Happy Birthday Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon was born October 13, 1941 in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Murray, was a college professor, flugelhorn player, plumber and dance bandleader who performed under the name “Ishkabibble”. His mother, Belle, was an elementary school teacher and a “dime a dance” girl. In 1945, his family moved to Queens, New York City.

Simon’s musical career began after meeting Art Garfunkel when they were both 11. They performed in a production of Alice in Wonderland for their sixth-grade graduation. Simon was the Cheshire Cat and Garfunkel was the Mad Hatter.

Poaching The Egg

Simon’s first song written for himself and Garfunkel, when Simon was 12 or 13, was called “Poaching The Egg”, a song about masturbation. According to Simon, the song became the “neighborhood hit.” The song sparked a dance craze and all the kids in Queens were “Poaching The Egg”. His father wrote the words and chords on paper for the boys to use. That paper became the first officially copyrighted Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel song, and is now in the Library of Congress. In 1957, in their mid-teens, they recorded the song “Hey, Schoolgirl” under the name “Tom & Jerry”, a name that was given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached No. 49 on the pop charts.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel — Simon & Garfunkel Illustration By Paul King Art

In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel signed with Columbia Records. Their first LP, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., was released on October 19, 1964. The duo went onto an amazing career. They sold over 100 million records and “The Sound of Silence” (1965), “Mrs. Robinson” (1968), “The Boxer” (1969), and “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide.

Central Park

The duo’s often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. After their breakup, Simon released a number of acclaimed albums, including 1986’s Graceland. Garfunkel did some acting and worked on his hair. The duo have reunited several times, most famously in 1981 for “The Concert in Central Park”, which attracted more than 500,000 people, and 1 bathroom, one of the largest concert attendances in history.

In recent years, Paul Simon was in the news when he slipped on the soap in his bathroom and ended up stuck in the toilet bowl for 12 hours. Garfunkel made the press as well when he walked into the Barnes & Nobles in NYC, trashed the bookstore, and destroyed an entire display of Paul Simon books.