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| Track list: 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 Running time: 43 minutes Released: 1970 |
A classic I was moved to pick up because... I don't know why. I have Simon's Graceland too, which I have listened to more, but I have never been a particular fan of him or the duo. I think I must have felt - at some point probably close on 15 years back - that I really ought to listen to this. Either that or it was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. I wonder what a dedicated listen will offer?
We start with the very recognisible chords of the title track - a song I have two of, since the "bonus tracks" on this disc include another recording of it. A weekend where I didn't get to a listen on Saturday, and this one is being squeezed in (today was Mother's Day here). The song is a little soporific, subdued. I don't think this is the version I am more familiar with. The melody is nice and clear, soothing, the vocal has its moments but does not inspire me. It is better when they harmonise but even then it gets a bit grandstand-y, all blow no show. I am not a fan.
The opening to the second track is more promising, Spanish guitars, but it is far less interesting once the vocals start and it devolves into a rather stereotyped style, the sound more Greek to my ears than Spanish. By the time Cecilia starts I am thinking that even at a price too cheap to pass up this is not for me. This track is far too happy-clappy for my liking, with really nothing to recommend it to me. The blusier sound of Keep the Customer Satisfied is more interesting but at the same time its basic progression is so cliched and standard that it sounds like a thousand other songs; I can't escape that feeling which rather ruins the track for me.
The plus point that offsets these whinges of mine is that each track is very different from the last. Thus far they are equally unengaging though, and I find my eye drawn to the figure waving Amazonian bugs around on the silenced TV in the background instead. I really shouldn't have it on whilst otherwise occupied; bad habit. Seems that the energy usage is not a significant factor though, to go by the reading on the smart meter.
The Boxer is another instantly recognisible track. This has a cadence and a timbre that is more pleasing, even before the chorus with its distinctive lai-la-lais. The softer tone but consistent rumble of the guitar create a nice space, and the rise and fall of the vocal fills that space, giving it shape and form to the ear that my brain translates as relaxing. I wasn't aware that it got dark though - some threatening sounds creep in between 3 and 4 minutes somewhere, but all fall out by the end. It all feels a little schizophrenic, a bit like the whole album and its inability to stick to a style or theme. Simon and Garfunkel were certainly varied to go by this. More happy-clappiness follows, definitely sounding its age - birthed in the 60s, though the album itself scraped into the 70s before arriving. There are elements of The Beatles in Baby Driver I reckon, though that particular group are one I am far from qualified to talk about.
The Only Living Boy in New York... another tune that is a step above the majority. This time next week I'll be on a plane heading in that direction, business not pleasure, though I'm going to NJ, not NY. Wrong side of the Hudson. The song stands out because... it doesn't stand out? There doesn't appear to be such a gimmick here in the way that some of the other tunes have had. This sort of style, laid back folky guitars, is more what I would have expected from this pair; maybe I like it more because it aligns to expectation. I am not so keen on the next track which makes me think of cheesy movies that don't date well, nor on the swell of crowd applause that drowns out Bye Bye Love - this is a clap-along live recording it seems with an overly jaunty guitar that just makes me a little queasy. It sounds like a precursor to Graceland (some 16 years hence at this point) in some ways though... and I would hazard that between the two, Simon worked out how to apply the effect better.
Couple of shorties, then the second rendition of the title track. Song for the Asking sounds like a lot of 70s folk that presumably followed this, which is to say its pretty bland and sad, but pleasant with it. The brightness of the guitar offsets the maudlin strings and the short and sweet nature of the song wraps it into a more than acceptable package. The French song that is the first of the two bonuses is really dull; it is also very short but brevity is not enough to save it.
Those chords again - we're reaching the end. This is a softer opening, I prefer the vocal here and the piano-only recording. There isn't quite the grandstanding here, though the same stresses are all present. It is all just a little more understated, and we Brits love that more than brashness. It isn't all piano and voice, percussion arriving later, even if it is handmade. This version feels more authentic somehow, purer, better - or at least more to my taste. I didn't get on with a lot of this album if I'm honest, but there are a few highlights to maintain. Given that I probably got it for a pittance, that's not too bad, then.
We start with the very recognisible chords of the title track - a song I have two of, since the "bonus tracks" on this disc include another recording of it. A weekend where I didn't get to a listen on Saturday, and this one is being squeezed in (today was Mother's Day here). The song is a little soporific, subdued. I don't think this is the version I am more familiar with. The melody is nice and clear, soothing, the vocal has its moments but does not inspire me. It is better when they harmonise but even then it gets a bit grandstand-y, all blow no show. I am not a fan.
The opening to the second track is more promising, Spanish guitars, but it is far less interesting once the vocals start and it devolves into a rather stereotyped style, the sound more Greek to my ears than Spanish. By the time Cecilia starts I am thinking that even at a price too cheap to pass up this is not for me. This track is far too happy-clappy for my liking, with really nothing to recommend it to me. The blusier sound of Keep the Customer Satisfied is more interesting but at the same time its basic progression is so cliched and standard that it sounds like a thousand other songs; I can't escape that feeling which rather ruins the track for me.
The plus point that offsets these whinges of mine is that each track is very different from the last. Thus far they are equally unengaging though, and I find my eye drawn to the figure waving Amazonian bugs around on the silenced TV in the background instead. I really shouldn't have it on whilst otherwise occupied; bad habit. Seems that the energy usage is not a significant factor though, to go by the reading on the smart meter.
The Boxer is another instantly recognisible track. This has a cadence and a timbre that is more pleasing, even before the chorus with its distinctive lai-la-lais. The softer tone but consistent rumble of the guitar create a nice space, and the rise and fall of the vocal fills that space, giving it shape and form to the ear that my brain translates as relaxing. I wasn't aware that it got dark though - some threatening sounds creep in between 3 and 4 minutes somewhere, but all fall out by the end. It all feels a little schizophrenic, a bit like the whole album and its inability to stick to a style or theme. Simon and Garfunkel were certainly varied to go by this. More happy-clappiness follows, definitely sounding its age - birthed in the 60s, though the album itself scraped into the 70s before arriving. There are elements of The Beatles in Baby Driver I reckon, though that particular group are one I am far from qualified to talk about.
The Only Living Boy in New York... another tune that is a step above the majority. This time next week I'll be on a plane heading in that direction, business not pleasure, though I'm going to NJ, not NY. Wrong side of the Hudson. The song stands out because... it doesn't stand out? There doesn't appear to be such a gimmick here in the way that some of the other tunes have had. This sort of style, laid back folky guitars, is more what I would have expected from this pair; maybe I like it more because it aligns to expectation. I am not so keen on the next track which makes me think of cheesy movies that don't date well, nor on the swell of crowd applause that drowns out Bye Bye Love - this is a clap-along live recording it seems with an overly jaunty guitar that just makes me a little queasy. It sounds like a precursor to Graceland (some 16 years hence at this point) in some ways though... and I would hazard that between the two, Simon worked out how to apply the effect better.
Couple of shorties, then the second rendition of the title track. Song for the Asking sounds like a lot of 70s folk that presumably followed this, which is to say its pretty bland and sad, but pleasant with it. The brightness of the guitar offsets the maudlin strings and the short and sweet nature of the song wraps it into a more than acceptable package. The French song that is the first of the two bonuses is really dull; it is also very short but brevity is not enough to save it.
Those chords again - we're reaching the end. This is a softer opening, I prefer the vocal here and the piano-only recording. There isn't quite the grandstanding here, though the same stresses are all present. It is all just a little more understated, and we Brits love that more than brashness. It isn't all piano and voice, percussion arriving later, even if it is handmade. This version feels more authentic somehow, purer, better - or at least more to my taste. I didn't get on with a lot of this album if I'm honest, but there are a few highlights to maintain. Given that I probably got it for a pittance, that's not too bad, then.
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