I was reading a very interesting article about Paul Simon. Yes, the guy from the former singing duo of Simon and Garfunkel. This was in the current issue of Rolling Stone and I gathered no moss in reading it because I have long been a fan of that pair. Nicholas Dawidoff wrote the story and did a good job. Here's a few things from the article that might interest you or surprise you.
1. Paul Simon has been married three times and has several children.
2. Paul was married to Carrie Fisher of Star Wars fame.
3.The line, "Sail on silver girl" from Bridge Over Troubled Water refers to his first wife's discovery of her first gray hairs.
4. "Hello darkness, my old friend" from Sound Of Silence came about because Paul liked to turn off the lights in his bathroom and sing, since the tiles gave forth good acoustics. This was in his teens while he was living with his folks.
5. Garfunkel used to hitchhike from one gig to another.
My main reason for this post is not so much the article but a thought I had while reading about Paul and Art's rather public falling out.
When we spend a lot of time around people there are going to be some very irritating things that can become almost unbearable. You see it in business and you see it in families, friends and certainly in marriage. Maybe it's creative differences, jealousy or simply that one of you eats with his mouth open or smacks his lips or says "you know?" at the end of every darn sentence. So, there are break-ups. Some may be for the best and others are inevitable. Then you have those 'peanut butter and jelly' break-ups that are sort of tragic.
Sometimes, many times, the whole is so much better than the parts could ever be. In my opinion, the Beatles could never have shaken the world individually. But that perfect zen type of thing when they happened to get together on that fateful day, that was peanut butter and jelly. It is probable that no other person inserted into that mix could have been as effective, as magical. Like Simon and Garfunkel. Paul was the song-writer, sure, but who's to say that Garfunkel's presence and influence did not help to inspire Paul to do what I think was the best work of his life? I don't slight Paul Simon's later work but his early stuff is the best. And that wonderful harmonizing? Incomparable.
Let's not stop there. Let's talk about the Fogerty brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival. I like several of John's solo songs, really like them, but it's hard to imagine the stuff that might have come about had the brothers not split.
Then you have that oddity of The Rolling Stones who have toured together for decades despite very nasty and public conflicts and at least one tell-all book. I suppose that tough bunch of street kids just knew how to unload on each other and then go on with life. Plus, give Mick some credit for not doing the " Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones " thing that has destroyed other groups. Remember when the terrific group called the Four Seasons became Frankie Valley and The Four Seasons?
My point is, why mess with success? If you ever are so blessed as to run into a peanut butter and jelly romance or rock group or business partner or best friend, don't be in too big a hurry to cast them aside because they are rare indeed. I say this, but the fact is that I am the world's worst about it. I can cast aside a person for the smallest reasons. I just hate hassles. Of course, after a lifetime of that, you wind up eating a lot of baloney sandwiches.
From the deli counter of life, I'm CE Wills.
1. Paul Simon has been married three times and has several children.
2. Paul was married to Carrie Fisher of Star Wars fame.
3.The line, "Sail on silver girl" from Bridge Over Troubled Water refers to his first wife's discovery of her first gray hairs.
4. "Hello darkness, my old friend" from Sound Of Silence came about because Paul liked to turn off the lights in his bathroom and sing, since the tiles gave forth good acoustics. This was in his teens while he was living with his folks.
5. Garfunkel used to hitchhike from one gig to another.
My main reason for this post is not so much the article but a thought I had while reading about Paul and Art's rather public falling out.
When we spend a lot of time around people there are going to be some very irritating things that can become almost unbearable. You see it in business and you see it in families, friends and certainly in marriage. Maybe it's creative differences, jealousy or simply that one of you eats with his mouth open or smacks his lips or says "you know?" at the end of every darn sentence. So, there are break-ups. Some may be for the best and others are inevitable. Then you have those 'peanut butter and jelly' break-ups that are sort of tragic.
Sometimes, many times, the whole is so much better than the parts could ever be. In my opinion, the Beatles could never have shaken the world individually. But that perfect zen type of thing when they happened to get together on that fateful day, that was peanut butter and jelly. It is probable that no other person inserted into that mix could have been as effective, as magical. Like Simon and Garfunkel. Paul was the song-writer, sure, but who's to say that Garfunkel's presence and influence did not help to inspire Paul to do what I think was the best work of his life? I don't slight Paul Simon's later work but his early stuff is the best. And that wonderful harmonizing? Incomparable.
Let's not stop there. Let's talk about the Fogerty brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival. I like several of John's solo songs, really like them, but it's hard to imagine the stuff that might have come about had the brothers not split.
Then you have that oddity of The Rolling Stones who have toured together for decades despite very nasty and public conflicts and at least one tell-all book. I suppose that tough bunch of street kids just knew how to unload on each other and then go on with life. Plus, give Mick some credit for not doing the " Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones " thing that has destroyed other groups. Remember when the terrific group called the Four Seasons became Frankie Valley and The Four Seasons?
My point is, why mess with success? If you ever are so blessed as to run into a peanut butter and jelly romance or rock group or business partner or best friend, don't be in too big a hurry to cast them aside because they are rare indeed. I say this, but the fact is that I am the world's worst about it. I can cast aside a person for the smallest reasons. I just hate hassles. Of course, after a lifetime of that, you wind up eating a lot of baloney sandwiches.
From the deli counter of life, I'm CE Wills.
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