On this day in music history: January 26, 1970 - “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, the fifth studio album by Simon & Garfunkel is released. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Roy Halee, it is recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA and New York City from November 1968 - November 1969. After a triumphant year in 1968 with the back to back successes of the soundtrack for “The Graduate” and their fourth album “Bookends”, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel will begin work on what will be their final studio album in the Fall of 1968. Progress on the album will be slow at first with Simon having little new material written at the outset. Then work will be further hampered when Garfunkel leaves the sessions to work on his first film (director Mike Nichols’) “Catch-22”, spending eight months on location in Mexico. In the interim period, Simon will write the rest of the songs and recording will resume in the Fall of 1969. The ambitious breadth of material will push the boundaries of what the duo has done previously, and though the sessions are productive, there will also be tension between the old friends as relations between the two begin to break down during this period. The two will argue over what is to be the twelfth track on the album. Simon prefers a song he’s written called “Cuba Si, Nixon No”, while Garfunkel favors a Bach chorale influenced song called “Feuilles-O”. When they cannot resolve the argument, the album will be released with eleven tracks instead of twelve. When “Bridge” is finally completed, it is released to near universal acclaim from both fans and critics alike. At the time of its release, it will be one of the biggest selling albums in the history of Columbia Records. It will spin off four singles including “The Boxer” (#7 Pop), “Cecilia” (#4 Pop), El Condor Pasa (#18 Pop), and the epic title track (#1 Pop). The album will also sweep the Grammy Awards in 1971, winning six prizes including Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year. In March of 2011, Sony will release a 40th anniversary edition of the album which also includes two DVDs featuring the long unseen Songs Of America TV special (which previewed songs from the album before its release), and a documentary titled The Harmony Game. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” will spend ten weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 8x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:00:05 +0000
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