an old Andean folk melody.

Simon decided to write lyrics for the tune and then invite Los Incas to play on the track. It wasn’t until after the song was released that Simon discovered the song had been written by Peruvian songwriter Daniel Robles and had been copyrighted in the U.S. in 1933. Simon and Columbia Records retroactively gave Robles credit as the composer and paid songwriting royalties to Robles’ estate.

Peaked at #18 in the Hot 100

Six Albums In Six Years

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” would win six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year, and the title track would win Song of the Year. By the end of 1970, Simon had earned $7 million in songwriting royalties from the album.

But the resentments, the disagreements and their diverging interests were starting to grow. “I remember thinking,” Garfunkel said, “ ‘when this record’s over, I want to rest from Paul Simon.’ And I would swear he was thinking the same thing.”