ART GARFUNKEL is reflecting on the song Old Friends.
You know, the one about two men who “sat on their park bench like bookends”.
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“It has been a huge fan favourite all over the world,” he says. “And that has always been very much appreciated.”
The wistful ballad serves as an intimate portrait of dear acquaintances looking back on their lives, reminiscing about their youth.
Now 82, Art has just recorded a heartfelt version with his son, Art Jr. for their duets album Father And Son but he first sang it as a young man with its writer, Paul Simon.
As Simon & Garfunkel, they had formed one of music’s greatest duos, with songs such as The Sound Of Silence, Homeward Bound, The Boxer and Mrs Robinson making an indelible mark on popular culture.
Garfunkel’s towering vocal on Bridge Over Troubled Water is widely regarded as his finest hour.
But since the New Yorkers split in 1970 and despite a huge Central Park reunion in 1981 and various tours including one called Old Friends, their relationship has been complex and turbulent.
We had a lunch together. It was very, very warm and wonderful.
Art Garfunkel on meeting Paul Simon
Some say their feuding was down to Paul wanting to be in control because he wrote the songs.
He once admitted something had “broken” between them.
Others believe it was because Art took time out to pursue his movie career which saw him land roles in Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge.
What’s certain is that Simon & Garfunkel haven’t sung together since 2010 . . . which makes what Art tells me in response to my question about Old Friends all the more astonishing.
“I met with Paul Simon for the first time in years just recently,” he reveals.
“We had a lunch together. It was very, very warm and wonderful.”
So the “old friends” met in a restaurant, not on a park bench but hey . . .
Art admits that he struggled to control his emotions. He says: “There were tears. I was crying at a certain point because I felt that I had hurt him.”
Then he stresses: “But there were hugs. I’m cherishing this two-week-old memory of having lunch with Paul Simon.”
‘I love everyone’
I ask if they talked about those heady days in the Sixties when they enjoyed phenomenal success.
“No, we didn’t. That speaks for itself,” he answers.
Although it seems unlikely they will perform together again, he suggests that a reconciliation has taken place.
“I like to think I’m a man who has a lot of love,” he says.
“There are NO relationships of mine that don’t have love at the bottom.
“I love everyone.
“I can’t imagine holding a position of dislike and clinging to it.
“It’s all meant to be resolved so we can die easy.”
I’m speaking to Art, who still lives in The Big Apple, and Art Jr, who is based in Berlin and has had hit albums in Germany.
The notion of Simon (by that I mean me) and two Garfunkels having a chat seems irresistible.
Art Jr has this take on Old Friends: “One of the reasons I really vouch for it is because I am 33 years old.
“That means I’ve known my dad as a dear friend all my life.
“We’re so close when we sing these songs on stage or in the studio next to each other.”
Dad addresses his son directly and affectionately: “Junior, we have sung at one mic with our foreheads in contact with each other.
“It’s such a close, beautiful embrace, among the sweetest moments of my life.
“Do you remember that, honey?”
And Art Jr replies: “I do, very well.
“Music is our language of affection.”
Their Garfunkel & Garfunkel album, Father And Son, appropriately named after the Cat Stevens cover which closes it, is a sublime union of voices and comes with fully orchestrated arrangements.
Art’s taste is reflected by songs from the American Songbook such as Blue Moon, Once In A While and You Belong To Me.
Art Jr’s love of Eighties pop is represented by Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time, The Eurythmics’ Here Comes The Rain Again and Ph.D’s I Won’t Let You Down.
And The Beatles get a look in with a touching take on Blackbird.
But it is their Let It Be Me, a tender love song by The Everly Brothers, that we turn to next.
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For Art, Don and Phil Everly were the chief inspiration behind Simon & Garfunkel.
They famously covered the Everlys’ hit Bye Bye Love on their final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970).
Art says: “Anybody with ears knows that Don and Phil are not surpassed for harmony.
“Nobody is as good, not even Simon & Garfunkel.
“The blend of those two voices is supreme.”
This is the cue for Art Jr to interrupt with: “I disagree.
“I think Simon & Garfunkel are equally as good or better.”
Dad laughs and exclaims: “I’ll take a pass at this point!”
But then he casts his mind back to when he first heard the Everlys.
‘Lovely early memories’
“I went bowling with Paul Simon when I was 14 in Jamaica, New York.
“When we came back, I heard, ‘Ching, ka-ching, ching, ching, ka-ching, ching, ka-ching, ching’ — the intro to Bye Bye Love on the radio.
“I immediately loved how hip it was.
“The vocal hadn’t even begun yet.
“Just that guitar intro captured me.
“Then came these two voices and I knew in a flash — I have good ears — that this was the best there was.
“I was smitten.”
Art recalls how he and Paul Simon started out as Tom & Jerry and how, in 1957, they sang their hit Hey, Schoolgirl on Dick Clark’s TV show American Bandstand, on the same bill as Jerry Lee Lewis.
So what made them change to their real names?
All I can say is that my father has one of the most iconic male voices of all time.
Art Garfunkel, Jr
Art says: “We never could come up with what we should call ourselves.
“Then the record label said, ‘Look, it’s the Sixties now’, meaning it’s the future.
“It’s arrived. ‘You can use your legitimate names’.
“They told us, ‘If it sounds like a law firm, so be it.
“You’re Simon & Garfunkel now.’”
Art also remembers the duo’s early trips to England as they sought to make a name for themselves.
“We’d go to pubs and, above the pub, there would be a room for 100 people.
“Paul and I would sing all the early songs like Who Will Love A Little Sparrow?
“We learned to harmonise together and I was a big fan of Paul Simon’s songs.
“We would get on a train, go to Bristol or Hull, do a show and come home to Judith Piepe’s apartment in London.
“We would riff and joke around. I’d say to Paul, ‘You’ve got to stop, you’re killing me.’ He has a great sense of humour.
“These are very lovely early memories.”
Now we have Garfunkel & Garfunkel, who are also channelling the Everlys with their rendition of Let It Be Me.
“Don’t you think, Father, that Let It Be Me is a no-brainer? It’s our song,” says Art Jr.
Art responds with: “Having toured with the Everlys, I knew them a little bit.
“Don called that song the best thing they ever did.”
I ask Art, known for the golden voice behind mega solo No1 Bright Eyes, when he discovered his son could also sing.
He replies: “When he was two, we brought Junior down to a soundcheck in Japan.
“We took him on stage and said, ‘Come to the microphone, play with it. It’s a toy.’
“And he started making sounds into the mic. So stage work has always been organic for Junior, very natural thing for him.”
Art adds: “Now I’m crazy about his voice.
“He’s so damn good.
“He’s better than I am.”
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That’s some compliment from the singer of Bridge Over Troubled Water, I’m thinking.
Art Jr says: “Well, I can’t even process that.
“All I can say is that my father has one of the most iconic male voices of all time.
“But I love singing.
“It’s my true passion.”
Before this candid Zoom call ends, I’m keen to find out if father and son would like to keep their recording partnership going.
Art Jr answers first: “I’d like to see us work on future projects, especially with my dad’s enthusiasm.
“What a blessing for me.”
And finally Art: “I love this.
“I want to do it again.
“If you’re in Junior, I’m in.”
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