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Entry: A simple Desultory Philippic: Or How I was Simon and Garfunkel'd into Submission

IntellecXhibitionist has A Simple Desultory Philippic: Or How I Was Simon & Garfunkel'd into Submission

The superficial recollection of Simon & Garfunkel is of two guys on stools, a guitar, a bit of over-reaching radical poetry and some quaint harmonies. In their current "Old Friends" tour Simon & Garfunkel do everything they can to bring life and dimension to explode that misplaced stereotype. While it is accurate to say that much of their contribution was more deliberative and less sensational than so many of their counterparts, the point of last night's Salt Lake show was to fill in all the gaps in our memory.

The pensive songs you remember, like Kathy's Song, Homeward Bound, and the Sound of Silence were all there. If this is how we remember them, it's because they mastered that tone better than anyone else. But the set only had room for so much folksy Scarborough Fair melancholy. The duo hinted at a broader view of their surprisingly diverse catalogue, displaying a phenomenal tonal diversity in their music. We were reminded of the entire range of their work, from the casual anxiety of El Condor Pasa to the hard-rocking riffs of Hazy Shade of Winter, from the transcendant, embattled optimism of American Tune, to the goofy gusto of At the Zoo.

In fact, it was "goofy" that got the spotlight, on a two-encore night that included Baby Driver (a funny medley with At the Zoo), Keep the Customer Satisfied, Feelin' Groovy (accompanied by novelty instruments-- a trombone/kazoo hybrid and some evil spawn of a clarinet and accordion) and a quartet cover of the Everly Brothers' Bye Bye Love, sung with the Brothers themselves. If anything's changed over the years, it's how seriously these guys take themselves. Answer: not at all. You can read it in Paul Simon's weird, effeminate hand motions when he solos, and Art Garfunkel's strange air piano virtuosity, when he has nothing better to do (Which begs the burning question: Why on earth didn't Artie just suck it up and learn to play a friggin' instrument? Sure, he would have been late to the party, but these guys started recording when they were 15! So maybe he's just doing vocals on the first record, but he couldn't have picked up piano or banjo or viola by the time they were 17? Or 20? Or 30? Or 50? Come on, even Billy Joel plays a little guitar now. I will never understand why Art Garfunkel insists on being forever known as the ultimate in obsolete specialization. Impressive how he stuck by his guns, though. Maybe it was that whole burgeoning acting career. . .