The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970 [Box set] [Limited Edition]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Though the American folk movement of the early '60s would influence bands like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield and a score of oh-so-sensitive '70s singer-songwriters, its two most looming successes during the decade--Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel--couldn't have seemed more disparate. While Dylan turned hard-left, outraging many a folk purist by zealously embracing rootsy blues-rock and its electrified cacophony, S&G veered toward the center, equally infuriating snooty pundits by embracing a Top 40 pop sense whose ostensible shallowness often belied its rich musical diversity. In retrospect, Simon and Garfunkel's career as a duo was remarkably brief (five albums in six years), if no less commercially potent (a slew of Top 40 singles, two Number One albums, and the requisite handful of Grammy Awards). This box set compiles digitally remastered versions of the original S&G albums, each expanded to include bonus tracks (mostly previously unissued demos with a few scattered outtakes, the quartet on Sounds of Silence the best of the lot) and a booklet featuring new notes for each album and song lyrics. It's a rewarding journey, wending from the almost slavish folk devotion of Wednesday Morning 3 AM through the greeting-card iconoclasm of Sounds of Silence, the madrigal-pop of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme to the increasingly impressionistic lyrical landscape of Bookends. It also covers the rich musical tapestry of Bridge over Troubled Waters, which foreshadowed Simon's own diverse solo career by embracing everything from the Everlys and Jan & Dean to Andean folk and R&B. --Jerry McCulley

Tracks:

You Can Tell The World
Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
Bleecker Street
Sparrow
Benedictus
The Sound Of Silence
He Was My Brother
Peggy-O
Go Tell It On The Mountain
The Sun Is Burning
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
Bleecker Street
He Was My Brother
The Sun Is Burning

Tracks:

The Sound Of Silence
Leaves That Are Green
Blessed
Kathy's Song
Somewhere They Can't Find Me
Anji
Richard Cory
A Most Peculiar Man
April Come She Will
We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin'
I Am A Rock
Blues Run The Game
Barbriallen
Rose Of Aberdeen
Roving Gambler

Tracks:

Scarborough Fair/Canticle
Patterns
Cloudy
Homeward Bound
The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
the 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
The Dangling Conversation
Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall
A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into
For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her
A Poem On The Underground Wall
7 O'Clock News/Silent Night
Patterns
A Poem On The Underground Wall

Tracks:

Bookends Theme
Save The Life Of My Child
America
Overs
Voices Of Old People
Old Friends
Bookends Theme
Fakin' It
Punky's Dilemma
Mrs. Robinson
A Hazy Shade Of Winter
At The Zoo
You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies
Old Friends

Tracks:

Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Cecilia
Keep The Customer Satisfied
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
The Boxer
Baby Driver
The Only Living Boy In New York
Why Don't You Write Me
Bye Bye Love
Song For The Asking
Feuilles-O
Bridge Over Troubled Water

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Though the American folk movement of the early '60s would influence bands like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield and a score of oh-so-sensitive '70s singer-songwriters, its two most looming successes during the decade--Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel--couldn't have seemed more disparate. While Dylan turned hard-left, outraging many a folk purist by zealously embracing rootsy blues-rock and its electrified cacophony, S&G veered toward the center, equally infuriating snooty pundits by embracing a Top 40 pop sense whose ostensible shallowness often belied its rich musical diversity. In retrospect, Simon and Garfunkel's career as a duo was remarkably brief (five albums in six years), if no less commercially potent (a slew of Top 40 singles, two Number One albums, and the requisite handful of Grammy Awards). This box set compiles digitally remastered versions of the original S&G albums, each expanded to include bonus tracks (mostly previously unissued demos with a few scattered outtakes, the quartet on Sounds of Silence the best of the lot) and a booklet featuring new notes for each album and song lyrics. It's a rewarding journey, wending from the almost slavish folk devotion of Wednesday Morning 3 AM through the greeting-card iconoclasm of Sounds of Silence, the madrigal-pop of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme to the increasingly impressionistic lyrical landscape of Bookends. It also covers the rich musical tapestry of Bridge over Troubled Waters, which foreshadowed Simon's own diverse solo career by embracing everything from the Everlys and Jan & Dean to Andean folk and R&B. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Essential For Every Fan.......2006-07-09

This CD set contains all of the studio recordings of Simon & Garfunkel throughout the 1960's. The progression of Simon & Garfunkel through lyrics and recording techniques are easily shown in these albums. It is also a bonus that the CDs come in miniature copies of the original album sleeves. It's great for any 60's music lover, whether S & G is your favorite or not.

Simon & Garfunkel.......2006-03-19

I love this box set!! Not only do you have the great music, but you get to read about the history of Simon & Garfunkel....it's AWESOME!!!

These songs are "old friends".......2005-07-02

I may be the last Baby Boomer on the block to own this incredible set of the first 5 Simon & Gurfunkel albums on CD, but listening to all five back to back for the first time in many years has been like visiting with old friends.

When I was a teen, back in 1965-66, my buddy and I pulled lyrics, chords, fingerpicking techniques and harmonies off the first three albums. Our first big performance was (needless to say) Sound of Silence as 10th graders.

What's fun is to hear how Paul Simon developed as a songwriter and guitar player through this sequence of albums, including the outtakes and demos.

Now, forty years later, I spend some my weekends hangin' at a local coffeehouse open mic where I hear teens singing, among other songs, some of these classic tunes by S&G.

This is the collection to own. The sound clarity is incredible compared to the vinyl sitting in my garage. And it's still impressive poetry in these lyrics.

Now if I could only locate my 10th grade singing buddy, we could sing these some of these tunes again as "old friends."

An absolute must-own.......2005-04-28

I bought this several months ago and am still happy that I did.

Before, I only had the S&G Greatest Hits and it was my favorite CD. The thing is, that every album they made plays like a greatest hits album. There are only two or three tracks that I skip over in the entire box. That's how high the quality is.

Buying the albums in this box definitely has advantages. The book has a nice summary of each album and complete lyrics. The album sleeves are really cool-looking and it feels like the CDs are brand new material. The box is nice and can almost be used as decoration.

These five CDs are some of my favorites. Simon and Garfunkel were true musical geniuses and every album they made is worthy of being owned.

4.5 stars - An excellent set from the classic folk rockers.......2004-10-22

The Columbia Studio Recorings 1964-1970 (2001.) Simon And Garfunkel's second box set.

Simon And Garfunkel, though their partnership was short lived, managed to create some of the most excellent pop songs of the sixties and early seventies. It's a shame they only lasted for five albums, because they could have done so many other great things together (but I guess their solo careers kind of made up for this.) Many compilations and collections of the band's work have been released over the years. In 2001, the band released its second box set, The Columbia Studio Recordings. How does it measure up? Read on for my review.

PROS:
-ALL FIVE OF THE CLASSIC COLUMBIA RECORDS ALBUMS ARE HERE. You get Wednesday Morning 3AM, Sounds Of Silence, Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme, Bookends, and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Each one has been remastered and sounds great.
-THE ALBUMS COME IN REPLICA LP CASES! This is great, because the covers and the back covers look identical to their original releases. Why can't all bands do the CD cases in their box set like this? It was an excellent idea.
-BONUS TRACKS ON EVERY ALBUM. There are a plethora of bonus tracks in this set, and many of them are previously unreleased. It's a shame these tracks have been so hard to come by over the years, but I'm happy to see them all together in one place!
-THE BOOKLET IS PRETTY HANDY. The booklet is rather lengthy, and has new liner notes, as well as lyrics to every song. This is a pretty convenient tool to have handy for learning about the band, or for learning the lyrics to their songs.
-FOR THE MOST PART, THIS PUTS THE OLD BOX SET, OLD FRIENDS, TO SHAME. Old Friends was only a three-disc set and lacked liner notes. And this set basically corrects all the flaws that the old set had.
-A GREAT VALUE. For one fairly low price, you get ALL of the duo's albums! This makes this set a great alternative to buying all of the albums separately.

CONS:
-ONLY THE FIVE STUDIO ALBUMS AND A FEW BONUS TRACKS. Because it's a studio recordings box set, the duo's live albums aren't included. This is a shame, because they were a pretty good live act.
-SOME MISSING STUDIO TRACKS. No, nothing's missing from the actual albums. However, there are several tracks that could have been bonuses on here that should have been included. For example, the alternate version of Mrs. Robinson from the Graduate soundtrack.
-WHY FIVE DISCS? The record company could easily have condensed this material onto considerably less discs. This would likely have resulted in a lower price.

OVERALL:
If you want to get all of Simon And Garfunkel's albums, you have a few choices on how to do it, but I think getting them all here is the obvious and best choice. Take my advice and get this set. No classic pop collection is complete without these classic albums.

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