Customer Reviews

Live 1969

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
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This disc,presently offered exclusively through Starbucks(or through Amazon Marketplace merchants selling promo copies) is a compilation from shows recorded on the duo's late 1969 tour,where they were combining familiar hits with a preview of songs from their forthcoming "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album.It is the only Simon & Garfunkel 1960's tour to employ a backing band,who are heard on a few songs in the middle of the show,though on a typical show,the added musicians were heard on more of the show than on this composite compilation show.

Simon & Garfunkel varied the set list from one night to the next,and unfortunately,this composite show doesn't feature all of the songs performed on this tour.Amongst the missing songs are "America","Fakin' It","Bye Bye Love","Poem on The Underground Wall" and the controversial,never-released "Cuba Si,Nixon No".

In some ways the unofficial "Back To College" CD(recorded direct to 2-track,during a filming at a University in Oxford,Ohio) provides a more accurate snapshot of this tour,a better set list and generally better performances.

Still,"Live 1969" is a decent addition to your Simon & Garfunkel Collection.Don't overpay for it though.By the mid-fall of 2008,it should be available from Amazon.com itself.You have two options at present:Starbucks Coffee dealers(or their website) or Amazon marketplace merchants.

I resent Sony/BMG for holding back the release of this disc for a year after the promo copies were sent out,just for the sake of setting up this pointless exclusive for a coffee shop.

This might be the best Simon and Garfunkel ever. They are at their absolute peak and one listen to this CD will remind you of just how massively talented both of these performers are - tremendous vocal range, brilliant song-writing, and near perfect harmony even while live. Oh, and the sound quality is shockingly crisp, clear and dynamic. It sounds like it was recorded last week. A true testament to their talent is hearing them call songs like Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Boxer a "song from our new album (about to come out)," hear the audience reaction of politely enthusiastic applause and then hear how moved the audience was after hearing that song for the very first time. Happening upon this CD on Amazon was like discovering a diamond mine. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.

One can only hope other surviving members of the 60's singers had the forethought to record a live record of such awesome beauty before the onset of ego separation pervades their output as the Simon & Garfunkel handlers did. This is the definitive live recording for this influentially social conscious duo to date. The addition of such senior stalwarts as Joe Osborne(base), Hal Blaine(drums), the late Larry Knechtel(keyboards, Mamas & Papas et al.)and Fred Carter(guitar)adds to the enjoyment very subtlely. Here, the gents are freely jubilant and in perfect pitch and soaring vocally like Torvil and Dean on ice through some of the early hits and soon-to-be-released gems like "Bridge Over Troubled Water," that are met in that case with tremendous roars upon completion. Get it while you can, because that kind of vocal gold is rare indeed, diminishing with each rappin' Grammy. Lordy.

Simon & Garfunkel's live output is extensive (courtesy of the multiple reunion one-off shows and reunion tours), but the live recordings from their heydays in the 1960s are scamp. There was the 2002 release of "Live from New York City 1967", which was ok, but not great. Then came this album, finally released in 2007, which was recorded on their November, 1969 tour (a few months before the release of their final studio album "Bridge Over Troubled Water").

"Live 1969" (17 tracks; 59 min.) is an incredible time-capsule of Simon & Garfunkel being at the top of their game. From the opening sounds of "Homeward Bound", they have NEVER better sounded that this in concert. Check out for example, "Scarborough Fair/Cantide", where their vocals are simply angelic. But of course the best part of this collection are the 4 songs that Simon & Garfunkel are previewing from the upcoming "Bridge Over Troubled Water": "Song for the Asking" and "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" sound pretty much like the studio versions to be released (great banter by Art about his love for Frank Lloyd Wright and asking Paul to write a song about him). The true eye-openers on here, though, are "The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which they bring just the two of them, not the full fledged-out studio versions with orchestra, and these tunes are simply jaw-dropping. Wow. Two musicians fully confident of their live in concert skills.

For any serious fan of Simon & Garfunkel, "Live 1969" is a MUST HAVE, period. It simply blows my mind that this was recorded exactly 40 years ago, I mean, for real? This live album sounds timeless, period.

I found this album last month at a record collectors' convention for under $10, and I have to admit it's one of the best CD purchases I've made. It's a concert recording from late 1969, just after they finished the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, and just before Columbia released it.

It's also the only (legitimate) live recording of them playing with a band - on a few of the cuts.

For me the highlight is Garfunkel's singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water". He starts out quietly - almost tentatively, but winds up the final chorus singing even more powerfully than on the studio version. A real tour de force!

And the audience, who seemed strangely subdued at the beginning of the disc, clearly recognizes the quality of this (for them) new song - they just roar afterward.

The only unheard track on this disc is their take on the Everly Brothers song, "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine". Well done - but then the Everlys were one of the primary influences on S&G's own harmonies.

This originally was to be released after the "Bridge over Troubled water" but instead they released "Greatest Hits". Bad move. This album wouda been a very good selling album. It blows away their 1967 Live in NYC album. The band was in their prime and they brought the full backing band out on the road with them for the first time. It's neat to hear the audience for the first time hearing "Bridge over Troubled Water" as the new album hadn't been issued yet. This is a Very Good live album, it plays like a concert, if it was or just patched together songs I dont know. One gripe I have is the Clapping is so LOUD. If your jamming to this in the car, at the end of each song you hear this awful sheering sound of clapping and whisthing. I wish the producers had brought the volume down for that part. Other than that one gripe, this is a GREAT S&G album...happy listening.

What makes this S & G album different from their other live albums is that on some of the tracks, they are accompanied by the studio musicians that also recorded with them on their studio tracks. But the highlights here are the tracks from their not-yet-released "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album. One of them, "The Boxer" features a verse that was omitted from the studio version. It's also worth mentioning that "For Emily" and "Kathy's Song" already appeared on the 1972 "Greatest Hits" album.

If you're big Simon & Garfunkel fan, this album is definitely essential.

TT 59:18

I agree with the other reviews. One thing not mentioned in them is the great version of "Song For the Asking" with incredible harmonies by Artie that didn't make it on the studio version. It's like a whole new Simon and Garfunkel song. I was blown away! I'd buy this CD just for that one song, but all the songs are great. If you're a fan, you gotta have this!

This has pretty much everything one could want in a live recording - great performances, interesting arrangements that depart from the original studio arrangements in a number of instances, interesting album-cut selections that make this more than just a "greatest hits live" collection. You also have early renditions of several S&G classics, including a very well-received rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The sound quality is uniformly excellent, interesting given that the venues are not all large-scale venues (Carbondale, IL, my hometown, had only recently begun to draw musical acts on the sort of scale that S&G had achieved; the fact that 5 of the songs were recorded in Carbondale makes this a unique document for me). This is great stuff, and is a worthy addition to the S&G catalog. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Simon and Garfunkel, or in quality concert recordings.

The year is 1969. Man has landed on the Moon. The Woodstock Musical Festival would make headline news, and the Miracle Mets would shock the baseball world by winning the World Series. What more could happen in 1969? Simon and Garfunkel. At the height of their popularity, and before they would release the album that would cement their reputations as musical legends, both Simon and Garfunkel would go out on the road and record a series of concerts before they "broke-up". What was meant to be a follow-up album to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" unfortunately never came to be until now. For the first time, Simon and Garfunkel would use a backing band for their concerts. Wisely they would use the same people who played on their albums. Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborne on bass, and Larry Knechtel on keyboards were legendary LA session players who became known as "The Wrecking Crew". They became famous for working for Phil Spectre on his "Wall of Sound" productions. Some of the bands they played for on records include "The Beach Boys", "The Mama and Papas", and "The Monkees". I don't want to forget Fred Carter, Jr. on guitars. He's no slouch at all. Unfortunately most backing bands in my opinion, try to dominate the show by playing loud, and differently, but these great musicians compliment Simon and Garfunkel very well. Not all of the songs played are done with the band. The first 6 songs are just done with Paul Simon on guitar. Art Garfunkel's vocals are particularly strong on "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her." During the middle of the show is when the band backs up Simon and Garfunkel on the popular "Mrs. Robinson" which appeared in the motion picture "The Graduate". Someone in the audience after this song is perform complains that the keyboards can't be heard from where he is sitting. Art Garfunkel jokes, "What label do you produce for"? This is what makes live performances just great. "The Boxer" and the underrated "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" are played and sung to perfection. Simon and Garfunkel's performance from these shows indicates no tention between the duo that would evenually break them up. The highlight of course is the group's best song ever, "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Paul Simon's lyrics along with Art Garfunkel's voice makes this song a show stopper. The only negative about this CD is it is not a complete concert, but a compilation from their tour. Some songs missing are "America", "Fakin' It", and the unreleased "Cuba Si, Nixon No". If you are not going to release a complete show, you might as well release all of the songs performed during the tour. Other than that, this is a must CD to serious music listeners.