As good as the album is, Sounds of Silence was a rush job - quickly made to cash in on the sudden and hot success of the remix of "The Sound of Silence." You can hear it in the album too, as clearly pure folk rock ditties like "Blessed" were not the most well-suited for Simon & Garfunkel. So, for their third album, Paul Simon insisted on total control of all aspects of recording for the album, and the duo spent upwards of three months refining material. An 8-track recorder was brought in at the insistence of Paul Simon, extensive overdubbing occurred, and Columbia took notice of the lengths Paul Simon was going to - one executive allegedly commented "Boy, you really take a lot of time to make records." Luckily, it paid off - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was a breakthrough for the duo, not only topping out at number four on the US charts, but also showcasing the fully realized and matured sound of Simon & Garfunkel. A mature mix of folk, baroque, and the most delicate touch of rock influence. In less than a year, the duo have bloomed into a powerhouse.
One of my biggest drawbacks on Sounds of Silence was the overall folk rock production style. It wasn't because it was necessarily bad sounding, but it often felt rushed and, more significantly in my eyes, just did not suit the energy of Simon & Garfunkel - it felt too artificially high energy, and rarely are Simon & Garfunkel that kind of group, especially when Paul Simon is penning songs on the human condition, love, distance, and desultory philippics. On Parsley, elements of folk rock aren't absent necessarily, but they are molded to work better with the gentle atmosphere and the occasional burst of humor from the duo - I noticed on this record that any heavily electric moments are typically reserved for more goofy tracks, like the hilarious Dylan parody on "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)" or the lighthearted and zany faux advertisement for the make-believe "Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine." The one exception to the rule is likely the top-5 single "Homeward Bound," recorded during Sounds of Silence. Even still, it feels subdued and restrained to the point where it doesn't kill the song's subtlety or gentleness - if anything, the building chorus heightens the song's feeling of one's desire to return home. It should be little surprise that the song was a hit.
The group hasn't just refined their brand of folk rock, but they've also melded other genres with their sound to create a varied, distinct album. "The Dangling Conversation" is a reflection the lack of human communication between two lovers, and the gentle guitar picking meshes beautifully with a building string section that slowly rises as the song continues on, becoming just as urgent and sorrowful as the duo's vocal performance. It's Paul Simon's "Yesterday" in my eyes, and it also stands as my favorite moment on the album - stunningly beautiful and tragic. "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" is similarly beautiful, but even more subdued than "Dangling Conversation," built only off of Paul Simon's building acoustic guitar and Garfunkel's gentle and powerful voice in what might be one of his finest vocal performances to date. The opening track "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is amongst one of the duo's most complex to date, pairing the famous medieval tune with a new "Canticle" by Paul Simon, which is a bold anti-war reflection that melds beautifully with the impossible tasks detailed in "Scarborough Fair." All of this is without mentioning other soaring moments like the optimistic energy of "The 59th Street Bridge Song" with its affirmation that "all is groovy," or the low-burning intensity of "Patterns" that tells of life as a series of patterns and confusing mazes, or the blissful ignorance of "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall."
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme wasn't just a top 5 album with two top-40 singles, finally putting Simon & Garfunkel firmly on the map, but it's the group's artistic blossoming. Everything Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have learned in their years together hit its first culmination on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme to nothing short of glorious results. From beautiful heartbreaking ballads to comedic commentaries to affirmations of hope and love, the duo's third album is a tour-de-force of variety, confident and professional all the way through. All is groovy.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
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