The Surprising Story Behind Simon & Garfunkel's First No. 1 Hit

Every story must begin somewhere, and this star duo’s shared history goes back a long way. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up just a few blocks from each other in Queens, New York. They met as schoolkids and began performing together in the sixth grade, when they both appeared in an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Both men were obsessed with music, particularly the intricate harmonies and mellifluous compositions of the Everly Brothers—an act that had a lasting influence on their own artistic style. 

The duo began their professional musical journey in 1957 when they were just fifteen, writing and selling songs and recording under the moniker Tom & Jerry.  It wasn't until 1964 that the pair issued a debut album under their own names. They released an additional four albums over the following six years, and became firmly established and extremely popular along the way. Their final album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, shot to number one on both sides of the Atlantic, but the duo’s history could have been quite different were it not for the success of their debut number one single, “The Sound of Silence.”

The birth and rebirth of “The Sound of Silence”

“The Sound of Silence” was written by Paul Simon in 1963. In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, the singer recalled that the inspiration for it came as he sat with his guitar in his parents’ bathroom with the lights off and the taps running. “‘The Sound of Silence’ was the first song I wrote which seemed to come from some place that I didn’t inhabit…it was unusual, well beyond my age and abilities,” he said. 

He and Garfunkel were singing regularly at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village under the name Kane & Garr when Columbia A&R man Tom Wilson came across them. When the duo was invited into the studio for an audition, “The Sound of Silence” was the song they chose to perform.

This song kickstarted their career, but the version they sang for that audition—and that was included on their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.—is actually not the one that is widely recognized today. “The Sound of Silence” was originally an acoustic number, as can be heard on Wednesday Morning, and it was originally titled “The Sounds of Silence.” The album it appeared on was initially so unsuccessful that Paul Simon moved to London, while Garfunkel continued as a student at Columbia University. 

Unknown to the duo, however, Tom Wilson had decided to experiment with “The Sound of Silence,” hiring guitarist Al Gorgoni and drummer Bobby Gregg, who had been playing with Bob Dylan, together with bassist Bob Bushnell and a second guitarist named Vinnie Bell to add a strong backbeat to the recording. This version was the one that, much to the surprise of Simon & Garfunkel, shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the catalyst for their musical success that followed.