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Studio album by Simon & Garfunkel
Released January 26, 1970
Recorded November 1968 – November 1969
Studio
Columbia Studio B and E, New York City
CBS Columbia Square, Los Angeles[1][2]
Columbia Studio A, Nashville[3]
Genre Folk rock
Length 36:56
Label Columbia
Producer
Paul SimonArt GarfunkelRoy Halee
Simon & Garfunkel chronology
Bookends
(1968) Bridge over Troubled Water
(1970) Simon and Garfunkel`s Greatest Hits
(1972)

Bridge Over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. The album was released on January 26, 1970 through Columbia Records. Following the duo`s soundtrack for The Graduate, Art Garfunkel took an acting role in the film Catch-22, while Paul Simon worked on the songs, writing all tracks except Felice and Boudleaux Bryant`s `Bye Bye Love` (previously a hit for the Everly Brothers).

With the help of producer Roy Halee, the album followed a similar musical pattern as their previous album Bookends (1968), partly abandoning their traditional style to incorporate elements of rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, world music, pop and other genres. It was described as their `most effortless record and their most ambitious.`[4] After Bridge Over Troubled Water was released, several re-releases followed. The album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. Columbia Records released a 40th Anniversary Edition on March 8, 2011, which includes two DVDs, including the politically themed TV special Songs of America (1969), the documentary The Harmony Game, additional liner notes and a booklet. Other reissues contain bonus tracks, such as the 2001 version, which covers the demo tapes of `Feuilles-O` and `Bridge Over Troubled Water.` Contemporary critical reception to Bridge was initially mixed, but retrospective reviews of the album have been laudatory, and it is considered by many to be the duo`s best album.[5]

Bridge Over Troubled Water topped the charts in over ten countries and received six Grammy Awards at the 1971 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time and at the time of its release, the best-selling album ever. It has been ranked on several `greatest` lists, including number 172 on Rolling Stone`s list of the `500 Greatest Albums of All Time` in 2020.[6] Despite the accolades, the duo decided to split up, and parted company later in 1970; Garfunkel continued his film career, while Simon worked intensely with music. Both artists released solo albums in the following years. Bridge includes two of the duo`s most critically acclaimed and commercially successful songs, `Bridge Over Troubled Water` and `The Boxer`, which were listed on Rolling Stone`s list of the `500 Greatest Songs of All Time.`

Background
Simon & Garfunkel were already successful in the music industry. Their Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, the soundtrack album for Mike Nichols` film The Graduate and Bookends peaked at number four, one, and one in the US Billboard 200, respectively,[7] with the former selling 3 million copies and the latter two selling 2 million copies each in the United States.[8] Art Garfunkel took the role of Captain Nately in another Nichols film, Catch-22, based on the novel of the same name. Initially Paul Simon was to play the character of Dunbar, but screenwriter Buck Henry felt the film was already crowded with characters and subsequently wrote Simon`s part out.[1][9] The unexpectedly long film production endangered the relationship between the duo;[9] Garfunkel later stated in a 1990 interview with Paul Zollo in SongTalk magazine: `Our way of working was for Paul to write while we recorded. So we`d be in the studio for the better part of two months working on the three or four songs that Paul had written, recording them, and when they were done, we`d knock off for a couple of months while Paul was working on the next group of three or four songs. Then we`d book time and be in the studio again for three or four months, recording those . . . . Rather than wait for Paul to write the next bunch of songs, I went off and did this movie.`[10]

Content
Garfunkel was involved in the filming of Catch-22 from January 1969 – this would continue for about eight months.[11][12] Simon had not completed any new songs at this point; the duo planned to collaborate when the filming was finished. Roy Halee would produce the album; and, as was the case with their most recent studio album, Bookends, they wanted a new sound, moving away from typical folk rock.[9]

Bridge over Troubled Water was the duo`s first album to credit the backing musicians in the liner notes. The credited musicians, in addition to Simon, were Fred Carter Jr. on guitars, Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborn on bass, and Larry Knechtel on keyboards; all of whom were studio session musicians – later known as members of the Wrecking Crew.[13][14] Because the duo were involved in recording the album, they declined invitations to perform, including at the Woodstock Festival.[15][16]

Side one
Simon wanted a gospel piano sound on `Bridge over Troubled Water`,[17] so he hired session musician Larry Knechtel. The song was initially two verses long, but Garfunkel felt the song was too short and asked Knechtel to play a third verse, to which Simon would write more lyrics. Osborn played two bass guitar parts, one high and the other low. Blaine recorded the drums in an echo chamber, to achieve a hall effect. A horn section rounded off the track. Due to a series of factors, the duo had to work on a new tape; an arranger falsely labeled the song as `Like a Pitcher of Water` and wrote Garfunkel`s name incorrectly (GarFunkel), and the string part was unsatisfactory.[18]

The duo then returned to New York to record the vocals.[19][20][21] The vocal style in `Bridge over Troubled Water` was inspired by Phil Spector`s technique in `Old Man River` by the Righteous Brothers.[22] After two months the song was finalized. Simon himself admitted that it sounded like the Beatles` `Let It Be`, stating in a Rolling Stone interview: `They are very similar songs, certainly in instrumentation ...`[23] The song has been covered by over 50 artists since then,[24] including Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.[25]

`Bridge Over Troubled Water` was influenced by the gospel music to which Simon was listening at that time, especially the Swan Silvertones and their song `Mary Don`t You Weep`.[26] The name of the title track was inspired by the latter`s line `I`ll be your bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name`. According to gospel producer and historian Anthony Heilbut, Simon later acknowledged his musical debt to Claude Jeter in person, and additionally handed Jeter a check as compensation.[27] `Bridge over Troubled Water` was addressed to Simon`s wife Peggy, whom he had met that year. The `silver girl` in the song refers to her, and her first gray hairs, and not to a drugged hypodermic needle, as was believed by some in the United States.[28] Simon asked Garfunkel to sing lead on the song, and although Garfunkel initially refused this proposal and suggested that Simon should sing falsetto, later agreed to sing. Simon initially composed the song in G major, but arranger and composer Jimmie Haskell transposed the song to E-flat major to suit Garfunkel`s voice.[17]

`El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)` is a Peruvian song based on traditional Andean music. Simon relied on erroneous information from Jorge Milchberg of Los Incas about the collection of royalties for his arrangement of song. Simon wrongfully thought it to be a traditional song and thus not restricted by copyright law, but in reality it was written by Peruvian Daniel Alomía Robles. His son Armando Robles Godoy filed a successful lawsuit later that year in 1970, saying he had held the song`s copyright in the United States since his father`s 1933 filing.[29] Simon wrote English lyrics to the instrumental recording by Los Incas,[30][24] and the song later became a forerunner of Simon`s world music era as a solo artist.[31]

In the summer of 1969, Simon, his wife Peggy and Garfunkel rented a house on Blue Jay Way in Los Angeles, as Garfunkel did not want to withdraw from Catch-22, which was being filmed on the West Coast. In this session, the duo experimented on a new song with numerous objects to create unusual sounds, such as a falling bundle of drum sticks. Garfunkel had a Sony reel-to-reel tape deck with a reverberation effect, so that each sound received an echo. When finished, Simon gave the tape to Halee, who then worked on the song, condensing sounds and copying them. The song features Simon as percussionist on the xylophone, an instrument he had never played before, and as acoustic guitarist. He began with a random line, `You`re breaking my heart. I`m down on my knees,` and when finished it was what later became `Cecilia`. The drummer was again Blaine,[32][33] and Simon`s brother Eddie played on guitar.[24] The song is about an unfaithful girl who invites another lover to her bed, while the singer (the first) is in the bathroom. David Browne suggested that the name may be derived from the patron of music, Saint Cecilia.[34] It has an unusually fast tempo compared to their prior songs.[32]

Featuring the rockabilly style of the Everly Brothers,[35] `Keep the Customer Satisfied` recounts the exhausting tours that Simon grew tired of, a similar theme to that of their earlier song `Homeward Bound`.

`So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright` is a tribute to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright but also to Garfunkel, who wanted to train as an architect. It chronicles the early career of the duo and predicts their future split up. At the end Halee shouts `So long already, Artie`, a portentous message.[36] Simon plays here a guitar style that has been described as Latin jazz[37] and bossa nova. Congas additionally contribute to the South American sound.[38]

Side two
The recordings for the folk ballad `The Boxer`, which was already partly written by Simon in 1968 and released in March 1969 (it debuted on the WLS 89 Hit Parade at No. 38 on March 31, 1969),[39][40] became one of the longest and toughest in the duo`s career. The session lasted over 100 hours and took place at several locations. The second, main part was recorded in Nashville, at Columbia Studios, December 6–8, 1968. The third, final part and the horns were recorded inside St. Paul`s Chapel at Columbia University (Garfunkel`s alma mater), and the strings at Columbia Studios. The song features Simon and Fred Carter Jr. playing Martin guitars.[1] The echoing drums were played by Blaine in an elevator shaft.[33][41] Other instruments include Bob Moore playing contra bass, tuba, Charlie McCoy playing harmonica, Pete Drake playing pedal steel guitar, Dobro[42] and a piccolo flute.[43] Simon & Garfunkel became the first musicians to use 16-track recording, but as only two 8-track recorders were available, both had to be carefully manually synchronized to produce a clear sound.[44]

`Baby Driver`, an uptempo and happy rock and roll song,[45] already released as a B-side of `The Boxer`, tells about a boy who lives a comfortable life in a protected home, but who searches for adventures and one day decides to have his first sexual experience.[46][47] The recording features car noises, Beach Boys–like singing parts and absurd syllables.[48] Edgar Wright`s 2017 action comedy film Baby Driver is named after the song, which is played at the end credits.[49]

Simon wrote `The Only Living Boy in New York` while Garfunkel was filming in Mexico; it is about the resulting isolation he felt in New York.[50] In an interview with SongTalk, Simon guessed that 12 to 15 voices were used to record the `aaah`s, while Garfunkel said that he proposed those lines, stating `It`s us around eight times screaming, and we mixed it down very softly ... I started getting into open-mouth harmony, in a very loud, strident way. We were screaming at the top of our lungs and inside an echo chamber. I remember that day that Dylan dropped by to visit. We came out of the booth after all this screaming, and there he was.`[51]

`Why Don`t You Write Me`, deals with separation from Simon`s wife in a jungle.[50] In this song Simon experimented with the nascent genre of reggae for the first time,[34] a style he later explored in his solo career, most notably in `Mother and Child Reunion`.[47]

The Everly Brothers` `Bye Bye Love` had been recorded live, but Simon, Garfunkel, and Halee were not satisfied with the performances. The song was subsequently recorded in the studio and the recording played to various audiences to clap along to.[52] `Bye Bye Love` became a farewell song and a sign of a new career.[53]

The album`s final song, `Song for the Asking,` represents an `olive branch` extended by the duo to each other and holding open the possibility of reconciliation and further collaboration. The song starts with the applauses of the previous song cross-fading into it.

All tracks are written by Paul Simon except where noted.

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Recorded[3] Length
1. `Bridge over Troubled Water` Fall 1969 4:52
2. `El Condor Pasa (If I Could)` Daniel Alomía Robles, arranged by Jorge Milchberg and English lyrics by Paul Simon 1969 3:06
3. `Cecilia` 1969 2:55
4. `Keep the Customer Satisfied` July 29 and October 27, 1969 2:33
5. `So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright` November 9, 1969 3:41
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Recorded Length
1. `The Boxer` December 1968 5:08
2. `Baby Driver` November 19, 1968 3:14
3. `The Only Living Boy in New York` June 13 and July 29, 1969 3:58
4. `Why Don`t You Write Me` June 10–13, 1969 2:45
5. `Bye Bye Love` (studio recording with live clapping[52]) Felice Bryant, Boudleaux Bryant Fall 1969 2:55
6. `Song for the Asking` November 1, 1969 1:49
2001 CD reissue bonus tracks
No. Title Writer(s) Recorded Length
12. `Feuilles-O` (demo) Traditional; arranged by Simon, Art Garfunkel August 11, 1969 1:45
13. `Bridge over Troubled Water` (demo take 6) August 13, 1969 4:46
Personnel
Paul Simon – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
Art Garfunkel – lead vocals, percussion
Los Incas – Peruvian instruments[91]
Joe Osborn – bass guitar[91]
Larry Knechtel – piano[91]
Fred Carter Jr. – guitar[91]
Pete Drake – Dobro, pedal steel guitar[42][91]
Hal Blaine – drums[91]
Jimmie Haskell and Ernie Freeman – strings[91]
Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff and Alan Rubin – Brass[91]
Roy Halee – engineer and co-producer[91]