The Savage Animal 04.08.09: First Impressions with Simon and Garfunkel

Posted by Mikey MiGo on 04.08.2009

They say first impressions are crucial. In this edition of The Savage Animal, 411’s Mikey MiGo takes a few hours and listens to all five Simon and Garfunkel albums for the first time. Do these folk rock legends hold up over time or will they go back to being off this listener’s radar? Click the link to find out first hand!

So last Wednesday I got an email from Chicago rock station Q101.1 saying that I won advance screening passes to see "Adventureland" in the city. I was excited about it. So the following day a friend and I made the trip to Chicago in rush hour traffic to get there. I waited for my friend to get off work and soon after we headed out. We got there and were told IT WAS FULL. I know they overbook those things to make sure the seats are full, but we were a good twenty minutes early. So with tolls and gas I WASTED $25 to go to Chicago, be disappointed, and come back home. It was bullshit and I'm now holding a grudge against Q101.1. It was the first time I've ever won anything from a radio station. It will probably be the last time I ever enter another one of their contests and I'm still a bit sour to even listen to the station. Call me crazy, but when you win something you should at least get SOMETHING. I had gone to the "Rolemodels" screening hosted by AICN last October and it was a great time and I got to meet Paul Rudd. From now on, I'm just going to stick with AICN screenings. They're classy peeps over there.

Luckily, the weekend events would soon make me forget my waste of a Thursday. Wrestlemania weekend isn't just the Superbowl of wrestling for me. For me it's the X-Mas/Easter/4th of July all rolled into one. I had a really long analogy about it, but it slips my mind as of writing. It was pretty decent in my area over the weekend so I didn't go full isolation, but late evening on for Friday's Smackdown, Saturday's Hall of Fame and SNL, and then Sunday's Mania were things that I refused to miss.

Saturday Night Live was really fun this past weekend. I am not burnt out on Seth Rogen like a lot of people seem to be. The dude is funny and I still enjoy his movies. I'd like to see him branch out more and he seems to be with the new "Observe and Report" movie coming out soon. It seems a lot darker than his other stuff so I doubt it'll be the same slacker comedy that I'm so fond of. The show was a good 90% hit with only about 10% miss. Sadly, the same can't be said for Wrestlemania. I touch on the show later in this column.

But First…

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS WITH SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
My day with folk rock.One of the things I love about being a music fan is discovering new music. That new music can be from many sources like the internet, from friends, at a concert, or even from the past. As time goes on if you're open to music you'll find that you've missed the boat on certain genres, styles, and bands that you should have been listening to your entire life. Over the past few years I've had this experience with the likes of "Talking Heads", "Faith No More", and a few other bands that were never on my radar before but are now in my Top Ten of ALL TIME. You don't have to grow up with good music, but growing old with it is a must. So every so often, I'll take a chance. Today I'm exploring the world of folk rock with a group that I've never thought about or have been fully exposed to, Simon and Garfunkel.

Why Simon and Garfunkel? I really don't know. It's a band I've never given a chance to. I'm a fan of good lyrics and tone and I've heard they're good with that. I barely know any of their music and it'll take just over 2 and half hours to listen to their entire discography... so why not?

Since getting on the Woody Allen train, I've grown to have a fascination with 70's era NYC. The late 70's with Talking Heads and the CBGB crowds, Andy Warhol, and just the culture in general. They represent a part of the era that I haven't explored.

When I was going my presearch before my research, I found an interesting fact about the due. 3 of the 5 Simon and Garfunkel albums are under 30 minutes long. The other two only come in at 32:07("Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.") and 36:29("Bridge over Troubled Water"). So really, what do I have to lose?

Maybe this column should be dedicated to the lovely Zooey Deschanel. I remember her from the awesome movie "Almost Famous" being a huge fan. So I actually will light a candle, listen in the dark, and be open to the music. Let's see where it takes me…

Album: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
Release: 1966
The 411: "You Can Tell The World" is the first track of the album and the first time I've ever purposely listened to a song by "Simon and Garfunkel". I truthfully had no idea they had a Christian overtone to their music. At least that's how it seems on some of the tracks on this album. I can honestly say I don't know any of the songs on the album by name except for a "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and I pretty sure it's not even an original. (ha ha) The tracks are all short and to the point with the longest being the 3:07 "The Sound of Silence (1.Version)". I took a few songs to get into anything, but I enjoyed track four, "Sparrow" for its lyrics and the guitar playing. Wow! I DO vaguely know "The Sound of Silence (1.Version)"! I knew I'd hear songs I've heard before, but I was taken off guard by it. Oddly enough, I never matched the title with the song. I've heard "The Sound of Silence (1.Version)" many times, but never really listened to it. It's a really good song, maybe even great. The vocal harmony of the duo sounds great, I dig the lyrics, and I love the tone of the song. Nothing really stands out to me again until the title track "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." at the very end. The harmony is similar to "Sounds of Silence", but a bit more upbeat tempo.


Album: Sounds Of Silence
Release: 1966
The 411: I jump right into the second album, released the same year as the first. It's déjà vu as we get "The Sounds of Silence (2.Version)". It sounds the same for the most part, but has a full band backing it. I want to say THIS is the version I'm more used to hearing. I like the first version better for it's more stripped down and haunting feel to it. I politely bounce my head until "Somewhere They Can't Find Me". It's got a bluesier and familiar guitar riff. I think it's the same riff from The Stray Cat's "Stray Cat Strut". Whatever it is, it woke me up from being calm and put a little groove into the album. I instantly like "Richard Cory" because of the opening guitars and harder tempo. It's not a happy song, but about working for a guy who's successful who killed himself. At least I think so. It ends with "I Am A Rock", a slower tempo song that kicks in with guitars. Once I hear the chorus, I think that I may have heard this before. It sounds familiar, but not really distinguishable. Not a bad song at all, but this album didn't impress me nearly as much as the first.


Album: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Release: 1967
The 411: It opens with "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" and I do recall hearing this song in places, probably in a movie or something. It seems that's the most connections I make with the music so far. Oddly enough, as much as I love film I've NOT seen "The Graduate", which I hear is basically a Greatest Hits album for the band. I dig "Patterns" because of the hand drum backgrounds that give what would be a normal song an extra little kick. We skip a little get to "Homeward Bound", a good song about touring and being on the road. It's different than the majority of the other songs so far over the two and half albums. I find myself enjoying "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" a lot. This should have been a song I knew already. We close out with "A Poem On The Underground Wall" and "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night". I dig the flow of "Poem", but the "Silent Night" version is intense. The duo beautifully sing the classic song, but overlaid is a news cast about Nixon, Martin Luther King, the war, and other issues and events faced with the youth at the time.


Album: Bookends
Release: 1968
The 411: It starts off with a nice intro titled "Bookends Theme" and jumps right into what seems to be the most experimental of all the Simon and Garfunkel I've heard so far with "Save The Life Of My Child". There are a lot of complimentary layers involved that makes it a very interesting listen. "America" follows and is a great tune that caught my ear and sounds familiar. "Voices of The Old People" isn't a creative name, it is what it is. It's 2:07 of old people talking. It's pretty trippy. We get to "Mrs. Robinson" and of course I know this song. It was in "Wayne's World 2" for crying out loud! I think I have heard "A Hazy Shade of Winter" as well. At least I think I should have. The guitar riff is very familiar as is the chorus. I would of never guessed this was "Simon and Garfunkel" in a million years. The last track is "At The Zoo" and it's a very charming and fun song about stereotypes of different people placed upon the animals as a metaphor for the melting pot town.


Album: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Release: 1970
The 411: It starts with the self titled track. It's a slow track with a lot of good piano behind it. The harmony and build doesn't come until the very end. To me this feels like it would have been a good way to close to album as opposed to opening it up. We'll see as it goes on. A friend told me to listen for "Cecilia" and it's not bad. It's got that drum-clap sound going over pleas for "Cecilia to come home". "The Boxer" and "Baby Driver" are both different songs, but are the same in terms of being pretty good. I really like the track "Why Don't You Write Me" and its foot tapping melody. There are a lot of songs about being on the road and facing off against the world. Did they even like touring? There's a "Bye Bye Love" cover second to last. I've heard this song before and this is a good cover. The last Simon and Garfunkel album ends with a slow fade out with "Song for the Asking".


The First Impression
The 411: After FIFTY EIGHT SONGS IN UNDER THREE HOURS, I can honestly say that I don't feel like I missed out all that much. I think their music is great for what it is, but folk rock isn't my cup of tea. There are a handful of songs that I enjoyed, but I don't realistically see myself listening to their entire discography again anytime soon. I could make a mix CD with "Sounds of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "Save The Live Of My Child", "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "At The Zoo", "Why Don't You Write Me", "Scarborough Fair", and "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" be done with it. So basically, I did like them but they're not on my current wave length in life. I'm not against a second impression, but that'll be something for the distant future.


What Simon and Garfunkel tracks do you think I missed the boat on?


Do Art Garfunkel's friends call him "Garf"? That'd probably make me like them just a TAD bit more. lol


What are some established bands that weren't on your radar until a good first impression?

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RANDOM VIDEO(s) OF THE WEEK
I missed out on Faith No More."The Real Thing" by Faith No More

The 411: It's 1991. It's Faith No More. There are not many bands from that era that I'd get excited to see. My only real exposure as a young kid was the "Epic" video and the "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" movie stuff. I was probably into some weird combo of RUN DMC and Huey Lewis at the time. After growing older, wiser, and with the help of in the internet I've learned the errors of way. FNM is one of those few bands and are still on my list of "bands I must somehow see live via reunion or time travel". The people at Vila Del Mar we obviously treated to a great show. "The Real Thing" is one of those songs that you can't help but get carried away for the 8 minute journeys. The closing with Public Enemy lyrics for "911 is a Joke" just made it THAT much cooler. I'm praying to the concert gods that a Faith No More US Tour will be announced soon.

"War Pigs(1989)" by Faith No More Featuring Metallica's James Hetfield

The 411: I've seen many "War Pigs" covers in my time, but this one is just a bit cooler than the others because of it being Faith No More AND James Hetfield. It's sorta surreal from the angle the cameraman took. To me it seems to make sense that Hetfield of the new Hall of Fame inductees Metallica is with what I think should be a "first year eligible/first year" in band. It's hard to believe that this video was pretty much shot TWENTY years ago. I was in Kindergarten when this video was shot.

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RANDOM MOVIE TV SERIES REVIEW IN 411 WORDS OR LESS
"SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL" SEASON TWO
STARRING BILLIE PIPERIt took me a while to get into the first season. Before I knew it I was caught up in the weird prostitute stories and interesting interactions between Hannah/Belle (Piper) and it seemed to end all too fast. With season two, it seemed to of jumped right in. They added Callum Blue and Ashley Madekwe to the cast. It was my first time seeing Madekwe since Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream" and I'm a huge Callum fan purely off his work on "Dead Like Me". These two characters made this season better than the first. The majority of the story arch was dedicated to Belle hooking up with Alex (Callum). He didn't know she was a prostitute and when he finds out he reacts EXACTLY how any logical man would. He went nuts and hated her for it. They eventually hook back up and it pissed me off because that's a pretty serious lie and a horrible situation. It made Alex look weak and needy. The blow off at the end was predictable as soon as the last episode started. I enjoyed the season at start, but by the end I was annoyed and started to not like or care for the character that Piper was playing. The ending leaves it open for Season Three. I'll watch it and hopefully not be annoyed by it as I kind of was this season.

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WRESTLING WITH PILLOWS
Looking Out From the Inside.Maybe it's the fact that I missed the two weeks of RAW prior to Mania, but I really let myself get my hopes up for a great show. Acting and composing ultraicon, Keith Evans and I even spent a few phone conversations discussing it and picking winners. I really wanted to enjoy myself and for it not to be predictable. Granted my picks were only 2 for 9, I wasn't shocked by anything.

The Tag Title match could have gone either way, and I guess The Carlitos won. I'd know more about it if maybe they actually showed it on TV!

I thought Jericho would lose and I'm glad he didn't. The Rourke KO jab was cool enough and probably will get them some press.

I was right about JBL retiring, but I figured he'd retire as IC Champ. I can accept being wrong because JBL is old school and the old school belief is that you should go out on your back.

The Hardy match wasn't nearly what it should have been. I'm not a fan of either by far, but I'm open-minded to a good match. Sadly, it was nothing new.

I'm happy Mae Young didn't win "Miss Wrestlemania", but I don't see how Santino winning makes this Battle Royal worth the time and hype behind it.

The MITB match was surprisingly really good. My pick was Shelton, but I expressed that whoever does win will NOT win the Title this time. As long as that's true with the winner CM Punk, then we're cool. The MITB match made Kofi Kingston a superstar. I've been a fan of his since before he debuted and he has TONS of potential. If you look back to other wrestling pieces I've written in the Savage Animal, you'd know that I've been pushing for a Kofi push for quite sometime. How about now?

Cena and Triple H won the title matches. I figured Trips would win, but I didn't think Cena would because it'd be TOO predictable. Sadly, I was wrong about my pick but dead on about the predictability. Triple H and Orton let me down big time. I'm always a fan of their matches, but I think this one might have been their worst. Wrestlemania is NOT the time for worst.

Taker beat Michaels. That's another pick I was right about. It was a great match, but for some reason it didn't click with me. Then again, the entire show didn't click. Sadly, for the first time ever during a Wrestlemania I thought to myself "Maybe I shouldn't watch RAW tomorrow and take a break from wrestling".

Yeah, that was a lie.

Maybe it was because of my high anticipation for Mania, but I think I actually enjoyed RAW as a whole more than Mania. Crazy, right? The Tag match I wanted came a day late and in the form of a rematch. That match was very solid and I enjoyed it more than either of the title matches from the PPV. When you have guys like Morrison and Miz then it's time to start featuring your Tag Division!

The Divas tag match was pretty decent. I don't think a few divas even entered the ring outside of their entrances. I'm cool with that because it kept Melina, Gail, Mickey, Natalya and the ones who are above average in the ring. Melina reminds me of RVD in the fact that since they're so athletic and flexible that when they take heat in a match it comes off devastating.

The 10-Man tag was fun enough. It was like a house show main event with a few extra wrestlers. I don't mean that as a bad thing because it was light, fun, and everyone could use a laid back day after Mania. Well, except for Rey Mysteri-blow. As much as I enjoyed seeing Steamboat in the ring, I BEG that he doesn't become active or even semi-active again. I hate it when a legend or old timer gets involved and suddenly the young guys working with them put on kid gloves and slow down their work. It's uncomfortable and not how I want to remember one of the most underrated performers of all time. Steamboat deserved his last time in the ring to be a fun and star studded match. He did A LOT better than most legends to make their return, but still I don't want his memory to be tarnish. I don't want young kids watching to think of Steamboat as an old man, but as the wrestling machine he once was. I respect the dude way too much to support a comeback.

The Vince/Orton stuff was a cool post-Mania main event. Even against Austin, Vince would come off stronger than he should. In this case, he put over Orton great. He made Orton look strong and sadistic as opposed to putting himself over as the bad ass boss. Then the ending came. I commented before the show that the show after Mania is when a lot of people debut, comeback, and when new stories start. Sadly, I was right. Batista came back. I thought he'd be back in a few months so I was bracing for it. I just didn't expect it to happen on Monday. I was surprised for a second and then the realization that another dull and boring main eventer was back to dull and bore up the show. Maybe if we all concentrate really hard he'll get drafted by FCW next week for the 3 Hour Raw.

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After last week's "controversial" column, I had a really fun one in mind that tied music in with professional wrestling/WWE, but I'm sure everyone has had enough of that for the time being. Instead, I'll put that idea on the backburner for a little while. Until next time… Have a Great Week!