RATO RECORDS

sexta-feira, 30 de janeiro de 2026

terça-feira, 27 de janeiro de 2026

An Eternal Masterpiece With 56 Years Old

Original released on LP

Columbia KCS 9914 (US) / CBS S 63699 (UK)

(1970, January 26)

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on "Bookends" - this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of "Bridge Over Troubled Water". The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. "Bridge Over Troubled Water", at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing; and at other times, it was just plain fun. The public in 1970 - a very unsettled time politically, socially, and culturally - embraced it; and whatever mood they captured, the songs matched the standard of craftsmanship that had been established on the duo's two prior albums. Between the record's overall quality and its four hits, the album held the number one position for two and a half months and spent years on the charts, racking up sales in excess of five million copies. The irony was that for all of the record's and the music's appeal, the duo's partnership ended in the course of creating and completing the album. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

An established major act as the '60s came to a close and poised to reach an artistic Everest that most can only dream of, Simon and Garfunkel were slowly falling apart due to creative tensions and aspirations that stretched beyond music. It took almost a year, but "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was worth the wait and effort, a perfect way to say goodbye to their studio album career and full-time partnership. A recurring theme of the album is to start a song off rooted in the traditional folk that S&G had originally made their living from, then gradually blend into a louder, fuller sound drawn from various styles. For instance, the title track begins with a lone piano set against Art Garfunkel's delicate vocals (written by Simon, as was always the case), progressing towards the addition of Vibraphone and echo chamber drums before finally crescendoing in a strings and soaring Garfunkel that the Righteous Brothers would have been proud of. Likewise "The Boxer", recorded and released almost a year before "Bridge Over Troubled Water", starts off with a lone folksy guitar and Simon's quiet biopic vocals, then steadily collects Garfunkel, a bass harmonica, occasional pedal steel and piccolo trumpet over the next four minutes, climaxing with - you guessed it - echo chamber drums and strings. "Cecilia", a tale of afternoon dalliance, has a much more consistent volume and beat throughout, with very subtle use of instrumentation that has almost a hands-and-knees-clap quality to it - you know you're experimenting successfully when dropping drumsticks on the floor becomes a classic. Each of these songs became monster hits around the world, as did the album, which stayed on many major charts for years during the early '70s. This certainly isn't the most extreme example on record of folk boundaries being pushed, but it's definitely the most ornate and tasteful. (Azapro Nineoneone in AllMusic)