25:18Oldies Music · Stories Behind the SongsA Song Born by Mistake That Changed Music History
Episode: The Song Born by Mistake That Changed Music History
From Sora Music Rewind · 21 min ·
About This Song Born by Mistake
"The Sound of Silence" is often remembered as the song born by mistake: a quiet folk track from a failed album that became a No. 1 hit only after a producer added electric instruments without asking the two young men who made it.
This episode follows that one song from a bathroom in Queens to a crowd of half a million in Central Park. Here is the story, checked against reliable sources, with a few popular details corrected along the way.
How a Failed Folk Album Started It All
A Song Written in the Dark
Paul Simon wrote "The Sound of Silence" when he was about 21. He later explained that he liked to work in the bathroom with the lights off, because the tiles gave his voice a natural echo. Art Garfunkel recalled that the lyrics were finally finished in February 1964.
The song is often linked to the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963. That connection is uncertain, though, because some accounts say the duo had already performed an early version a couple of months before that day.
Simon and Garfunkel had been friends since their school days in Queens and had even scored a small hit as teenagers under the name Tom and Jerry. In 1963, Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson noticed them, Simon talked him into a studio audition, and their performance of this very song helped get them signed.
A Debut Nobody Bought
The duo recorded their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., in New York in March 1964, with Tom Wilson producing and Roy Halee engineering. The acoustic "Sound of Silence," just two voices and a guitar, was recorded on March 10.
The album came out on October 19, 1964, right in the middle of the British Invasion. American radio wanted guitar bands, not quiet folk duets. By most accounts it sold only about 3,000 copies at first.
The partnership seemed finished. Simon moved to England, where he played folk clubs and recorded a solo album, The Paul Simon Songbook. Garfunkel stayed in New York to continue his studies at Columbia University.
What Tom Wilson Did to the Song
Radio Stations Find a Forgotten Track
In the spring of 1965, something unexpected happened. A late-night disc jockey at WBZ in Boston began playing "The Sound of Silence," and college listeners responded. The song spread down the East Coast all the way to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where students on spring break picked it up.
A Columbia promotion man in Florida called the New York office to report the interest. Nobody at the label had planned any of it.
The Overdub Session of June 1965
Tom Wilson had just produced Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," with its loud electric band. He believed the same sound could bring this quiet folk song to life.
On June 15, 1965, after a "Like a Rolling Stone" session, he kept some of the studio players on hand. Guitarists Al Gorgoni and Vinnie Bell, drummer Bobby Gregg and a bass player added electric parts on top of the original 1964 recording, and Roy Halee added heavy echo. The vocals were not re-recorded.
Simon and Garfunkel were not consulted. As far as Columbia was concerned, they were no longer a working act. The new single was released in September 1965.
Finding Out From a Magazine in Denmark
That fall, Paul Simon was performing in Denmark. While reading Billboard, he saw his own song climbing the Hot 100, in a version he had never heard.
His friend, the singer Al Stewart, later recalled that Simon was "horrified" the first time he heard it, especially at a spot where the band slows down so the vocals can catch up. Garfunkel was calmer about it, reportedly saying it might sell.
Number One on New Year's Day
The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1, 1966, and returned to the top later that month. Garfunkel phoned Simon about its success, and the two reunited.
They quickly recorded a new album, Sounds of Silence, built around the electric version. Columbia also reissued Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and this time it reached No. 30 on the album chart.
Why Success Pulled the Duo Apart
Bridge Over Troubled Water
By 1969, Simon and Garfunkel were among the biggest acts in the world, but they were often apart. Garfunkel was acting in Mike Nichols' film Catch-22, playing Captain Nately, while Simon kept writing songs for their next album.
One of those songs, "The Only Living Boy in New York," was a gentle message to his absent partner. In it, Simon calls him "Tom," a nod to their teenage Tom and Jerry days. Garfunkel still sang the backing harmonies.
The title song, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," came to Simon so quickly that he wondered where it had come from. He wanted Garfunkel to sing it, though Garfunkel at first suggested Simon sing it himself. Garfunkel's lead vocal became the duo's signature recording, with Larry Knechtel on piano, Joe Osborn on bass and Hal Blaine on drums.
The single spent six weeks at No. 1 in 1970. The album has been reported to have sold more than 25 million copies, and it won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. As their relationship frayed, Simon reportedly came to regret not singing the song himself.
The Last Show at Forest Hills
On July 18, 1970, the duo played Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, close to where they grew up. It turned out to be their last performance together for years, and they parted ways later that year.
Both found success on their own. Simon's solo career later included Graceland in 1986, and Garfunkel released hit records and kept acting.
Half a Million in Central Park
On September 19, 1981, Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of Central Park to help pay for the park's repair. The city expected about 300,000 people. Rain fell until showtime, and an estimated 500,000 came anyway.
Mayor Ed Koch introduced them. They walked out, shook hands and opened with "Mrs. Robinson." Later, during the first encore, they sang "The Sound of Silence," more than sixteen years after it had been rebuilt without them.
Why This Song Still Matters
Tom Wilson went on to produce the Mothers of Invention's Freak Out! and the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat. He died in 1978, at 47. His unapproved decision gave folk-rock one of its defining records and gave Simon and Garfunkel a second chance.
The same producer had just finished "Like a Rolling Stone," where a young Al Kooper, not really an organ player, sat down at a Hammond and added one of rock's most famous organ parts. Both songs show how much of music history depends on choices made quickly in a studio.
Where were you the first time you heard "The Sound of Silence," and did you hear the quiet acoustic version or the electric one?
Sources and Further Reading
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