62 Years Ago Today, Simon & Garfunkel Were at No. 1 With the Grammy-Winning Soundtrack to Dustin Hoffman’s Breakout Movie Role

On this day (April 6) in 1964, Simon & Garfunkel were at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the soundtrack from The Graduate. The album spent a total of nine weeks at No. 1 and brought the folk duo three Grammy Awards. The tracklist features two unfinished versions of “Mrs. Robinson,” as well as “The Sound of Silence.” Interestingly, their album Bookends interrupted the LP’s initial run at No. 1.

Videos by American Songwriter

Simon & Garfunkel contributed five songs to the soundtrack. It contained two versions of “The Sound of Silence,” “Scarborough Fair/ Canticle,” and “Mrs. Robinson.” They also contributed “The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine” and “April Come She Will.” The remaining nine tracks were instrumental pieces composed and performed by Dave Grusin.

[RELATED: The Alternate, Arguably Clunkier Title That Nearly Replaced Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”]

Simon, Garfunkel, and Grusin shared the Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. “Mrs. Robinson” also took home Record of the Year and brought the duo Best Contemporary Pop Performance, Vocal Duo or Group for the song.

Simon & Garfunkel Weren’t Planning to Record “Mrs. Robinson”

“Mrs. Robinson” went on to be one of Simon & Garfunkel’s biggest hits. However, they wouldn’t have recorded it if not for The Graduate director Mike Nichols.

According to Songfacts, Paul Simon began writing the song as “Mrs. Roosevelt,” inspired by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Later, Art Garfunkel recalled that it was “A trifle song we were about to throw out.” Then, Nichols changed things.

Nichols had used three songs from the duo’s existing discography. He hoped to enlist them to write a few original songs for the film. However, they had been touring and preparing to record their next album. As a result, Simon didn’t have the bandwidth to write songs for The Graduate.

Garfunkel mentioned the unfinished “Mrs. Roosevelt” to Nichols, who then asked Simon to adapt it for the film.

When The Graduate premiered in December 1967, “Mrs. Robinson” wasn’t finished. Simon had only written the short snippets of the song heard in the film. He didn’t finish writing the full version until after the movie became a hit.

They finally released “Mrs. Robinson as a single from Bookends in early April 1968.

Featured Image by Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images