Bridge over Troubled Water
| Bridge Over Troubled Water | ||||
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| Studio album by Simon & Garfunkel | ||||
| Released | January 26, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | November 1968 and November 1969 |
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| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 36:29 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee |
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| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Simon & Garfunkel chronology | ||||
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Bridge Over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel.[1] Released on January 26, 1970, it reached No. 1 on Billboard Music Charts pop albums list. It won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well as for Best Engineered Recording, while its title track won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in the Grammy Awards of 1971.[1] It has since sold over 25 million copies worldwide.[2]
The album attained a great success in the United Kingdom, enjoying several runs at number one, spending some years in the charts and eventually becoming the country's biggest-selling album of 1970 and 1971.[1] In August 2006, the continued popularity of the album was proven when it charted 7th place in The BBC Radio 2 Music Club Top 100 Albums. In 2003, it was ranked at #51 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The album won Best International Album at the first Brit Awards in 1977.
Contents |
Track listing
All songs by Paul Simon except where noted.
- "Bridge over Troubled Water" – 4:52
Recorded: November 9, 1969 [3] - "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (Daniel Alomía Robles, English lyrics by Paul Simon, arranged by Jorge Milchberg) – 3:06
Recorded: November 2, 1969 - "Cecilia" – 2:55
Recorded: November 2, 1969 - "Keep the Customer Satisfied" – 2:33
Recorded: October 27, 1969 - "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" – 3:41
Recorded: October 28, 1969 - "The Boxer" – 5:08
Recorded: November 16, 1968 - "Baby Driver" – 3:14
Recorded: November 19, 1968 - "The Only Living Boy in New York" – 3:58
Recorded: November 15, 1969 - "Why Don't You Write Me" – 2:45
Recorded: June 13, 1969 - "Bye Bye Love" (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) (live recording from Ames, Iowa) – 2:55
Recorded: November 14, 1969 - "Song for the Asking" – 1:49
Recorded: November 1, 1969
Bonus tracks (2001 CD reissue)
- "Feuilles-O" [Demo] (Traditional) – 1:45
Recorded: August 11, 1969 - "Bridge over Troubled Water" [Demo Take 6] – 4:46
Recorded: August 13, 1969
Outtakes
The songs "Cuba Si, Nixon No", "Groundhog", and the demo Feuilles-O (later Garfunkel released "Feuilles-Oh/Do Space Men Pass Dead Souls on Their Way to the Moon?" as the flip to his "I Shall Sing") were recorded during sessions but not released on the album. "Cuba Si, Nixon No" was later released on a bootleg copy of a November 11, 1969 concert by Simon and Garfunkel at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, while the demo recording of "Feuilles-O" was later released on the Old Friends and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) box sets.
A remastered and expanded version of the album was released on CD in 2001, also containing "Feuilles-O" and a previously unreleased demo version of "Bridge over Troubled Water".
Personnel
- Paul Simon — lead vocals, guitar
- Art Garfunkel — lead vocals
- Los Incas — Peruvian instruments
- Joe Osborn — bass guitar
- Larry Knechtel — piano
- Fred Carter, Jr. — guitar
- Hal Blaine — drums
- Pete Drake — Steel guitar, Dobro
- Jimmy Haskell and Ernie Freeman — strings
- ? - flute, saxophones, horn section
Awards and ratings
In the 1971 Grammy Awards' ceremony the album (and its contents) won six Grammys:
- Record of the Year — "Bridge over Troubled Water" (relates to one track)
- Album of the Year — Bridge over Troubled Water (relates to the whole album)
- Best Contemporary Pop Song — "Bridge over Troubled Water"
- Song of the Year — "Bridge over Troubled Water"
- Best Engineered Recording (Non-Classical) — Bridge over Troubled Water
- Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) — "Bridge over Troubled Water"
Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) | 1 (10 weeks) |
| 1970 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart | 1 (15 weeks) |
| 1970 | United Kingdom Albums Chart | 1 (33 weeks) |
| 1970 | Germany Albums Chart | 1 (17 weeks) |
| 1970 | The Netherlands Albums Chart | 1 (17 weeks) |
| 1970 | Norway Albums Chart | 1 (14 weeks) |
| 1970 | Spain Albums Chart | 1 (20 weeks) |
| 1970 | France Albums Chart | 1 (2 weeks) |
| 1970 | Chile Albums Chart | 1 (20 weeks) |
| 1970 | Japan Albums Chart | 1 |
Singles
Billboard Music Charts (North America) — singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | "The Boxer" | Pop Singles | 7 |
| 1969 | "The Boxer" | Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| 1970 | "Bridge over Troubled Water" | Pop Singles | 1 |
| 1970 | "Bridge over Troubled Water" | Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| 1970 | "Cecilia" | Pop Singles | 4 |
| 1970 | "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" | Pop Singles | 18 |
| 1970 | "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" | Adult Contemporary | 6 |
See also
- List of best-selling albums worldwide
- Top best-selling albums by UK Chart
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Bridge over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel" (notes), Super Seventies RockSite!/Amazon.com, 2006, webpage: SPSimGarf.
- ↑ "Simon and Garfunkel heading to NZ". The New Zealand Herald. 2 April 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=10564668. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ↑ http://old_friends__1997_simon_and_garfunkel_album.totallyexplained.com/
References
- Biography Paul Simon and Garfunkel
- "Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge over Troubled Water" (notes/reviews), Super Seventies RockSite!/Amazon.com, 2006, webpage: SPSimGarf.
| Preceded by Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin |
Billboard 200 number-one album March 7 - May 15, 1970 |
Succeeded by Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |
| Preceded by Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin |
Australian Kent Music Report number one album April 6 - May 17, 1970 June 1 - June 14, 1970 July 27 - September 13, 1970 |
Succeeded by Hey Jude by The Beatles |
| Preceded by Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 by Various artists Let It Be by The Beatles Self Portrait by Bob Dylan Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert by The Rolling Stones Paranoid by Black Sabbath Andy Williams's Greatest Hits by Andy Williams Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer Top of the Pops, Volume 18 by Various Artists |
UK Albums Chart number-one album February 14 - May 22, 1970 (13 weeks) June 13 - July 11, 1970 (4 weeks) July 18 - August 22, 1970 (5 weeks) October 3 - October 10, 1970 October 17 - October 24, 1970 January 16 - February 6, 1971 (3 weeks) July 3 - August 7, 1971 (5 weeks) September 11 - September 18, 1971 |
Succeeded by Let It Be by The Beatles Self Portrait by Bob Dylan A Question of Balance by The Moody Blues Paranoid by Black Sabbath Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd All Things Must Pass by George Harrison Hot Hits 6 by Various artists Who's Next by The Who |
| Preceded by Abbey Road by The Beatles Let It Be by The Beatles Let It Be by The Beatles Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clear Water Revival |
Norwegian VG-lista number-one album 15-19/1970 25/1970 27-33/1970 52/1970-02/1971 |
Succeeded by Let It Be by The Beatles Let It Be by The Beatles Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival Pendulum by Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| Preceded by Simon and Garfunkel (Japanese compilation) by Simon & Garfunkel |
Japanese Oricon LP Chart number-one album February 1 - March 15, 1971(7 weeks) |
Succeeded by That's the Way It Is by Elvis Presley |
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