Simon & Garfunkel Vinyl Records – Bridge Over Troubled Water & Essential Albums on Vinyl

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in Queens, New York and made music together from their early teens. Their five studio albums between 1964 and 1970 produced some of the most universally loved songs in American music — The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, The Boxer, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia, Homeward Bound, Scarborough Fair — and their harmonies remain among the most recognisable in the history of recorded music.

Simon's songwriting is the primary engine; Garfunkel's voice, sitting an octave above, is the transcendent element. The tension between the two — artistic, personal, commercial — broke the partnership after Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970), but the brief reunion concerts (most famously Central Park 1981) kept the songs in circulation. Simon & Garfunkel on vinyl is essential listening — the close-miked acoustic guitars, the perfect harmonies, the Roy Halee productions all benefit enormously from analogue. The Columbia originals, the Mobile Fidelity Gain 2 Ultra reissues, and the recent 180g pressings are all superb.

Best Simon & Garfunkel Albums on Vinyl

Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
Their masterpiece. The title track, The Boxer, Cecilia, El Condor Pasa (If I Could), Baby Driver, Song for the Asking — their final studio album before the split, and one of the best-selling records ever. Eight Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.

Bookends (1968)
The concept-ish fourth album. Mrs. Robinson, America, Old Friends / Bookends Theme, A Hazy Shade of Winter — side one is a suite about the passage of time; side two is singles and leftovers. Concise and perfect.

Sounds of Silence (1966)
The breakthrough. The Sound of Silence (remixed with drums and electric guitar, to the duo's surprise), I Am a Rock, Homeward Bound, April Come She Will — the record that made them stars. Essential.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
The ambitious third album. Scarborough Fair / Canticle, Cloudy, Homeward Bound, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) — a deeper, folkier record with genuine ambition. Often considered their most consistent.

The Concert in Central Park (1982)
The live double album from the September 1981 reunion concert, attended by half a million people. Every hit, performed beautifully, one of the great live documents in folk-rock. The 2xLP is essential.

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