Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 113 - A Historic Reunion of Simon ＆ Garfunkel in Concert at Central Park!

Simon & Garfunkel's Final Concert Part VI

This time, I will be talking about the Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert that was held in Central Park, New York in 1981. This will be known as the final Simon & Garfunkel concert.
We will examine their music through the performances of the two keyboardists who participated in the concert.

Simon & Garfunkel Historic Reunion!

Simon & Garfunkel's reunion took place on September 19, 1981 in New York City's Central Park. The concert venue attracted an audience of 530,000 people.
Rumors of a reunion had been circulating, then dying out, then coming back...and so on. So much so that listeners were hoping for a Simon & Garfunkel reunion. Many musicians are not straightforward, so one can imagine that it must have been difficult in their case as well.
The concert recording of this historic reunion was released as a 2-CD set and became a huge bestseller. The concert was also broadcast on television and was the talk of the nation. Paul Simon commented at the concert that half of the proceeds from this charity concert would be donated to the Central Park Greening Campaign.

The first time I saw the Central Park video was right after I purchased the laserdisc. The other day, a restored version of this image was broadcast on a national TV program, and I watched it again for the first time in a long time.
The remastered video was in 4:3 instead of 16:9, but it was easy to see and I could see the expressions of each musician.

This time, “Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal” will consider the music of Simon & Garfunkel from a visual point of view, including the music of the two musicians as seen in the live video, and the keyboard playing of pianist Richard Tee and synthesizer player Rob Mounsey.

■ Recommended album: Simon & Garfunkel's Central Park Concert

The first thing that impressed me about this concert was the wonderful singing and harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel. Sometimes solo, sometimes in unison, and sometimes in harmony. I was so impressed by their singing and harmonies that I could not understand which singer was singing which part of the song. I don't think anyone listens to Simon & Garfunkel's music that strictly, but the live video shows it well.

As well as their singing, they are backed by some of New York's leading musicians, including Dave Brown (g), Pete Carr (g), Anthony Jackson (b), Grady Tate (ds), Steve Gadd (ds), Richard Tee (p), Rob Mounsey (syn), John Eckert ( tp), John Gutcheon (tp), Dave Tophany (sax), and Jerry Nywood (sax).
And the set list is full of important S&G songs. One of the great pleasures is to hear how they differ from the original tracks and how they are arranged.

Recommended song: “Mrs. Robinson”

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel appear with black Ovation electric guitars. The song begins with Paul Simon cutting on the guitar, and the introductory scat part is absent; instead, the song begins with singing. The faces of the skilled band members are also shown in close-up.
Playing the Prophet 5 synthesizer is Rob Mounsey. Rob is also one of the first call musicians in New York. I heard him play when he came to Japan with a band called Joe Cool. He is a keyboardist who plays very sophisticated riffs. He has also produced several albums for Michael Franks. In the picture, I can see Rob playing Prophet 5, but I have no idea what the hell he is playing (haha).

Recommended song: “Scarborough Fair”

It begins with an odd arpeggio by Paul Simon. It’s an important song by Simon & Garfunkel. This is where we first recognize the sound of Rob Mounsey's Prophet 5. Since the song is based on Paul's arpeggio and the two singers' singing, no other sounds come in at first. But that's not enough to dilute the sound. What Rob is doing is playing pads with white peals in the background of the two. If you listen closely to Rob's Prophet 5 sound, you can hear a moaning, blotchy pad sound (like fog).
This pad sound is the Prophet 5's specialty, and is a favorite sound of many keyboardists, including Ryuichi Sakamoto. In the latter half of the song, the pad sound changes to a bell sound. The actual Scarborough Fair has a harpsichord sound in the background, which reminds the listener of the sound of a harpsichord. This sound is a perfect match with “Scarborough Fair” and it enhances the mood of the song.
(Cf) For more information on Prophet 5, please refer to Keyboard Crazy Drift No. 17 and 18.

Sequential Circuit Prophet 5

Recommended song: “America”

“America” begins with Tee's signature sound of Richard Tee's Fender Rhodes piano over the electro-harmonics phaser ”Small Stone”. The original studio version of this classic song begins with scat, but Tee's Rhodes doesn't destroy that image.
There is an impressive scene in the video of this song. During the interlude, when Paul is making eye contact with guitarist Pete Carr, the acoustic guitar (Adamas of Ovation) played by Pete Carr is out of tune. The members of the band were all playing with a lot of energy, and it seemed as if they were playing with too much energy.... It was funny to see Anthony Jackson, who played the bass guitar in the back of the band, smiling bitterly.
The two singers sang in unison in the first chorus, and from the second chorus, the two choruses changed like an amoeba. I feel that this area is the very essence of Simon & Garfunkel.

Recommended music: “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

The song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” begins with a Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano played by Richard Tee. This piano was probably chosen because it was outdoors and had to be protected from feedback and rain. A tee is a live piano, but it was difficult to choose a live piano for an outdoor setting with the technology available at the time.
Richard Tee's piano is naturally darker than Larry Necter's, although Warren Barnhart, a New York pianist, played “Bridge Over Troubled Water” at a live performance in 2009. This one is closer to the original.
Paul Simon did not sing on this song, but Art Garfunkel sang alone like on the original.

Song recommendation: “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”

The intro starting with those drums is wonderful. The spirit of Steve Gatt is especially vivid in this concert.

Recommended song: “The Boxer”

The song starts with the intro, where the two sing four bars and then Art sings as the original and Paul stays out. I verified this scene from another live performance, where they sang 4 bars and then left one bar empty. It’s possible that Art mistakenly sang like the original. Paul sees Art and leaves one bar open and the two singers sing together, which is a thing. “The Boxer” has a different lyric from the original song inserted in the fourth chorus.

Musicians, albums, and recommendations featured in this issue

• Artists: Simon & Garfunkel, Richard Tee, Rob Mounsey, Steve Gatt, Anthony Jackson, Pete Carr, etc
• Album：Central Park Concert
• Songs: “Mrs. Robinson”, “Scarborough Fair”, “America”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, “The Boxer”

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