Paul Simon

Simon had several failed relationships and has been married thrice. He was in a relationship with his first real muse, Kathy Kathleen Mary, whom he met during his days in Europe.

Simon's growing success brought insecurities between the couple and they decided to part ways.

Simon's growing success brought insecurities between the couple and they decided to part ways.

Paul Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA on October 13, 1941. He was the first born child of his parents and has a younger brother, Eddie.

While his father Louis Simon was an educator, his mother Belle Simon taught English at an elementary school. When Simon was a few months old, they moved to Flushing, Queens in New York.

Right from his childhood, Simon had passion for baseball, jazz and folk music. His parents played a key role in him developing passion for music. He also had a great spiritual influence from his mother who brought him up in accordance with the Jewish custom and heritage.

When Simon was 11 years old, he met Art Garfunkel, and the two soon became friends and later discovered that they shared a common interest –music. They both formed a harmony duo, much like their favorite duo, The Everly Brothers. They then made their stage debut at a junior-high school talent show.

They both were enrolled at Forest Hills High School and spent their time together, composing music. In 1955, the duo wrote a song together, ‘The Girl for Me’, which became their first copyrighted song.

Simon’s career in music took off at a tender age of eleven when he performed along with Garfunkel for an 'Alice in Wonderland' production. From then on they started performing as a rock duo under the name, 'Tom and Jerry'.

Some of the initial hits of the duo include 'Our Song' and 'That's My Story'. In 1964, the duo impressed the executive of Columbia Records, Clive Davis, who immediately signed them for an album.

Columbia Records registered the duo by their real name and released their first long play, ‘Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M’. Unfortunately, the album did not perform well on the music charts.

Dismayed by the failure of his debut album, Simon headed to Europe. There he collaborated with Bruce Woodley, a member of the Australian rock band, ‘the Seekers’. Together they composed a few songs like ‘Red Rubber Ball’, ‘I Wish You Could Be Here’, and ‘Cloudy’.

After he returned to the US, a producer named Tom Wilson reworked on his debut album and released it as a single under the title, ‘The Sound of Silence’. The album became a massive hit. Its second volume was released as ‘The Sounds of Silence’, on which Simon once again worked with Garfunkel.

Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. – This was Simon-Garfunkel’s first LP since their days as the teen harmony duo, ‘Tom & Jerry’. The tracks of the album were composed on high-octane and had infused the style of pop-folk music. The album released in March 1964 and included tracks like ‘Sun Is Burning’, ‘You Can Tell the World’, ‘Bleecker Street’, etc.

Sounds of Silence –This was the duo’s second album and it sounded soothing, unlike their first record. Released in 1965, the album included chartbuster tracks like ‘Kathy's Song’, ‘The Sound of Silence’, ‘Richard Cory’, and ‘I Am a Rock’.

Bridge Over Troubled Water – This was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, most of the other tracks were composed using the style, that the duo had made use of earlier. The album was released in 1970 and held the number one position for two and a half months from the day of its release. It featured on various charts for years, and sold more than five million copies. Ironically, the album marked the end of one of the most famous musical duos, even after achieving an overwhelming success.

Mrs. Robinson – This track is from the duo's fourth LP, ‘Bookends’. The track was later used in the film, ‘The Graduate’. It holds the record for being the first rock song to win a Grammy.