When it comes to going out with a bang, no one does it like Simon & Garfunkel. In 1970, the duo released what would become their most successful album, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Unfortunately, it would also be their last.
At the Grammys that year, Simon & Garfunkel took home six awards, five of which were attributed to the success of the album’s title track.
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“Bridge Over Troubled Water” became a staple of the duo’s catalog, alongside other favorite tracks like “The Boxer” and “Cecilia”. Originally, the song was inspired by a line from “Mary Don’t You Weep” by the Swan Silvertones. Simon heard Claude Jeter sing, “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name,” and proceeded to pen one of his most enduring tracks, according to the New York Times.
Troubles for Simon & Garfunkel
Professionally, after the release of Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel were on top of the world. However, when it came to their partnership, it would seem that they had entered into troubled waters of their own.
Paul Simon took on much of the project when Garfunkel accepted a role in the Mike Nichols film Catch-22. With previous albums, songwriting had been more of a collaborative process. But that wasn’t as much the case with Bridge Over Troubled Water. To add to the blow, Simon had also been offered a role in the film, but his part was cut when Nichols decided to reduce the cast size.
Garfunkel ultimately ended up singing lead vocals on the song, which was a mutual creative decision between him and Simon. However, as Simon explained in his biography, Paul Simon: A Life, this eventually led to feelings of resentment.
“Many times on a stage, though, when I’d be sitting off to the side, and Larry Knechtel would be playing the piano,” he shared. “And Artie would be singing ‘Bridge,’ people would stomp and cheer when it was over, and I would think, ‘That’s my song, man. Thank you very much. I wrote that song.’”
It would seem that Bridge Over Troubled Water gave us arguably some of the best folk-rock music ever. However, it also contributed to the end of what could have been much more.
Photo of: Simon and Garfunkel Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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