Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 19, 1964 | |||
Recorded | March 10–31, 1964 | |||
Studio | Columbia 30th Street, New York City | |||
Genre | Folk [1] [2] | |||
Length | 31:38 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Tom Wilson | |||
Simon & Garfunkel chronology | ||||
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Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. is the debut studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Following their early incarnation as rock 'n' roll duo Tom and Jerry, Columbia Records signed the pair in late 1963. It was produced by Tom Wilson and engineered by Roy Halee. The cover and the label include the subtitle exciting new sounds in the folk tradition. Recorded in March 1964, the album was released on October 19.
The album was initially unsuccessful, so Paul Simon moved to London, England and released his first solo album The Paul Simon Songbook . Art Garfunkel continued his studies at Columbia University in his native New York City, before reuniting with Simon in late 1965. Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. was re-released in January 1966 (to capitalize on their newly found radio success because of the overdubbing of the song "The Sound of Silence" in June 1965, adding electric guitars, bass guitar and a drum kit, which was done under the direction of producer Tom Wilson without the duo's knowledge), and reached No. 30 on the Billboard 200. It was belatedly released in the UK two years later (in 1968) in both mono and stereo formats.
The song "He Was My Brother" was dedicated to Andrew Goodman, who was their friend and a classmate of Simon at Queens College. Andrew Goodman volunteered in Freedom Summer during 1964 and was abducted and killed in the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
The album is included in its entirety as part of the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) .
The album was produced by Tom Wilson and engineered by Roy Halee between March 10–31, 1964.
“Benedictus" was arranged and adapted from Orlando di Lasso's Missa Octavi toni, a Renaissance setting of the ordinary of the mass. The text, in Latin, is benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (KJV: Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord ). The song is arranged for two voices with cello and sparse guitar accompaniment.
The album's cover photo was shot at the Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street subway station in New York City. In several concerts, Art Garfunkel related that during the photo session, several hundred pictures were taken that were unusable due to the "old familiar suggestion" on the wall in the background (a euphemism for the words "Fuck You"), which inspired Paul Simon to write the song "A Poem on the Underground Wall" for the duo's later Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme album. [3]
The album was initially unsuccessful, having been released in the shadow of the British Invasion. This resulted in Paul Simon moving to England and Art Garfunkel continuing his studies at Columbia University in New York City. [4] It ultimately reached No. 24 on the UK Album Charts, albeit in 1968, long after the duo had re-formed and gone on to greater success. [5] Following the success of "The Sound of Silence," the album peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard album chart in 1966. [6]
All tracks are written by Paul Simon, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
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1. | "You Can Tell the World" | March 31, 1964 | 2:47 | |
2. | "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" | Ed McCurdy | March 17, 1964 | 2:11 |
3. | "Bleecker Street [lower-alpha 1] " | March 10, 1964 | 2:44 | |
4. | "Sparrow" | March 31, 1964 | 2:49 | |
5. | "Benedictus" | Traditional; arranged by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel | March 31, 1964 | 2:38 |
6. | "The Sounds of Silence" | March 10, 1964 | 3:08 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "He Was My Brother" | March 17, 1964 | 2:48 | |
2. | "Peggy-O" | Traditional; arranged by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel | March 31, 1964 | 2:26 |
3. | "Go Tell It on the Mountain" | Traditional; arranged by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel | March 31, 1964 | 2:06 |
4. | "The Sun Is Burning" | March 17, 1964 | 2:49 | |
5. | "The Times They Are a-Changin'" | March 10, 1964 | 2:52 | |
6. | "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." | March 17, 1964 | 2:13 | |
Total length: | 31:38 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
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13. | "Bleecker Street" (demo) | Paul Simon | March 10, 1964 | 2:46 |
14. | "He Was My Brother" (alt. take 1, previously unissued) | Paul Kane | March 17, 1964 | 2:52 |
15. | "The Sun Is Burning" (alt. take 12, previously unissued) | Ian Campbell | March 17, 1964 | 2:47 |
Chart (1964 and 1966) | Peak position |
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UK Albums Chart | 24 |
US Top LPs (Billboard) | 30 |
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and songs including "The Sound of Silence" (1965), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "The Boxer" (1969) and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970) reached number one on singles charts worldwide.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is the third studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on October 24, 1966, in the United States by Columbia Records. Following the success of the re-release of their debut single "The Sound of Silence", Simon & Garfunkel regrouped after a time apart while Columbia issued their second album, a rushed collection titled Sounds of Silence. For their third album, the duo spent almost three months in the studio working on instrumentation and production.
Bookends is the fourth studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the album was released on April 3, 1968, in the United States by Columbia Records. The duo had risen to fame two years prior with the albums Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and the soundtrack album for the 1967 film The Graduate.
The Paul Simon Songbook is the debut solo studio album by Paul Simon. It was released in the UK in 1965. It was made available in the US as part of the LP box set Paul Simon: Collected Works (1981). The album was produced by Reginald Warburton and Stanley West as Columbia/CBS Records LP BPG 62579 in the UK; remastered CD Columbia/Legacy/SME CK 90281.
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter known both for his solo work and his collaboration with Art Garfunkel. He and his school friend Garfunkel, whom he met in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Simon & Garfunkel. Their blend of folk and rock, including hits such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "America" and "The Boxer", served as a soundtrack to the counterculture movement. Their final album, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970), is among the bestselling of all time.
Arthur Ira Garfunkel is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainted with Simon through an elementary school play, a production of Alice in Wonderland, and sought a partnership. Their combined presence in music began in the 1950s, and throughout the 1960s the duo of Simon & Garfunkel achieved great chart success with tracks such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "Scarborough Fair", "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water". The latter song's title also served as the name of Simon & Garfunkel's final album in 1970. Simon & Garfunkel split for personal reasons, but the pair have occasionally reunited in the years since. Both men experienced success in solo careers in the years following the duo's breakup.
Live from New York City, 1967 is the second live album by Simon & Garfunkel, recorded at Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, on 22 January 1967. The album was released on the Columbia Legacy CK 61513 label on 16 July 2002.
"The Sound of Silence" is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original acoustic version was recorded in March 1964 at Columbia's 7th Avenue Recording Studios in New York City for their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released that October to disappointing sales. An overdubbed electric remix was released the following year and went to number one on the Billboard singles chart.
"America" is a song performed by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, which they included on their fourth studio album, Bookends, in 1968. It was produced by the duo and Roy Halee. The song was later issued as the B-side of the single "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her " in 1972 to promote the release of the compilation album Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits. After peaking in the charts in July 1972, the song was switched to the A-side of the single and re-entered the charts in November 1972.
"The Boxer" is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fifth and final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it was released as a standalone single on March 21, 1969, but included on the album nine months later. The song is a folk rock ballad that variously takes the form of a first-person lament as well as a third-person sketch of a boxer. The lyrics are largely autobiographical and partially inspired by the Bible and were written during a time when Simon felt he was being unfairly criticized. The song's lyrics discuss poverty and loneliness. It is particularly known for its plaintive refrain, in which they sing 'lie-la-lie', accompanied by a heavily reverbed snare drum.
"I Am a Rock" is a song written by Paul Simon. It was first performed by Simon as the opening track on his album The Paul Simon Songbook which he originally recorded and released in August 1965, only in the United Kingdom. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, as the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, re-recorded it on December 14, 1965, and included as the final track on their album Sounds of Silence, which they released on January 17, 1966. It was released as a single in 1966, and subsequently included as the B-side of the 1971 A-side reissue of "The 59th Street Bridge Song ".
Roy Decker Halee is an American record producer and engineer, best known for working with Simon & Garfunkel, both as a group and for their solo projects.
Live 1969 is the fourth live album by Simon & Garfunkel, released through Columbia Records. It consists of live recordings captured on the duo's final North American tour, prior to the release of their Bridge over Troubled Water album. Fifteen of the album's seventeen tracks are previously unreleased, with the exceptions being the live versions of "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" and "Kathy's Song", both of which initially appeared on Simon & Garfunkel's 1972 Greatest Hits album.
Simon & Garfunkel, an American singer-songwriter duo, has released five studio albums, fifteen compilation albums, four live albums, one extended play, twenty-six singles, one soundtrack, and four box sets since 1964. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel first formed a duo in 1957 as Tom & Jerry, before separating and later reforming as Simon & Garfunkel.
Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence". The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed under the direction of Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.
Scissors Cut is the fifth solo studio album by Art Garfunkel. It was released in August 1981 on Columbia Records; it was his second album to miss the US Billboard top 40 and his second album to contain no US top 40 singles. In the month following its release, Garfunkel reunited with former partner Paul Simon for their famous 1981 Concert in Central Park.
Bridge over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for The Graduate, Art Garfunkel took an acting role in the film Catch-22, while Paul Simon worked on the songs, writing all tracks except Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's "Bye Bye Love".
The Collection: Simon & Garfunkel is the fourth box set of Simon & Garfunkel recordings. Initially released November 15, 2004 as a 3-CD set of the second, fourth and fifth Simon & Garfunkel studio albums, it was later reissued November 26, 2007, expanded to six discs, including all five studio albums, plus a DVD of the September 19, 1981 free concert in Central Park. All six discs are in a mini-LP format and the albums come with the bonus tracks that were presented in The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970). All of the discs in the 6-CD collection, and their cases, are housed in a box set featuring a silhouetted image of the duo with Paul Simon holding an acoustic guitar and Art Garfunkel sitting on a stool. The earlier 3-CD set had alternative artwork with a photo of the duo.
The Definitive Simon and Garfunkel is the fourth compilation album of greatest hits by the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in UK & Europe in 1991.