1968: Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends

There's a tendency from music critics to revise history by saying "You know, it wasn't actually the most super-successful album by this legendary act that was the best, it was the second most successful one that was the best" (a bit like, though the opposite of, always choosing the second cheapest bottle of wine at a fancy restaurant, which is, of course, what everybody does).

So, Revolver, Off the Wall, Talking Book, Hunky Dory, Definitely Maybe etc all fall into that category, as, I often find, does 'Bookends'. This is a more complete, fulfilling work than Bridge Over Troubled Water, they say.  Is it?

Let's not underestimate how phenomenally successful Bridge Over Troubled Water was - before Thriller, it was the bestselling album of all time. It was the last album of S and G's relatively short spell at the top. They split, people suppose, because Simon didn't think he needed Garfunkel and was constrained by the process. Fair enough, he's hardly flopped on his own, though, for me, everything he has done since has not lived up to the best of the Garfunkular era. Though Simon sang lead on the majority of songs even in S and G, it's somehow Garfunkel's voice which is more memorable and Paul Simon's (forgive me if you disagree) suffers for being a little monochrome. Perhaps it's no accident that the most successful work of his solo career surrounded him with many other wonderful voices.

Together, they made beautiful music. Undoubtedly. Despite that vast success and the accomplishment of the work, you do hear Simon complaining that he doesn't quite receive the acclaim of his most lauded peers (Dylan, Cohen, Mitchell, let's say). Hard to say, really. Paul Simon is probably more successful than all of them but I certainly don't think he's come up with as many memorable songs as Bob Dylan. Maybe that's the monochrome voice again. And maybe it's that thing which critics of the band will say that it's just a bit ... prissy, a bit pleased with itself, a bit church group.

That's the criticism. That's countered by how beautiful, exemplary, imaginative, progressive and utterly well-crafted their finest songs are. I do think there is too large a gap between their best work and their second tier songs though. I think that's true on  both 'Bookends' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. America, Overs, Old Friends in succession on Bookends, this could be a masterpiece, but then Fakin' It and Punky's Dilemma are, for me, forgettable. Likewise Cecilia, Baby Driver, Why Don't You Write Me amongst one or two others on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. Hey, it's just like, my opinion, man.

So I must say I'm a little underwhelmed by Bookends on giving it the most considered listens I ever have. The songs I love on it I already knew inside out - America and Old Friends/Bookends are wonderful - I'd say America is their greatest song - and others like Mrs Robinson and Hazy Shade of Winter are great too. Everything else is good, but you know, pretty light, don't you think?

It certainly shows the duo (or Simon), moving on from the folk sound, the first noise of Save the Life of My Child is pretty aggressive and there are all kinds of lovely production touches - this was never really a band capable of rocking, so this gives a very account of what they're capable of.

I think it's meant to have a bit of a "life cycle" theme to it, but I'm not particularly sure how well that fits together, in particular the second half.

I also noticed while writing this how much i've concentrated on the major American stars when it comes to the late 60s/early 70s - Dylan, Young, Cohen, Mitchell, Simon, Redding (and a few others) have all had their turn, but what of Jagger, Townshend, Davies, Barrett etc. i've just read a book about just that period in the history in British music, the "madmen" who took it past the summer of love and into the darker waters of the next decade. It's fascinating, but for the most part I don't buy it - I don't believe in the genius of Pete Townshend, or Ray Davies - I've never ever found any of their concept albums anything but absurd - give me The Best of the Who/Kinks any day, and even that begins to sag a little when you get to the likes of Plastic Man. [This implies, reading it back, that I don't like the Kinks or think they're one of the most important bands in all music, which isn't quite true. I do love them, and they were important, but I just haven't got into all that much of what they did after the late 60s, despite trying]/

I do think those pesky Americans took it all to the next level around that time, certainly in terms of melodic, literate pop/rock. Britain still had the biggest bands of the early 70s - Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and, a little later, Queen, but I do think the great British artists of the 60s never really found the spark to the full extent again.

But still, saying that, I appreciate that when it comes to that period, mine's a pretty limited history of rock'n'roll. Bookends, in style, substance, and conception, epitomises that slightly po-faced, crafted, American thing, but when it's good and you're in the mood for it, you can't beat it.

Here's a compilation from duo and solo - had to have Bright Eyes, of course. Don't cry, now.

Old Friends/Bookends
America
The Only Living Boy in New York
Bridge Over Troubled Water
You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Homeward Bound
Kathy's Song
Dangling Conversation
Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon
You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
The Sound of Silence
The Boxer
Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard - Paul Simon
Bright Eyes - Art Garfunkel
I Am a Rock
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright