Art Garfunkel has opened up to NME about ending “years of detachment” from Paul Simon, recalled “the high point of [his] career” as part of the iconic duo, and discussed starting a new chapter with his recent collaborative album.
Speaking on the promotional trail for ‘Father And Son’ – a covers record made with his son, Art Garfunkel Jr – the music legend reflected on the “wonderful moment” Simon & Garfunkel buried the hatchet and were reunited once more.
“We ended years of estrangement with a lot of sweet candour,” Garfunkel recalled of his emotional meeting with Simon.
The folk-rock duo are no strangers to fallouts during their lifelong friendship and professional partnership. Although they have reconvened numerous times since the band originally split in 1970, relations between the two are notoriously volatile. The latest feud followed a particularly razor-tongued 2015 interview Garfunkel gave to The Telegraph, where the singer labelled his former musical cohort a “jerk” and an “idiot” – an outburst he said he subsequently regretted.
The ensuing silence gave the impression that the damage was irreparable. That’s until a chance encounter between Garfunkel and Simon’s son, Harper, led to an unexpected meeting and, from that, a reconciliation.
Referencing the lunch, Garfunkel told NME: “Paul said to me, ”Arty, it’s not that you spoke to the British press and that you didn’t do it well…[it’s that] I felt you wanted to hurt me. That’s what got me’. And I thought, ‘That’s true’. I wanted to hurt him. The next thing I knew, I burst into tears… and then there were hugs.”
The album ‘Father And Son’ is the brainchild of Art Garfunkel Jr, who, contemplating his ageing father, had become increasingly aware of the ticking clock. “Time is a cherished gift, and it’s not unlimited,” Garfunkel Jr told us. “It would be terrible if we didn’t make this album. That was the driving force that led me to approach my father.”
Read NME‘s exclusive interview with Art Garfunkel Sr and Jr below, which also features Art Sr’s full story on his meeting with Simon, chess matches with Crosby, Stills and Nash’s Graham Nash, and an unexpected slice of Cyndi Lauper serendipity. Art Sr looked ahead to a potential upcoming project, too.
NME: Hello, Art Sr and Art Jr!
Art Sr: “NME, you’re talking to a very tired man. The family has just finished a run of shows. We played five nights at the Carlyle Hotel in New York, and it was one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever done with my life. It was also very draining. I’m in my restoring period now, but it was glorious.”
That’s a touching observation. Speaking of family matters, ‘Father And Son’ is a rather sumptuous and beautiful album…
Art Sr: “Isn’t it great? I’m really happy. I didn’t know it would be this good.”
Art Jr: “We’re definitely very proud of this album.”
Art Sr: “This is a new age of recording for me. We didn’t use autotune, but sometimes I feel what I do is supply vocal materials for manipulation later on. Junior will tell you that as long as I’m in tune, as long as it has feel and there’s a sincerity in my delivery, then the rest is engineering. I trust our producer, Felix Gauder.”
Art Jr: “I don’t feel that way. As a person behind the scenes, I can tell you I didn’t feel that way at all. Over the decades, my father has developed a really deep, warm, rounded tone, which is just a pleasure to work with. And it’s a great honour that he agreed to be on this album.”
Art Sr: “Don’t mind me. I’m just [self-]critical.”
You’ve named the album after Cat Stevens’ classic 1970 single ‘Father And Son’ and the record closes with a cover of it. Was this song the starting point for the album?
Art Jr: “Absolutely. ‘Father And Son’ was to be the backbone of the project. We chose our favourite songs from the 20th century and limited ourselves to 12 tracks.”
One of the standouts is your version of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’…
Art Jr: “There’s a funny story about that. We were in the orchestra room getting ready to record when the engineer shouted from behind the glass that Cyndi Lauper had recorded ‘Time After Time’, originally, in the same studio, standing in the same spot that me and my dad were standing in!”
Art Sr: “I find that amazing.”
Art Jr: “And it was a true coincidence!”
How did you work out who would take which lines from the songs?
Art Jr: “By feel, primarily. We have been singing together since I was not even two years old, so we have a natural feeling of who should take the high harmony or the bass line or the lower harmony. We also had the guidance of my dearest friend and producer, Felix, who was practically living in my New York apartment helping us.”
Art Sr: “Felix was terrific. And we were guided by the Everly Brothers.”
The Everly Brothers’ ‘Let It Be Me’ features on ‘Father And Son’, and Simon & Garfunkel regularly covered their songs too. They seem to be a perennial influence on you…
Art Sr: “Any harmony singer is a child of Don and Phil [Everly]. They taught us how to do it. Don once said to me that ‘Let It Be Me’ was his favourite of all the Everly Brothers songs. I find that interesting.”
Art Jr: “They made such a cultural impact. They are a perennial influence. Certainly, on my father and Paul, and on my life as well. I bet David Crosby and The Byrds were influenced by the Everly Brothers too.”
Anecdotally, Crosby’s CSN bandmate Graham Nash told me in passing last year of the Everlys’ influence on him and his first band, The Hollies, and then later in CSN(&Y)…
Art Jr: “I’m not surprised. My dad and Graham Nash are dear friends.”
Art Sr: “He’s my chess-playing partner!”
Really?! Who usually wins?
Art Sr: “We played one game the other day, and I won by chance. I don’t think I’m the superior player, but I happened to win.
“When I first heard the Everly Brothers, I was on my way to go bowling with Paul Simon in Jamaica, New York. ‘Bye Bye Love’ came on the radio and when I heard those chords and that guitar phrase, it killed me. They hadn’t even opened their mouth to sing line one yet and I was smitten. When I then heard that vocal [Art Sr sings ‘Bye Bye Love’], I thought, this is my favourite thing that I’ve ever heard.
“We went home and tracked down Archie Bleyer’s [record label] Cadence Records and bought the single. Then came the brothers’ follow-up, ‘Wake Up, Little Susie’. Every four months another brilliant song arrived.”
Art Sr, I understand that you met up with Paul Simon for lunch recently…
Art Sr: “…Oh, that was very dear.”
How did the lunch come about?
Art Sr: “Paul’s ex-wife, Peggy Simon, had moved into the place where I live, and their son, Harper, ran into me in the halls. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.
“Harper set up a lunch with Paul and I, and we ended years of estrangement with a lot of sweet candour. Paul said to me, ‘Arty, it’s not that you spoke to the British press and that you didn’t do it well. I know you said you wanted to put spice into the image of Simon and Garfunkel. I know you felt that we were too conservative’. Well, my idea of spice meant a certain candour that must have hurt Paul’s feelings. I realised; I did hurt his feelings.
“He said, ‘I felt you wanted to hurt me. That’s what got me’. And I thought, ‘That’s true’. I wanted to hurt him. The next thing I knew, I burst into tears.”
Were you surprised by the emotion?
Art Sr: “The admission of the truth is psychological. You give it up and admit that you wanted to hurt somebody. You’re touched by your own confession. And then there were hugs. It was a wonderful moment for Simon & Garfunkel. It basically ended the years of detachment.”
Did you always know that it was that 2015 Telegraph interview that bothered him?
Art Sr: “No. Kim [Garfunkel – Art Sr’s wife] kept pointing it out. She said, ‘There are things you said in that interview…’.”
Art Jr: “If I may interject, and I don’t usually do this, but my take is that it takes two to tango. Apologising for things that we may have said that were wrong rightly leads to a beautiful moment, but the root cause of those things isn’t born from nowhere either. That’s my statement on the matter, in defence of my father.”
Art Sr: “[To NME] Have you spoken to Paul Simon? Do you know him?”
No. I was a whisker away from interviewing him last month, but it fell through.
Art Sr: “You missed a good chance to speak to a man with a great sense of humour. Paul’s very funny. The basis of the Simon & Garfunkel relationship is laughter and jokes – even more than music. We’re both Lenny Bruce fans. We love Mike Nichols and Elaine May. We love Mel Brooks. Right from the beginning, we laughed all the time, and it was the source of our connection.”
Junior, you’ve had two hit records in Germany. Why did you choose to go down the route of singing in German until now?
Art Jr: “I’ve been living in Europe since 2006 and I’m very proficient in German. It’s my everyday language of choice, so I wanted to sing in it. It’s exciting for me to show the world that German is a musical language. I’m an ambassador of that…in my head at least!”
What’s next for Garfunkel and Garfunkel?
Art Jr: “We’re this new, exciting, dynamic duo!”
Art Sr: “This is a hit, so we’re being advanced to the next stage in our careers now. There’s an album I made years ago, [his 1986 Jimmy Webb-penned solo album] The Animals’ Christmas. Giving that a new breath of life and re-releasing it excites me as the [potential] next project.”
Finally, Art Sr, looking back over your storied career, is there a moment of which you are proudest?
Art Sr: “Simon & Garfunkel’s reunion concert in Central Park in 1981. Nothing surpassed that. More than a half a million people filled up the Great Lawn in Central Park. I came out onstage and said to Paul, ‘I knew we did something right in the 60s, but I didn’t know it was this right’. That was the most glorious of all concerts. The high point of my career.”
Art Garfunkel Jr and Art Garfunkel Sr’s ‘Father And Son’ is out now.
