MGM+ recently released the first part of a documentary titled In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. Directed by Alex Gibney, the second part of this project will come out on March 24, 2024, at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT.
Paul Simon is regarded as one of the greatest singer/songwriters America has ever produced. Even though his solo career consists of several well-received albums, he is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Art Garfunkel. Formed in the 1950s, Simon & Garfunkel became a household name across the country in the 60s and 70s. Furthermore, their unique lyrics and song compositions made them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Surprisingly, Simon & Garfunkel released only five albums throughout their career. Once upon a time, they shared a strong bond, however, due to several circumstances, their relationship withered. In the documentary mentioned above, Paul Simon explained exactly what went wrong with Simon & Garfunkel. According to him, the seeds of their rift were planted even before they created their last album.
Reports suggest that, in 1967, Art Garfunkel accepted a role in the film Catch-22. Garfunkel assumed that in his absence, Simon would write songs, and upon his return, they would start recording the album. However, Simon had no intention of doing anything as such. Simon recalled, “Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I will do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we will do the album,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah? Actually, no. That’s not gonna happen. I am not gonna do that.’” Simon further explained that the duo had an uneven “uneven partnership,” even before the creation of their final studio album.
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon: When did Simon & Garfunkel split and what was their last album?
Simon & Garfunkel’s fifth and final album was Bridge over Troubled Water, which came out on January 26, 1970. Unfortunately, right after its release, the duo decided to call it quits.
Just like their previous albums, Bridge Over Troubled Water became critically acclaimed. It bagged six Grammy Awards at the 1971 Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year. In addition, it sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and at the time of its release; it became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Unfortunately, during the recording of this album, the duo’s relationship withered. According to People Magazine, Simon elaborated on their “uneven partnership,”, by saying, “We had an uneven partnership because I was writing all of the songs and basically running the sessions because I would say, ‘This is how it goes, and this is the guitar part, and you should be playing that on drums, and the bass should be doing this’,”
Paul Simon further stated, “Artie would be in the control room with [producer] Roy [Halee], and he’d say, ‘Yeah, that’s good, let’s do that,’ but it was an uneven balance of power.”
He then explained how Garfunkel was supposed to film Catch-22 for six weeks. However, when the shoot went on for longer, their relationship got worse. He stated, “The movie ran over. ‘You have to come back.’ ‘No, I can’t because we have to shoot this week in Mexico. Send me down what you did, and I’ll give it a list,’ ‘No, that’s no good. You have to change this and this.’ It was like — everything got disrupted. It was a recipe for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel.”
Both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are currently 82 years old. The former’s last solo album, Seven Psalms, was released in 2023.
