International Pop in Brazil: SIMON & GARFUNKEL in Brazil

No, Simon & Garfunkel never toured Brazil in the 60s & 70s. This is only an account about Simon & Garfunkel as perceived by Brazilians through their recordings.

If you have followed this blog you should know that I started the 60s as an avid follower of Hit Parades. They were usually broadcast on Sunday mornings by various radio stations in Sao Paulo and other Brazilian capital cities. Circa 1964 I became a serious follower of Italian pop music buying compilation albums featuring hits by the likes of Rita Pavone, Sergio Endrigo, Edoardo Vianello, Gino Paoli, Gianni Morandi etc.

In 1965 I turned my attention to Trini Lopez and his 'Latin Album' plus our own Elis Regina & Jair Rodrigues and their 'Dois na bossa' best-selling album. By mid-1966 I had 'seen the light' having a mystical initiation on the intricate harmonies of The Mamas & the Papas' 'California dreamin' and 'Monday, Monday'.

1967 was a mixed year with lots of Brazilian pop music plus The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and Procol Harum's 'A whiter shade of pale'. 1968 started with a massive invasion of Anglo-American hits broadcast by at least 2 radio stations in Sao Paulo (see the post about 1968).

By mid-1968 I had fallen under the spell of Simon & Garfunkel's gracious harmonies listening to 'Mrs Robinson' that shot up the charts by its own merit since the major movie it was supposed to be part of the sound-track - 'The graduate' aka 'A primeira noite de um homem' - would only be released 8 months later, on 20 March 1969.

1. Mrs. Robinson (Bookends)

2. Homeward bound (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)

3. Fakin' it (Bookends)

4. A hazy shade of winter (Bookends)

5. At the zoo (Bookends)

6. The 59th Street Bridge song (Feelin' groovy) (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)

1. The sounds of silence (Wednesday morning, 3 AM / The sound of silence)

2. Scarborough Fair / Canticle (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)

3. Richard Cory (The sounds of silence)

4. A simple desultory philippic (or How I was Robert McNamara'd into submission) (Parsley, Sage...)

5. I am a rock (The sounds of silence)

6. 7 o'clock news / Silent night (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)

Os Grandes Sucessos de Simon & Garfunkel - 37.578

Folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel were completely unknown in Brazil in 1968. In the USA 'The sounds of silence' had been #1 at Billboard on 1st January 1966, dropped to #2 to make way for The Beatles' 'We can work it out', then climbed up to #1 again on 22nd January 1966.

By mid-1968, Simon & Garfunkel had 4 albums released by Columbia Records in the USA plus 'The graduate' sound-track LP where Paul Simon's music was paramount.

When CBS saw that 'Mrs Robinson' went up the charts in Brazil they quickly summoned their A&R men and assembled a Frankenstein-type album they called 'Os grandes sucessos de Simon & Garfunkel'.

There were 5 tracks from 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime' (released in October 1966); 4 tracks from 'Bookends' (just released in April 1968) and 3 tracks from 'The sounds of silence' (released in January 1966).

I remember some time in 1969, I borrowed the album 'Os grandes sucessos de S&G' from a girl in Vila Madalena whom I met through Nelsinho who had been a friend of Paulo Tyba's that I had met at my last year at Gimnasium (Brazilian high school) in 1967. Apart from 'Mrs Robinson' which I really loved 'Homeward bound' was the track that most impressed me. I really loved the melody and the harmonies. I actually intended to buy the album when CBS released 'The boxer' in early 1970.

best-selling singles in Sao Paulo from 19 to 24 August 1968 - Ibope

1. Ultima canção - Paulo Sergio (Caravelle) (6)

2. Querida (Honey) - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana)

3. A pobreza - Leno (CBS)

4. Sá Marina - Wilson Simonal (Odeon)

5. Segura este samba, Ogunhê - Osvaldo Nunes (Equipe)

6. Love is blue (L'amour c'est bleu) - Paul Muriat (Philips)

7. Honey - Bobby Goldsboro (UA-Copacabana)

8. Perto dos olhos, longe do coração - Dori Edson (RGE)

9. Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (CBS)

10. The millionaire (O milionario) - Os Incriveis (RCA)

'Mrs. Robinson' was #1 at Billboard in the USA for 3 weeks as of 1st June 1968; 12 weeks later 'Mrs. Robinson' was Top 10 in Sao Paulo; in December 1968 'Mr. Robinson' was #7 in Rio de Janeiro. The movie 'The graduate' was a hit in the USA but nowhere to be seen in Brazil where it premiered only on 20 March 1969 - 15 months after being released in the USA.

Trilha-sonora original de 'A primeira noite de um homem' (The graduate) - 37.563

'A primeira noite de um homem' (37.563) sound-track was released before 'Os grandes sucessos de Simon & Garfunkel' (37.578) and it is identical to the original American. They only devised a suitable title for Brazilian audiences (The first night of a man) and translated into Portuguese the liner-notes on the back-cover.

1. The sound of silence (3:06)

2. The singleman party fox-trot - Dave Grusin

3. Mrs Robinson (1:12)

4. Sunporch cha cha cha - Dave Grusin

5. Scarborough Fair / Canticles (1:41)

6. On the Stri´p - Grusin

7. April come she will (1:50)

8. The folks - Dave Grusin

1. Scarborough Fair / Canticle (6:22)

2. A great effect - Grusin

3. The great bright green pleasure machine (1:46)

4. Whew - Grusin

5. Mrs Robinson (1:12)

6. The sound of silence (3:08)

From the 5 songs in the sound-track; 2 come from 'Parsley, Sage. Rosemary & Thime': 'Scarborough Fair / Canticle' and 'The big bright green pleasure machine'; 2 songs come from album 'Sounds of silence': 'The sound of silence' and 'April come she will' and 'Mrs Robinson' was the only original song in the movie.

Mike Nichols chose the music by Simon & Garfunkel. When Paul Simon was taking too long to write new songs for the film, Mike used existing songs, originally planning to replace them with newly-written ones. In the end only one new song was available (Mrs Robinson), and Nichols used the existing previously-released songs. Nichols selected all the numerous songs for the film and chose which scenes they would be used in. The placement and selection of songs would affect the way audiences understood the film. Even actor William Daniels, who played Dustin Hoffman's father, remembers that after first hearing the songs, especially 'The sounds of silence', he thought, 'Oh, wait a minute. That changed the whole idea of the picture for me, suddenly realizing the film would not be a typical comedy.

20 March 1969 - Thursday - daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' - 'A primeira noite de um homem' (The graduate) deu ao diretor Mike Nichols, o encenador teatral de 'Quem tem medo de Virginia Wolf?' e de sua versão cinematográfica, um dos Oscars de 1967. Nesta sua 2a obra, um jovem universitário (o novato Dusty Hoffman) aborrece-se com a sucessão de festas oferecidas em sua homenagem por seus abastados pais californianos e torna-se presa fácil da sedução da insatisfeita mulher (Anne Bancroft) do sócio de seu pai. Até que ao conhecer sua filha, por ela se apaixona provocando os ciúmes da antropofágica amante. Essa história de um rapaz sem perspectivas para o futuro tratada em tom levemente satírico insere-se num plano menos psicológico que crítico da sociedade norte-americana, e mais que 'Virginia Wolf', que era puro teatro e sem interesse para quem não havia assitido a peça, poerá ser um teste para se avaliar melhor as possibilidades cinematográficas do diretor. Writer: Carlos M.Motta.

'The boxer' climbed up to #7 at Billboard single-charts on 17 May 1969; it was released in Brazil in October 1969 and as it started playing on radio stations the Brazilian executives at CBS in Rio de Janeiro thought it was a good idea to release a 'new' Simon & Garfunkel album in early 1970 and decided to call it simply 'The boxer'. For a sleeve they went back 4 years and borrowed it from the duo's 2nd album called 'Sounds of silence' originally released on 17 January 1966.

In the meantime in the USA - 26 January 1970 - Columbia Records released S&G's 5th album 'Bridge over troubled water' (which turned out to be their last studio album) containing 'The boxer' and 'Baby driver'. Oops, it looked like things were a bit topsy-turvy but nobody cared.

1. The boxer ('Bridge over troubled water)

2. April come she will (Sounds of silence)
3. Flowers never bend with the rainfall (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)
4. A most peculiar man (Sounds of silence)
5. The times they are a-changin' (Bob Dylan) (Wednesday morning, 3 AM)
6. The dangling conversation (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)

1. For Emily, wherever I may find her (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)
2. Baby driver (Bridge over troubled water)
3. Kathy's song (Sounds of silence)
4. Leaves that are green (Sounds of silence)
5. The big bright green pleasure machine (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime)
6. Old friends / Bookends theme (Bookends)

There you are! Dr. Frankenstein was once again summoned to CBS in Rio to manufacture 'The boxer' album: 4 tracks were taken from 'Sounds of silence' ('April come she will', 'A most peculiar man', 'Kathy's song' & 'Leaves that are green'); 4 more tracks were pruned from 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thime' ('Flowers never bend with the rainfall', 'The dangling conversation', 'For Emily wherever I may find her' and 'The bright green pleasure machine'); 2 tracks from the 'future' 'Bridge over troubled water' ('The boxer' and 'Baby driver'); one track from 'Wednesday morning, 3 AM' (Bob Dylan's 'The time they are a-changing') and finally 2 songs (1 track) from 'Bookends' ('Old friends' / 'Bookends Theme').

The final product is an outstanding album that is probably the best compilation Simon & Garfunkel have ever had if one doesn't care much for chronology and history.

Brazilian album 'The boxer' is an interesting record. It has got songs from all 5 studio albums recorded by the duo including one from their very first LP 'Wednesday morning, 3 AM'.

'The boxer' was the 1st Simon & Garfunkel album I bought. I was about to buy the duo's 1st Brazilian LP when CBS released 'The boxer' in early 1970. Apart from the album-title which is the song I still love best of their repertoire, I treasured 'For Emily wherever I may find her': in Artie's angelical voice saying: 'What a dream I had / pressed in organdy / clothed in crinoline of smoky Burgandy'... You don't need to know the meaning of all the words to realize that he is singing about magical surroundings...

From 'Kathy's song' I remember parts like: 'And as a song I was writing is left undone' or 'My mind's distracted and diffused'... I guess I had a knack to keep the first lines on my mind...

'Flowers never bend with the rainfall' and 'Leaves that are green' I somehow link together. Maybe because both deal with green, flowers and the elements. Even though I didn't understand English those songs kept growing on me and were instrumental in my self-education in a foreign language.

Journalist Ezequiel Neves who wrote a pop-music column at Sao Paulo's 'Jornal da Tarde' as of 1968 helped us - poor young people with his insights on albums by major rock stars like the Rolling Stones, The Beatles and now Simon & Garfunkel. Ezequiel wrote that 'A most peculiar man' was a song about a man who lives all alone within a room / within himself who finally turns on the gas and kills himself. You see, this was new to us... we didn't have songs that dealt with suicide in Brazil.

'The boxer' itself dealt with homelessness and prostitution on 7th Avenue in New York. I had seen John Schlesinger's 'Midnight cowboy' and knew something about the ways of the USA. We had our own problems in Brazil but those New York City difficult situations were so much more exciting. How poetic was watching Dustin Hoffman coughing himself to death on the streets of freezing Manhattan while Nilsson sang 'Everybody's talking' in stereo. I always linked 'Everybody's talking', 'Midnight cowboy' and 'The boxer'.

'Jornal da Tarde' pop-music columnist Ezequiel Neves reviews the album 'The Boxer' on 16 April 1970:

The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel - "Foi lendo Henry Miller - confessa Paul Simon, o compositor de onze faixas do disco - que eu aprendi a amar a America. Com aquele estilo genial, ele consegue destilar um ódio tão apaixonado pela sociedade norte-americana do século XX, que é impossível ficarmos indiferentes ao que ele escreve. Foi o que aconteceu comigo. Os valores burgueses que antes me causavam repugnância, transformaram-se na principal matéria de minhas canções e eu acabei amando-os enquanto os criticava. Isto porque, no fundo, é absolutamente necessária a presença do amor até mesmo enquanto nos entre-devoramos. É por isso que eu nunca trocaria New York por nenhuma outra cidade do mundo. É aqui que o tão falado sonho americano se mostra como verdadeiramente é: uma carnificina coletiva. Cada ser humano é um grito ambulante, um inimigo traiçoeiro e cruel. Vendo-os caminhar não podemos acreditar que eles tenham tripas dentro de si. As quadro paredes de seus corpos só aprisionam o medo, a dor e a solidão. E o pior é que eles compreendem a dor que se relaciona com a morte, mas a verdadeira dor não está presente em seus espíritos. E eles se matam, se odeiam e só podem dormir de olhos abertos, perplexos".

Simon & Garfunkel são os grandes poetas-cantores da America. Embora seus temas principais abordem toda a tragedia urbana das grandes cidades como New York, a forma de suas melodias estão pautadas no Country & Western. Esta é sua segunda antologia lançada no Brasil reunindo faixas escolhidas de seus LPs 'Sounds of Silence', 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thime' e 'Bookends'. A essas foi acrescentada um de seus sucessos recentes 'The boxer', com seu impressionante final apoiado numa espiral hipnótica.

A faixa 'Old friends', apesar de sua qualidade melódica, ficou aqui um pouco deslocada. No LP original ela precedia (actually 'Old friends' came after and not before) 'Voices of old people', um dos mais terríveis documentos gravados na década passada: uma mixagem de entrevistas feitas com velhos abandonados em asilos, e vagabundos das ruas de New York. Numa de suas passagens mais crueis ouve-se a voz de um entrevistado falando baixinho: 'Sou um velho porque nunca poderia me tornar-me jovem outra vez. Eu tive que ser velho, só isso'. (I couldn't get younger. I have to be an old man. That's all. Well...)

Há ainda ótimas composições como 'April come she will', 'Baby driver', 'The big bright green pleasure machine', 'The dangling conversation', 'The times they are a-changing' (de autoria de Bob Dylan) e 'A most peculiar man'. Esta última é o relato com impressionante riqueza de imagens, da vida e do suicídio de um homem solitário. Aqui o personagem é bem diferente de Richard Cory, um industrial de outra composição de Simon, que também se suicida. Cory prefere estourar os miolos com uma bala de chumbo. O primeiro calafeta portas e janelas e depois, simplesmente, abre o gas. (CBS-37.651).

Review about Ezequiel Neves' review:

Ezequiel surely knew how to enrapture the reader by the first or second line. You just couldn't put down the paper, you had to go on because you wanted to know what came next. Very clever! He must have learnt it with the great authors he used to read when he was a child. Actually, more than one-third of the review Ezequiel spends transcribing an interview Paul Simon gave a rock-magazine (I suppose). He chooses the most dramatic parts of the text and keeps you riveted.

Then, Ezequiel introduces the duo musically and here he makes a terrible mistake: Simon & Garfunkel were predominantly 'folk rock' not 'country & western'.

He then explains how 'The boxer' was assembled from 3 different albums. It was actually assembled from 4 albums - Ezequiel fails to mention 'The times they are a-changing' comes from 'Wednesday morning, 3 AM' but what the hell... times were different in 1970. It took months and sometimes years for information to filter through South of the Border...

Anyway, Ezequiel ends up analyzing 'Voices of old people' which is not included in 'The boxer' but in 'Bookends' that was never released in Brazil... and finally signs off comparing 'Richard Cory' (from the 1st Brazilian album) to 'A most peculiar man' both instances of suicides; the first shoots himself and the second turns on the gas.

It may not seem such an outstanding review today (2015) but I was pretty much impressed with all this information back in April 1970.

Before I had the chance to get fed up with 'The boxer' album CBS released 'Bridge over troubled water'.

I don't actually remember why I did not buy the 1st Brazilian release. Probably because I somehow had got hold of a copy the original US pressing of 'Bookends'.