Bootleg Friday: Simon & Garfunkel, 1969

I was listening to the iPod (on shuffle) last night on the way home, and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” came on. I was about to hit the forward button; after all, do I really need to hear “Bridge” again? But I let it play, and once more, I was taken in by the overwhelming beauty of the song, arrangement and vocals. If there’s a better gospel song written by a Jewish guy from Queens, I don’t know what it is.

So today’s Bootleg Friday is a Simon & Garfunkel show from November of 1969 in Oxford, Ohio. It’s from the same fall 1969 tour that the recent Live 1969 album came out on (through Starbucks) and it’s fascinating to hear the songs that would be released on 1970’s Bridge Over Troubled Water in sparser musical settings, played in front of an audience that had never heard these songs before. When Art Garfunkel introduces “Bridge” by saying, “Here’s another new song, probably my favorite, called ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,'” you can’t help but smile, knowing what’s coming for the audience.

What is eye opening on these songs is how powerful Art Garfunkel’s singing is on them. I had always thought of Garfunkel more as an appendage than as a true partner of Simon’s – but this show proves me wrong. And while the duo was backed here by their great studio band – drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, pianist Larry Knechtel and guitarist Fred Carter Jr., they’re used sparingly and subtly, letting the strength, craft and skill of the songs and voices shine through.

Download: "Fakin' It" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "The Boxer" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "Why Don't You Write Me" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "The Sounds Of Silence" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "Bye Bye Love" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "Homeward Bound" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH
Download: "America" 11/11/69, Oxford, OH