1 I said in yesterday's DN that I would give a bit of history to Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer. It has a reasonably interesting history, things I didn't know, and that I now do. That is what makes each day working on this stuff fun.
2 So let us jump right in with some quick facts:
3 Paul Simon wanted to produce a song right after the monster success of Mrs. Robinson. He wanted a huge sound, so they worked really hard on the piece, putting in over 100 hours, and using a number of interesting instruments to achieve the right sound: a bass harmonica, a Dobro, a pedal steel guitar, a twelve-string guitar, and a piccolo trumpet, to name a few. It is said that it is one of their most productive songs.
4 While Paul Simon got writing credit, the song was produced by Simon, along with his lifelong friend Art Garfunkel, and engineer Roy Halee.
5 Wiki, the-source-that-nobody-wants-to-use-but-that-
everybody-uses-anyway, included a first-hand account of the recording by a musical artist named Fred Carter, Jr. I promised yesterday that I would include this, so I'll give the metaphorical mic over to him. The article appeared in the Fretboard Journal in the winter of 2008. Before I do hand it over, I need to let you know a couple of things:
A Martin is a top-of-the-line guitar, and my favorite to play in stores. There is something spiritual about certain guitars, and every time I get a rare opportunity to play a Martin, I love it.
A Dobro is a stringed instrument that slides up and down a fretboard, sometimes adding a fun country sound to a song, sometimes giving a poetically soothing touch to another. My friend Geoff Vaanmastrict plays one beautifully, so much so that he goes by the nickname Dobroman. I hope my definition of Dobro meets with his approval.
The numbers and letters are the models of the guitars.
Here is Fred Carter, Jr. on working with Simon, Garfunkel, and Halee. It provides a great look into the inner workings of these grand artists:
I had a baby Martin, which is a 000-18, and when we started the record in New York with Roy Halee, the engineer, and Paul [Simon] was playin' his Martin---I think it's a D-18 and he was tuned regular---he didn't have the song totally written lyrically, but he had most of the melody. And so all I was hearin' was bits and pieces while he was doin' his fingerpicking...I think he was fingerpicking in an open C. I tried two or three things and then picked up the baby Martin, which was about a third above his guitar, soundwise.
And I turned down the first string to a D, and tuned up the bass string to a G, which made it an open-G tuning, except for the fifth string, which was standard. Did some counter fingerpicking with him, just did a little backward roll, and lucked into a lick. And that turned into that little roll, and we cut it, just Paul and I, two guitars. Then we started to experiment with some other ideas and so forth. At the end of the day, we were still on the song. Garfunkel was amblin' around the studio, hummin', and havin' input at various times. They were real scientists. They'd get on a part, and it might be there [unfinished] six weeks later.
On my guitar, they had me miked with about seven mics. They had a near mic, a distant mic, a neck mic, a mic on the hole. They even miked my breathing. They miked the guitar in back. So Roy Halee was a genius at getting around. The first time we were listenin', they killed the breathing mic. And they had an ambient mic overhead, which picked up the two guitars together, I suppose. And so, I was breathin', I guess, pretty heavy in rhythm. And they wanted to take out that noise, and they took it out and said, 'Naw, we gotta leave that in.' That sounds almost like a rhythm on the record. So they left the breathin' mic on for the mix. I played Tele on it and a 12-string, three or four guitars on it. I was doing different guitar parts. One was a chord pattern and rhythm pattern. Did the Dobro lick on the regular six-string finger Dobro---not a slide Dobro.
I never heard the total record until I heard it on the air...I thought: That's the greatest record I heard in my life, especially after the scrutiny and after the time they spent on it and breakin' it apart musically and soundwise and all of it. There was some magic in the studio that day, and Roy Halee captured it. Paul and I had a really nice groove.
6 Here is The Boxer. Skip Ad.
7 And here are the lyrics, with my own observations and notes included:
The Boxer
by Paul Simon
I am just a poor boy. (I did not realize this was one sentence.)
Though my story's seldom told, (Interesting use of comma.)
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jests
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.
When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of a railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.
Li-la-lie... (This may be a Google Play lyrics-guy getting lazy...)
Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores (See note, below.)
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so
lonesome (Interesting. The only line that begins with a lower-case letter, and is alone.)
I took some comfort there.
Lie-la-lie...
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone,
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me, (I always sang it with "bleeding me, pleading me"...)
Going home.
In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down (I like the apostrophe, keeping it two syllables for rhythm.)
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains (Ah, yes. Classic.)
8 Note: Wiki shares the story of a concert that took place in New York City somewhere in October of 2010. Simon stopped mid-song to tell of a random lady he ran into walking down the streets of New York. She told him that she had altered the "whores" lyric so that she could sing it to her child. She got rid of the word, and replaced it with "toy stores." Simon jokingly mused that her line was better than the original.
9 There are other stories about the song. Simon had stolen a Bible from a hotel and began reading it on an airplane flight following one of his shows. He said it inspired many lines in The Boxer. The entire passage beginning with "Laying low" through "workman's wages" "seeking" and "poorer quarters" were all inspired by the stolen Bible.
10 The production team recorded the song inside St. Paul's Cathedral, New York, giving a booming reverb to the sound.
The numbers and letters are the models of the guitars.
Here is Fred Carter, Jr. on working with Simon, Garfunkel, and Halee. It provides a great look into the inner workings of these grand artists:
I had a baby Martin, which is a 000-18, and when we started the record in New York with Roy Halee, the engineer, and Paul [Simon] was playin' his Martin---I think it's a D-18 and he was tuned regular---he didn't have the song totally written lyrically, but he had most of the melody. And so all I was hearin' was bits and pieces while he was doin' his fingerpicking...I think he was fingerpicking in an open C. I tried two or three things and then picked up the baby Martin, which was about a third above his guitar, soundwise.
And I turned down the first string to a D, and tuned up the bass string to a G, which made it an open-G tuning, except for the fifth string, which was standard. Did some counter fingerpicking with him, just did a little backward roll, and lucked into a lick. And that turned into that little roll, and we cut it, just Paul and I, two guitars. Then we started to experiment with some other ideas and so forth. At the end of the day, we were still on the song. Garfunkel was amblin' around the studio, hummin', and havin' input at various times. They were real scientists. They'd get on a part, and it might be there [unfinished] six weeks later.
On my guitar, they had me miked with about seven mics. They had a near mic, a distant mic, a neck mic, a mic on the hole. They even miked my breathing. They miked the guitar in back. So Roy Halee was a genius at getting around. The first time we were listenin', they killed the breathing mic. And they had an ambient mic overhead, which picked up the two guitars together, I suppose. And so, I was breathin', I guess, pretty heavy in rhythm. And they wanted to take out that noise, and they took it out and said, 'Naw, we gotta leave that in.' That sounds almost like a rhythm on the record. So they left the breathin' mic on for the mix. I played Tele on it and a 12-string, three or four guitars on it. I was doing different guitar parts. One was a chord pattern and rhythm pattern. Did the Dobro lick on the regular six-string finger Dobro---not a slide Dobro.
I never heard the total record until I heard it on the air...I thought: That's the greatest record I heard in my life, especially after the scrutiny and after the time they spent on it and breakin' it apart musically and soundwise and all of it. There was some magic in the studio that day, and Roy Halee captured it. Paul and I had a really nice groove.
6 Here is The Boxer. Skip Ad.
7 And here are the lyrics, with my own observations and notes included:
The Boxer
by Paul Simon
I am just a poor boy. (I did not realize this was one sentence.)
Though my story's seldom told, (Interesting use of comma.)
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jests
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.
When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of a railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.
Li-la-lie... (This may be a Google Play lyrics-guy getting lazy...)
Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores (See note, below.)
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so
lonesome (Interesting. The only line that begins with a lower-case letter, and is alone.)
I took some comfort there.
Lie-la-lie...
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone,
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me, (I always sang it with "bleeding me, pleading me"...)
Going home.
In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down (I like the apostrophe, keeping it two syllables for rhythm.)
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains (Ah, yes. Classic.)
8 Note: Wiki shares the story of a concert that took place in New York City somewhere in October of 2010. Simon stopped mid-song to tell of a random lady he ran into walking down the streets of New York. She told him that she had altered the "whores" lyric so that she could sing it to her child. She got rid of the word, and replaced it with "toy stores." Simon jokingly mused that her line was better than the original.
9 There are other stories about the song. Simon had stolen a Bible from a hotel and began reading it on an airplane flight following one of his shows. He said it inspired many lines in The Boxer. The entire passage beginning with "Laying low" through "workman's wages" "seeking" and "poorer quarters" were all inspired by the stolen Bible.
10 The production team recorded the song inside St. Paul's Cathedral, New York, giving a booming reverb to the sound.
Items nine and ten retrieved from:
11 As I stated at the top of the page, I had fun working on this. It required a lot of research, but climbing in and doing this among baby smiles and hugs made it a fun project.
12 It made me smile the entire time.
13 I put the picture at the top of the page because Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park is an epic. It was a free concert with proceeds going to the maintenance of the Park, and drew over 500,000 people. I have the DVD and annually watch it. It took place a long time ago, September 19, 1981. It holds up.
14 Simon and Garfunkel grew up together and knew each other at a very young age. Their coffee-house harmonies and folk-rock sound were unique, and they soon scored a hit with the classic The Sound of Silence. Simon later changed the name to The Sounds of Silence.
15 Their history is a long one, as well as a tempestuous one. Art Garfunkel enjoyed the simplicity of folk music, but Paul Simon preferred expanding into different genres of music, and enjoyed bringing all sorts of interesting instruments into his music. Following the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, they broke up, and occasionally would get together, but the rift and tension never allowed it.
16 A few years after their initial break-up, I had the opportunity to see a Paul Simon concert in Berkeley, the setting for the film The Graduate, which contained many Simon and Garfunkel songs. At the end of the concert, Art Garfunkel came out, and they sang America. One cat-caller said, "Welcome home.." to smiles from the duo. They finished with a lilting version of Old Friends.
17 I always loved the Concert for Central Park. It's great for cooking dinner, or as background music at a party. Their version of Late in the Evening knocked everyone out. I always thought it was a beautiful performance. Those guys are pure New York, so it rocked.
18 I didn't know until this morning that they rehearsed for three weeks with musicians familiar with the material. They argued bitterly the entire time. Garfunkel wanted more of his songs, which were simpler and fewer instruments. Simon thought they needed a larger sound, the usual arguments. Garfunkel mentioned to the crowd that he wanted to sing a song that was "the only song that is not a Paul Simon song," and premiered his A Heart in New York, which was well received by both the crowd, as well as by the critics.
19 I never knew those rehearsals were bitter. I should have known, but that concert was magic to me. I'm not sure of the 500,000 figure given me by Wiki, but there were enough people there for Artie going up to the mic and saying, "Well. We seemed to have filled the place." Great stuff.
20 Those guys had class and intelligence, and when their voices would blend, it remained powerful. I saw them in San Jose a few years (translation: a lot of years) ago, and it was one of the best performances I've ever seen.
21 I did find a video-recording of Late in the Evening, from the Live in Central Park album. It cuts off a little too fast for my liking, but you will definitely see what a great concert moment it is. It is for the ages. Enjoy:
22 I really do gottago.
23 See you again.
24 Have a GREAT day.
25 Peace.
13 I put the picture at the top of the page because Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park is an epic. It was a free concert with proceeds going to the maintenance of the Park, and drew over 500,000 people. I have the DVD and annually watch it. It took place a long time ago, September 19, 1981. It holds up.
14 Simon and Garfunkel grew up together and knew each other at a very young age. Their coffee-house harmonies and folk-rock sound were unique, and they soon scored a hit with the classic The Sound of Silence. Simon later changed the name to The Sounds of Silence.
15 Their history is a long one, as well as a tempestuous one. Art Garfunkel enjoyed the simplicity of folk music, but Paul Simon preferred expanding into different genres of music, and enjoyed bringing all sorts of interesting instruments into his music. Following the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, they broke up, and occasionally would get together, but the rift and tension never allowed it.
16 A few years after their initial break-up, I had the opportunity to see a Paul Simon concert in Berkeley, the setting for the film The Graduate, which contained many Simon and Garfunkel songs. At the end of the concert, Art Garfunkel came out, and they sang America. One cat-caller said, "Welcome home.." to smiles from the duo. They finished with a lilting version of Old Friends.
17 I always loved the Concert for Central Park. It's great for cooking dinner, or as background music at a party. Their version of Late in the Evening knocked everyone out. I always thought it was a beautiful performance. Those guys are pure New York, so it rocked.
18 I didn't know until this morning that they rehearsed for three weeks with musicians familiar with the material. They argued bitterly the entire time. Garfunkel wanted more of his songs, which were simpler and fewer instruments. Simon thought they needed a larger sound, the usual arguments. Garfunkel mentioned to the crowd that he wanted to sing a song that was "the only song that is not a Paul Simon song," and premiered his A Heart in New York, which was well received by both the crowd, as well as by the critics.
19 I never knew those rehearsals were bitter. I should have known, but that concert was magic to me. I'm not sure of the 500,000 figure given me by Wiki, but there were enough people there for Artie going up to the mic and saying, "Well. We seemed to have filled the place." Great stuff.
20 Those guys had class and intelligence, and when their voices would blend, it remained powerful. I saw them in San Jose a few years (translation: a lot of years) ago, and it was one of the best performances I've ever seen.
21 I did find a video-recording of Late in the Evening, from the Live in Central Park album. It cuts off a little too fast for my liking, but you will definitely see what a great concert moment it is. It is for the ages. Enjoy:
22 I really do gottago.
23 See you again.
24 Have a GREAT day.
25 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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