Although it has been 30 years since Bridge Over Troubled Water was recorded, Art Garfunkel’s image and signature vocal remain among the most instantly recognizable in popular music.
The dialogue began for Art at age four, when his father brought home one of the first wire recorders. "That got me into music more than anything else," he recalls, "singing and being able to record it." Seven years later he was singing Everly Brothers songs at school talent shows with a partner, Paul Simon, from his Forest Hills neighborhood in Queens, New York. "Then rhythm ’n blues, rock ’n roll came along."
"But I went to college. I was the kid who was going to find some way to make a ’decent’ living." He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia College, majoring in Art History; later he earned his Masters degree in Mathematics at Columbia University. But he never stopped singing, and even recorded several solo singles (as ’Artie Garr’) while in school. When he met up again with Simon in 1962 and they began to rehearse, the decision was clear.
They started performing as Simon & Garfunkel at the height of the folk music boom in late-1963, and within a year were signed to Columbia Records.
Simon & Garfunkel won five Grammy awards together, two in 1968 and three in 1970 .
"They were fabulous years," Art remembers warmly. "I’ll always be happy to say a little on behalf of the duo. I’m proud of singing those great songs. Now they teach Paul Simon songs in churches and schools as part of the curricula...it seems that part of good citizenship is the knowledge of the songs we did. How can I grasp that?"
