Bookends [Remaster] by Simon & Garfunkel

Personnel includes: Paul Simon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals); Jimmy Haskell (arranger). Producers include: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee. Reissue producer: Bob Irwin. Recorded between September 7, 1966 and October 16, 1968. Originally released on Columbia Records (9529). Includes liner notes by Bud Scoppa. Simon & Garfunkel's first consistently excellent album, 1968's BOOKENDS is a brief (12 songs in less than 30 minutes) but beautiful song cycle that sums up all of Paul Simon's '60s themes of alienation and identity in a newly orchestrated and elegant style far removed from the skeletal folk-rock of their earlier albums. The entire first half, bracketed by the lovely "Bookends Theme," has a suite-like feel even though it encompasses songs as varied as the chaotic "Save the Life of My Child" and the subtle acoustic reverie "Overs," not to mention the anthemic "America" and Art Garfunkel's audio-verite "Voices of Old People." The second half is the closest Simon & Garfunkel ever...