Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits

Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Simon & Garfunkel
Released June 14, 1972 (1972-06-14)
Recorded March 1964 – November 1969
Genre Folk rock
Length 43:25
Label Columbia
Producer Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee
Simon & Garfunkel chronology
Bridge Over Troubled Water
(1970)		 Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
(1972)		 Collected Works
(1981)

Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits is the first compilation album from Simon & Garfunkel, released on June 14, 1972, two years after the duo had disbanded.

Overview

The album was a mix of original studio recordings and four previously unreleased live recordings. The album's minimalist packaging does not specifically date the latter; however, the live versions of "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" and "Kathy's Song" included on Greatest Hits were also included on the 2008 album Live 1969. The liner notes to Live 1969 state that these two songs were both recorded at a November 1969 concert in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the liner notes from Collected Works, however, the version of "Kathy's Song" was taken from a 1968 concert in Vermont.

In a 1975 BBC Radio 1 interview, Roy Halee identified this version of "The 59th Street Bridge Song" as being from Simon & Garfunkel's 1970 performance at Carnegie Hall, "the last concert they did together" (prior to their disbanding later in 1970). A live version of "Homeward Bound" was also included on the album.

The remaining ten studio songs comprise nine singles released between 1965 and 1972, "America" being issued as a single several years after its appearance as a track on the Bookends album, and one album track, "Bookends" (without its parent song "Old Friends").

All but "America" and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" made the Top Ten, with the latter peaking at #11, and "Mrs. Robinson" topped the chart aided by its appearance in Mike Nichols' hit movie The Graduate. "The Sound of Silence" and "Bridge over Troubled Water" both peaked at #1 as singles in their studio versions, and "The Boxer" peaked as a single at #7.

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Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars [1]
Rolling Stone (favorable) [2]

Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits peaked on the U.S. albums chart at #5. On the UK Album Chart, it was a #2 hit. The album has proven a long and durable seller, currently being certified for 14 million units sold in the U.S. alone. It is easily their best-selling album in the U.S., and holds the record in the U.S. for the best-selling album by a duo.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 293 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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Track listing

All songs by Paul Simon unless otherwise noted.

Side one

  1. "Mrs. Robinson" – 3:51
  2. "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" (live) – 2:25
  3. "The Boxer" – 5:08
  4. "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" (live) – 1:50
  5. "The Sound of Silence" – 3:07
  6. "I Am a Rock" – 2:52
  7. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel) – 3:09

Side two

  1. "Homeward Bound" (live) – 2:43
  2. "Bridge over Troubled Water" – 4:51
  3. "America" – 3:33
  4. "Kathy's Song" (live) – 3:22
  5. "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (Paul Simon, Jorge Milchberg, Daniel A. Robles) – 3:07
  6. "Bookends" – 1:19
  7. "Cecilia" – 2:53
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Charts and certifications

Chart positions

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australian Album Charts 21
Belgian (Flanders) Album Charts 84
Dutch Album Charts 1
German Album Charts 6
Irish Album Charts 51
New Zealand Album Charts 22
Norwegian Album Charts 7
Swedish Album Charts 31
UK Album Charts 2
US Album Charts 5

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[3] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[4] Gold 33,092[4]
France (SNEP)[5] Diamond 1,000,000*
Germany (BVMI)[6] 2× Platinum 1,000,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[7] Platinum 15,000*[8]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[9] 4× Platinum 200,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[11] 14× Platinum 14,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
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Personnel

For newly released tracks only:

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See also

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References

  1. ^ Allmusic Review
  2. ^ Rolling Stone Review
  3. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Simon and Garfunkel – Greatest Hits". Music Canada. 
  4. ^ a b "Finnish album certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. 
  5. ^ "French album certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits" (in French). InfoDisc.  Select SIMON & GARFUNKEL and click OK
  6. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Simon & Garfunkel; 'Greatest Hits')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. 
  7. ^ "Gold Disc Award 1979". IFPI. Retrieved 2012-08-17. 
  8. ^ "Gold Disc Award Criteria". IFPI. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2012-08-17. 
  9. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Simon & Garfunkel; 'Greatest Hits')". Hung Medien. 
  10. ^ "British album certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry.  Enter Greatest Hits in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  11. ^ "American album certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Simon & Garfunkel
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Last modified on 24 May 2013, at 01:58