Customer Reviews

Old Friends

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard determinining whether this outstanding Simon & Garfunkel box set succeeds or complements the earlier "Collected Works" box. That set gathered only commercial studio releases and offered only convienience to the fan already having the original albums.

"Old Friends" corrects that on disc one, track one: a demo version of "Bleaker Street" that introduces S&G's strengths: Paul Simon's folk guitar mastery and insightful, uniquely New York combination of discovery and disgust, joined to Art Garfunkel's cleansing tenor, superb folk-rock harmony and sense of rock n' roll structure.

Subsequent songs build from that discovery, supplemented by sound clarity missing from the original releases. You hear the original and "remix" of "Sounds of Silence," and the original holds more power in this context. The group's familiar hits are here (all in studio versions, unlike 1972's "Greatest Hits" set) with live tracks displaying S&G's informal performing style and constant acknowledgement of its influence. (Here, they cover the Everlys' "Bye Bye Love," Gene Autry's "Silver Haired Daddy," and their own "Hey Schoolgirl," first recorded as Tom & Jerry. Interestingly, no live tracks are from their Monterey Pop appearance.)

You see simple, striking folk covers and Simon originals from "Wednesday Morning 3AM" progress to the "Abbey Road" ornateness and power of "The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Like the Beatles, S&G began simply, slowed and grew the recording process to create something brief but lasting, then saw personal and professional friendships fracture under the weight. "Old Friends" introduces that process to new fans and completes the story for longtime followers. Highly recommended.

Why frustrating? Well, let's see: this set has great sound quality, there are a number of interesting rarities and live cuts that were not previously released, and the inevitable booklet includes a mean set of liner notes by David Fricke. The problem is, anybody who's into S&G enough to appreciate that sound quality, those archive tracks, and those liner notes would probably prefer to hear the original albums in their entirety, rather than a truncated selection such as provided here.

What Columbia/Legacy should've done was make this a four-CD set. Then all of the original studio albums could have been included, as well as all of the archival stuff, and probably a few other things as well. The live tracks from the GREATEST HITS album, for instance. Or a couple of tracks from the 1981 reunion concert in Central Park. Or songs from the long-out-of-print PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK album. Or mono single mixes of some songs.

As it is, this isn't a particularly bad compilation. It just could've, and should've, been a little bit better.

This marvelous collection mangages to be a through overview of the duo's high-flying years, while at the same time being sympathetically sequenced and is highly listenable. It's all here, from Paul's slightly awkward early folk protestation, to their superb mid-sixties experimentalism (witness tracks like the delightful 'Fakin' It'), to the heights of super-stardom contained on the third disc. Perhaps grandest of all, the compilers, where possible, chose to include far superior live renditions. The folk backing may have provided S&G with their first true hit on 'Sounds Of Silence', but on many other album songs, it strangled them of their atmosphere. There's no comparison between the dramatic live reading of 'Blessed' and it's counterpart on the '..Silence' LP. Ditto for Simon's uninhibited live 'Anji' compared to the strangely restrained album version. The duo also finds the inherent loneliness in live versions of 'A Most Peculiar Man'.

In short, this is an eclectic, still-vital collection. It is music that a generation came of age to. They also came of age to Herman's Hermits and The Animals as well, but few of S&G's contemporaries of that era have aged as gracefully.

I am not really one for compilations generally unless they are comprehensive like the "Message In a Box" compilation for The Police, but this one is just something else. Not only are pretty much all of the best songs by S&G included in the album (at least all my favourites are here so I am happy) there is a clutch of unreleased and previosuly unheard stuff like "Hey Schoolgirl" form their 'Tom and Jerry' days (although a later live version), the original cut of "Sound of Silence" without the drums and the electric guitars added on (which sounds ethereal).

On top of the superb selection of songs and the lovely packaging, there is the fact that the soudn quality is superlative. The songs have been taken off the original tapes and that gives the sound a clarity and vibrance which is sometimes missing form many S&G recordings floating around.

And oh yes it has "We Got a Groovy Thing Going Baby"!!

I could gush for hours about the merits of Simon and Garfunkel, but if you wanted that you could just read any of my other reviews. The music on here is [OF COURSE] wonderful, and sounds clearer than ever. But there is one big flaw, although it may not bother people who are not as generally as anti-compilation as I am.
As I see it, compilations are great for the casual fan who wants to hear the big hits. However, THIS compilation includes the big hits, some smaller hits, and a good number of UNRELEASED TRACKS. Who's going to buy a set that's primary attraction is is unreleased tracks? The crazy fan who adores them and wants to hear EVERYTHING, probably not the casual listener who kinda remembers S&G fondly from his or her childhood. But here's the issue: the crazy-fans who want all these extras will probably already HAVE all the albums, thus will already have all the previously released tracks which make up the majority of the set. Following this?? Go back and read it again, I THiNk it makes sense so far...
OK, so if you already have all these released songs, it may feel like a waste to buy an expensive set that is mainly comprised of what you already have, simply for the fabulous unreleased tracks. See the problem? Everything would be perfect if they had included ALL of S&G's previously released tracks (like my favorite compilation ever, "Collected Works", which is just all 5 S&G albums on 3 dics), but they left out several important songs from the albums. So you can't buy this as the complete S&G with extras, which would have been perfect I think. Quite a little conundrum.
Hope that made sense. In short, I wish they had gone with all or nothing: ALL S&G previously released songs with extras, OR nothing previously released and all unreleased goodies.
But since they didn't let's have a chat about the actual music. I needn't talk about the familiar songs, wonderful though they are, but simply the unfamiliar highlights.
Disc One: I love this version of Bleeker Street, even more sincere-feeling than on Wed Morn 3AM...*gasp* how could it possible get more moving?! Blues Run the Game is also great to hear, very different from anything else but he has managed to put a characteristic spin on it!
Disc Two: It's great to here Art talking about the history of A Poem on the Underground Wall, and a nice live version too...Red Rubber Ball! Who forgot that Paul wrote that song?! haha. And now, MY FAVORITE: BLESSED. This is a harrowing, ulra-raw-sounding live recording that you've just got to hear. Oh, and there are two beautiful Christmas demos, which are harmonized perfectly and are interesting to hear from S&G!
Disc Three: I think the main highlight here is Hey Schoolgirl/Black Slacks, that minor hit from 1957 they had when they were known as Tom and Jerry. UNFORTUNATELY, I was disappointed to hear that it was a live recording from 1969, not the '57 recording...but oh well, the search countinues. It's still quite entertaining to hear them on this really early '50s style hit. Ooh, and Feuilles-O is a wonderful treatment of a traditional tune.
So that's about it, decide for yourself if you'd like to invest in this compilation for the unreleased tracks and as a pretty good though not complete representation of S&G. Oh, and just as a note I can't really give this an accurate rating, becuase the music is perfect but the format bothers me...probably should be 3 1/2 stars...I don't know...BUT whatever you do, enjoy the music!

The material, culled from an almost-perfect career, is pretty well beyond debate now. To second-guess songs like The Boxer or A Most Peculiar Man, you have to be like one of those punk revisionists who occasionally whine about how they never thought Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper was all that great an album. Any discussion on the Old Friends box set must center on whether or not Sony/Columbia did a good job conveying the scope of the duo's talent. The answer, of course, is yes. The unreleased and live tracks are a revelation and the rest are well-chosen. As for the ongoing debate as to whether to buy this or Collected Works, this one has the edge for sound and presentation, although Works has all the released material (except the obscure B-side, You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies). Any S&G fan worth his salt, however, knows the brutal truth: you have to shell out for both.

You couldn't go too far wrong picking the best of S & G, and Columbia did a good job on this one; they missed some of my favorites, but...you cannot please everyone, and I don't expect them to call me first. However, this is more than compensated by some of the new stuff, which is just tremendous; the live Poem on the Underground Wall is great. It really takes you right back to one of their concerts from that era. None of the reviews below, I think, mention the best revelation to this long time fan (my FIRST album was Parsley, Sage) and that is "Blues Run the Game". This song is from another songwriter (read the notes to get the heartbreaking story) and it is as good as anything S & G released in their heyday (OK, excepting The Boxer, but that WAS the best song anyone made in the 20th Century). It is a sad, beautiful tune, and I only wish we had had it available thirty years ago. If the rest of the box was garbage, it would almost be worth it for this one tune.

Obviously the sheer amount of music found on this collection, is much more than I could justly review here in this space. This is something you could have a nice long Sunday conversation about. How fitting. I will say that this is a wonderful collection, worthy of any praise it gets. All of the Classics are here, The Boxer, Mrs. Robinson, America, etc...as well as non-pushed studio treasures like "Cloudy", BEAUTIFUL! The sound quality is without a doubt the best their music has ever seen. Proof positive of that is the jump of quality from the their earlier greatest hits CD to the same songs found here.

The live tracks might seem a bit out of places but they are so well-handled you soon forget your listening to a live recording. The other out-takes and songs really give a nice broad stroke over a very fruitful career.

I really can't recommend this enough, a beautiful clutch of songs no-one should be without. Perfection.

please feel free to check out my other reviews

a brilliant value for money box set of a great selection of S&G`s from their very 1st recording in 1957 "Hey Schoolgirl/Black Slacks" through to such great classics like "Sounds Of Silence" "Mrs Robinson" the rousing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" & "The Boxer". Then there are some not so well known, but still worth a listen, tracks such as "My Little Town" & "The Only Living Boy In New York" & also live performances, such as "Overs" a song about 2 people whos relationship has finished but neither knows which way to go. There is also unissued studio recordings,so if you are a S & G fan, don`t pass this excellent box set up, from, in mine and many other S & G fans, pops most talented duo.

Owing to the fact that Simon&Garfunkel have contributed to its development, the music is advanced very much today. We see some rock bands today. I'm sure that any band is gonna be swept by another one within two or three years except a few of them R.E.M or U2. Whereas S&G were one of several great 60's musicians whose songs still affect our daily life with Beatles,Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Old Friends album caused me remembered my good old days shared with my family,my chilhood friends and my lod lovers. What I need is good music. S&G have already gave it to me in this album. I have beautiful ballads that I've never known them such as Red Rubber Ball, Star Carol, Bleeker Street etc beside the familiar songs named The Boxer, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs. Robinson . Don't forget! "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."