49. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Simon and Garfunkel
Hello friends! Its been a while but we have some delicious listening ahead of us. Today's offering is the third album from Simon and Garfunkel, and allegedly they took some extra time in the studio with this one, striving for perfection. These songs led to sold out shows and wide popularity for the duo, mostly on the college circuit. It reflects the growing unease in America and the counterculture beginning to gain traction with the youth of the day.
The perfectionism shines through in the opening track. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle". The guitar is finger-picked and the vocal lines interweave to give an ethereal feel to the song. The arrangement was the subject of some legal proceedings, as the basic song is an old English traditional. Even in 1966 everyone wanted their cut. The song is beautiful and their voices are the perfect complements for each other. On the headphones you can hear the mix has guitar on one side and panned to the other is a harpsichord (i think). There are little nuances like triangle chimes spread throughout, it makes for a great listen.
The follow up is more straight ahead; "Patterns" starts with a guitar note repeated, then gets into a rhythm of bass and hand drums. There are heavy accents on some syllables for effect, and the guitar is intermittent through most of the song until the end where it breaks out into some chords and the song suddenly stops. It has a veiled sinister feel to it. At one point a rat dies. And he's singing about his life. Draw your own conclusions there.
"Cloudy" starts off with some nice guitar and we get back to the vocal blend that we seek when we select Simon and Garfunkel. This one is unsurprisingly airy and light, and could easily accompany a weekend morning coffee. "Homeward Bound" is next... a classic. I can't think of much to say about it, the song is well known and speaks for itself. Interestingly, our friends from the Wrecking Crew show up again, Hal Blaine on drums and Carol Kaye on bass for this track. Who knew. Well, I suppose they knew, but I didn't. I'm continually amazed at the massive impact a select group of individuals had on the music scene.
That being said, lets move on. Hippies, here's your stuff. "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine." In amongst the satirical lyrics that seem to offer some square a little relief from his tedious life, it mentions the hippies, a reflection of their "underground" college status, as the hippie movement continued to groundswell. Hey I used Hippies quite a lot in that paragraph, which is bad form, but you know what? I'm not constrained by the rules, man! Hippies, Hippies, Hippies.
Next up is the "59th Street Bridge Song". A nice finger-picked guitar and double bass over a snare rhythm, this one moves along with a psychedelic feel to the lyrics, like talking to a lamppost and feeling GROOVY. Methinks there may some involvement with marijuana here, but I wasn't there, so who am I to say anything. Smoke a joint and walk across a bridge on an afternoon with nothing to do, maybe they captured the feeling. Maybe not.
"The Dangling Conversation" follows, and apparently Mr. Garfunkel found this one a little pretentious. Well, I can see where he's coming from, with the late afternoon coffee and poetry reading spoken of in the lyrics, but the picture of two (artistic?) people on the verge of a breakup is nicely alluded to. "Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall" is more upbeat and straightforward. I like this one. It is a nice song, that doesn't seem to bear the same amount of weight as some of the other offerings. The album has a nice flow to it. Wow! That song just ended with the best sound. I'm reminded of the chord at the end of "A Day In The Life" by the Beatles. But that hadn't been released yet, it was still a year away. Hmmmmm. Interesting.
Now, "A Simple Desultory Phillipic", a straight up Bob Dylan style electric folk tune that mentions many figures of the 60's, including Bob himself, complete with harmonica playing that threatened to raise the hairs on my neck. Moving forward, we get a more typically Simon and Garfunkel song, with guitar and beautiful vocals in "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her". "A Poem on the Underground Wall" takes us down into the subway with a pulsing bass drum that seems to mimic the roll of a train along the track, rocking back and forth as you hurtle through the darkness. Its an interesting tune, but it is certainly dwarfed by some of these other tracks.
The album ends with "7 O'clock News/ Silent Night". The duo sings the Christmas carol over a newscast full of significant news items from the day. The juxtaposition of such a nice song and horrible headlines is powerful. And then it ends with a goodnight from the newscaster. An excellent (if sobering) end to a wonderful album. It really gives a snapshot of what was happening in the mid sixties from various angles. Great tunes, excellent vocals and enlightening lyrics. That extra time in the studio paid off.
Rolling Stone placed this album at Number 201 of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003).
Buy it here.
The perfectionism shines through in the opening track. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle". The guitar is finger-picked and the vocal lines interweave to give an ethereal feel to the song. The arrangement was the subject of some legal proceedings, as the basic song is an old English traditional. Even in 1966 everyone wanted their cut. The song is beautiful and their voices are the perfect complements for each other. On the headphones you can hear the mix has guitar on one side and panned to the other is a harpsichord (i think). There are little nuances like triangle chimes spread throughout, it makes for a great listen.
The follow up is more straight ahead; "Patterns" starts with a guitar note repeated, then gets into a rhythm of bass and hand drums. There are heavy accents on some syllables for effect, and the guitar is intermittent through most of the song until the end where it breaks out into some chords and the song suddenly stops. It has a veiled sinister feel to it. At one point a rat dies. And he's singing about his life. Draw your own conclusions there.
"Cloudy" starts off with some nice guitar and we get back to the vocal blend that we seek when we select Simon and Garfunkel. This one is unsurprisingly airy and light, and could easily accompany a weekend morning coffee. "Homeward Bound" is next... a classic. I can't think of much to say about it, the song is well known and speaks for itself. Interestingly, our friends from the Wrecking Crew show up again, Hal Blaine on drums and Carol Kaye on bass for this track. Who knew. Well, I suppose they knew, but I didn't. I'm continually amazed at the massive impact a select group of individuals had on the music scene.
That being said, lets move on. Hippies, here's your stuff. "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine." In amongst the satirical lyrics that seem to offer some square a little relief from his tedious life, it mentions the hippies, a reflection of their "underground" college status, as the hippie movement continued to groundswell. Hey I used Hippies quite a lot in that paragraph, which is bad form, but you know what? I'm not constrained by the rules, man! Hippies, Hippies, Hippies.
Next up is the "59th Street Bridge Song". A nice finger-picked guitar and double bass over a snare rhythm, this one moves along with a psychedelic feel to the lyrics, like talking to a lamppost and feeling GROOVY. Methinks there may some involvement with marijuana here, but I wasn't there, so who am I to say anything. Smoke a joint and walk across a bridge on an afternoon with nothing to do, maybe they captured the feeling. Maybe not.
"The Dangling Conversation" follows, and apparently Mr. Garfunkel found this one a little pretentious. Well, I can see where he's coming from, with the late afternoon coffee and poetry reading spoken of in the lyrics, but the picture of two (artistic?) people on the verge of a breakup is nicely alluded to. "Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall" is more upbeat and straightforward. I like this one. It is a nice song, that doesn't seem to bear the same amount of weight as some of the other offerings. The album has a nice flow to it. Wow! That song just ended with the best sound. I'm reminded of the chord at the end of "A Day In The Life" by the Beatles. But that hadn't been released yet, it was still a year away. Hmmmmm. Interesting.
Now, "A Simple Desultory Phillipic", a straight up Bob Dylan style electric folk tune that mentions many figures of the 60's, including Bob himself, complete with harmonica playing that threatened to raise the hairs on my neck. Moving forward, we get a more typically Simon and Garfunkel song, with guitar and beautiful vocals in "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her". "A Poem on the Underground Wall" takes us down into the subway with a pulsing bass drum that seems to mimic the roll of a train along the track, rocking back and forth as you hurtle through the darkness. Its an interesting tune, but it is certainly dwarfed by some of these other tracks.
The album ends with "7 O'clock News/ Silent Night". The duo sings the Christmas carol over a newscast full of significant news items from the day. The juxtaposition of such a nice song and horrible headlines is powerful. And then it ends with a goodnight from the newscaster. An excellent (if sobering) end to a wonderful album. It really gives a snapshot of what was happening in the mid sixties from various angles. Great tunes, excellent vocals and enlightening lyrics. That extra time in the studio paid off.
Rolling Stone placed this album at Number 201 of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003).
Buy it here.
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