|
| |
Simon & Garfunkel
Live 1969
(Columbia/Legacy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2008, Volume 15, #3
Written by John Metzger
Wed March 26, 2008, 12:15 PM CDT
Recorded for a concert album that took nearly 40 years to come to fruition,
the tracks on Live 1969 provide a glimpse of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel
at a critical juncture in their careers. The duo had just completed work on
Bridge over Troubled Water. With a slew of new songs in their arsenal, they
embarked upon a month-long tour that was designed specifically to preview what
would become known as their final studio endeavor. Cobbled together from
material that was performed over the course of six nights from this sojourn,
Live 1969 stands as a cohesive and unique statement. Although the outing is
more musically ramshackle than anything else in Simon & Garfunkel’s canon, it
also is an important historical artifact that provides a crucial component that
was missing from their existing audio portrait.
Finding themselves playing to larger and larger crowds and having constructed
more intricate arrangements for their songs, Simon & Garfunkel abandoned, at
least in part, the stripped-down, acoustic framework for their shows.
Consequently, the concerts that are featured on Live 1969 represented a
growing restlessness that was marked as much by the duo’s stylistic shift as it
was by the closing of an era. With the help of a backing band that was composed
of guitarist Fred Carter, Jr., drummer Hal Blaine, bass player Joe Osborn, and
keyboardist Larry Knechtel, Simon & Garfunkel put extra weight behind tunes like
Mrs. Robinson and I Am a Rock. Likewise, they unveiled their newer
material — including Why Don’t You Write Me and The Boxer — in
ways that closely approximated what they had created in the studio.
In effect, the additional musicians allowed Simon & Garfunkel to shade their
work with a broader range of colors and textures. Nevertheless, Simon doesn’t
appear to have been nearly as meticulous about scripting parts for his
accomplices to play as he was in the studio or, for that matter, on any of the
duo’s infrequent return engagements. Fueled by the enthusiasm that they had for
their forthcoming album as well as the raw, off-the-cuff quality of their
backing band’s support, there is a sharp contrast among the concert’s amplified
and acoustic segments. Regardless, these tunes — from Bridge over Troubled
Water’s title track, with its gracefully majestic, hymn-like, and
immediately recognizable introduction, to the gentle, bossa nova-flavored groove
of So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright — have become so iconic over the years
that it also is nearly impossible to imagine what it must have been like to hear
them revealed for the very first time.
Despite the size of the venues in which they were forced to play as well as
the impending dissolution of their working relationship, Simon & Garfunkel
remained capable of using their unfathomably intuitive chemistry to create a
wonderfully intimate space for their work. Garfunkel’s vocal track on the studio
rendition of For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her, for example, is one of
the most beautiful and touching moments ever captured on tape. Time and again,
though, he proved himself to be equally adept at conjuring the same level of
emotion on stage. Similarly, the fragility of a song like Scarborough
Fair/Canticle ought not to succeed outside a coffeehouse or small club, yet
the rendition that Simon & Garfunkel offered in concert often was stunningly
perfect.
In the end, Live 1969 might not be for everyone. As fans might expect,
Simon & Garfunkel’s music largely adhered to a familiar format. The main
attractions, then, are the immediacy of Simon’s melodies, the cerebral poetry of
his lyrics, and the way in which he and Garfunkel were able to intertwine their
voices without seeming to have made much effort at all. The result was a
brilliantly magnificent harmonic convergence of sorrowful yearning and romantic
optimism that brought their songs to life both in the studio and on stage. Live 1969 is a powerful and magical endeavor, and it is as wonderful an
introduction to Simon & Garfunkel’s cache of songs as it is a fitting conclusion
to their journey together.  ½
Live 1969 is currently only available
from Starbucks. It will receive wider distribution this Fall.
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
|
