Top of the Poppers Sing & Play Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits (SHM 783) - 1972
Tracks:
Side 1
Side 2
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Sleeve notes:
Following the outstanding success of our Hallmark L.P., “The Top of the Poppers present the Beatles’ Golden Hits,” our brilliant London-Based group of session musicians and singers, “The Top of the Poppers” present another selection of all-time hits made famous by, perhaps, the greatest duo in Pop music to-day, Simon & Garfunkel. Their “Bridge over Troubled Water” will remain a classic of its kind for ever; for in this soulful, plaintive, haunting melody is the distilled essence of Man’s tribulations. Great composers automatically attract attention wherever and whenever their music is performed and in the case of Simon and Garfunkel there can scarcely be a territory in the world that hasn’t heard one at least of their classics. And classics they are, rightfully taking their place in the musical library of the day as songs that are a reflection of our times and the creation of two finely-tuned musical minds. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel don’t write or appear together very much these days; like many teams they’ve separated in order to pursue other activities in show business. But their partnership, particularly during the late 1960’s gave us some superb songs and you’ll find most of them on this album. “The Sound Of Silence”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “The Boxer”, “Cecilia” are songs that future generations of entertainers will sing with the same delight that the Top of the Poppers give them. They’ll sing them and enjoy singing them simply because they contain just about every ingredient needed for a performer to feel confident; the lyrics make sense and have a feel that is lasting and the melody has real strength. If that’s what success in popular music is all about then Simon and Garfunkel capture it – and capture it truly. All that’s needed is an appreciative audience and you alone can provide that. |
Comments: For Sing and Play Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, the coffers were almost empty with only “Mrs Robinson” (Volume 2) and “The Boxer” (Volume 5) ready to supplement “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Volume 10). These three early numbers pre-dated Tony Rivers’ involvement with the series, but he was now to hand to vocalise alongside John Perry on nine new recordings which they did live with the backing group. The track listing almost exactly duplicates the duo's official greatest hits collection on CBS, released around the same time and set to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.