In music, band break-ups are just a name of the game. You can’t blame the groups this has happened to, as there is often a lot at stake and the industry can likely feel like a pressure cooker at times. Hence, when Simon & Garfunkel broke up it was tragic, but it wasn’t as if nobody didn’t see this coming. Because, again, break-ups are seemingly inevitable in this business.
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Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have been fairly transparent about the problems that amounted to their break-up. However, no matter how many comments they give, no one can truly understand the full reasoning behind their break-up. Although Paul Simon did once divulge that a movie role taken by Garfunkel did have some bearing on their final decision to split ways.
Why Art Garfunkel’s Role in ‘Carnal Knowledge’ Upset Paul Simon
Towards the end of Simon & Garfunkel’s career, each band member had enough of each other. Matter of fact, Paul Simon said on The Howard Stern Show, “What was going on in the studio though was a real tug of war about taste and how to do it. We were friends since we were twelve years old, but our musical inclinations are quite different.”
That being so, Garfunkel was perusing other artistic avenues, and consequently, he stumbled across the 1971 film, Carnal Knowledge, starring Jack Nicholson. Though, when he decided to take the role, he didn’t let Simon know, and that is seemingly where tempers started to fly. Simon recalled Garfunkel telling him about his role, “I was afraid if I told you, you would stop working on Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Other than on The Howard Stern Show, Simon voiced his opinion on the matter in his biography, Paul Simon: A Life. Simon wrote in the book, “He knew how I’d feel [about taking the part], but he did it anyway. I thought, ‘F— you, I’m not going to do that’” and “And the truth is, I think if Artie had become a big movie star he would have left.”
“Instead of just being the guy who sang Paul Simon songs, he could be Art Garfunkel, a big star all by himself” and “When he agreed to make Carnal Knowledge, something was broken between us,” concluded Simon. Simon & Garfunkel’s break-up is surely far more complicated and nuanced than just this once instance. However, it seems Garfunkel’s decision to be in the film might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel at Press Microphones via Getty Images
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