Front cover of vinyl box set

Rear cover of vinyl box set

Bookends Lp

Greatest Hits Lp

Inside booklet

Inside booklet

Edge of complete set

2014 Complete Album Collection CD set

Sounds of Silence from Complete Collection set

1990 Collected Works 3 CD set

1990 Collected Works 3 CD set

Collected Works discs 2 and 3

Collected Works rear cover

Ahhh, Simon and Garfunkel.

I remember the first time I really delved into Simon and Garfunkel’s catalog was in 1985 when I was vacationing at my oldest brother’s home in Salinas, CA.

I stumbled across his copy of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bookends” album and I was hooked. I sat for a few restful afternoons that vacation spinning my brother’s copy of that album as I waited from him to get home from work.

I recall hearing the haunting melodies from the “Bookends” album drifting through my mind that entire trip especially as I gazed at the numerous lighthouses that dotted the coast line near Monterey, CA which is near Salinas.

From then on I developed a huge love for Simon and Garfunkel’s music and began to seek out their albums.

My first Simon and Garfunkel purchase was the 1981 vinyl box set entitled “Collected Works” in a reddish cover that contained the following albums: “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”, “Sounds of Silence”, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”, “Bookends” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

As I remember that vinyl set sounded pretty good and I loved discovering all the terrific songs on the set. I had a particular fondness for “Bookends” and “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” but I grew to love them all.

Somewhere along the line I got rid of that vinyl set but purchased the CD version that came out in 1990 (see photos) which I still own to this day.

The 1990 CD set had decent sound but was marred buy the fact that the masters for the early Simon and Garfunkel albums had been worn down and couldn’t be used.

Columbia Records who released Simon and Garfunkel’s music had a habit of using their master recordings over and over to press records instead of making dubs which wore down the best sources for the albums.

The 1990 set used the best sources possible but a couple of the albums were distorted and muddy and not nearly as good sounding as original vinyl pressings from the 1960’s.

Fast forward to 2014 to the release of better sounding Simon and Garfunkel album collections – “Simon & Garfunkel The Complete Columbia Albums” on vinyl and the really complete “Simon & Garfunkel The Complete Albums” CD collection.

These two superb collections sound great! Columbia used a couple of masters they had sent to Japan (which were very near the quality of the original masters) for some of the earlier albums so every album on this set sounds superb!

The vinyl set just contains the studio albums released on the Columbia Records plus the Greatest Hits while the CD version contains ALL of Simon and Garfunkel’s album releases including several live albums as well as “The Graduate” soundtrack.

Both sets sound terrific but the CD set is the best value with more bang for your buck as it’s cheaper than the vinyl set and contains much more content.

I will say however that the vinyl set sounds darn close to 1960’s pressings and probably has quieter vinyl so if you’re just interested in Simon and Garfunkel’s main studio albums then this set may be the way to go.

Both sets are carefully mastered and I doubt these albums will ever sound better.

As usual I have posted several pictures above featuring everything I spoke about in this blog post.

If you’ve never listened to Simon and Garfunkel’s work, you  need to check some of these albums out – they’re some of the best popular music of the last 60 years for sure!

Until nest time,

TTFN

My “Nylon Curtain” collection

Hype sticker for original US vinyl

Rear cover of US original vinyl

Inner sleeve of US vinyl

Side 1 label of US vinyl

Side 2 label of US vinyl

Rear of Japan for Europe CD

Disc of Japan for Europe CD

First US CD Made in Japan

Disc for first US CD Made in Japan

MFSL CD

In keeping with remembrances of the past, this blog post is the first of what I’m calling my “Year in Your Ear” series.

“Year in Your Ear” posts will focus on some of my favorite albums from a particular year and for this debut post I chose 1982.

1982 happens to be a very sentimental year for me as  I was a sophomore and a junior that year and several of the albums from that time are still pretty special to me. There’s something about your high school years that sticks with you throughout time – even if I wouldn’t give you a nickel to relive them.

The first album from 1982 I’d like to highlight is one of my most played albums from that year – Bill Joel’s “The Nylon Curtain”.

For me, this is Billy Joel at his absolute zenith. I love quite a few of Joel’s albums – “The Stranger”, “52nd Street”, “Glass Houses” – but this album holds a special place in my heart.

For one, I think this album has Joel’s strongest collection of songs: “Pressure”, “Goodnight Saigon”, “Allentown”, “Where’s the Orchestra?”, “Surprises” and “She’s Right on Time” are all in my list of top songs written by Billy Joel.

Coming out in the Fall of 1982, this album was in heavy rotation for me from September until December of that year.  As it happens this album was also released at a particularly emotional time for my family.

You see my grandmother, the only grandparent I ever knew and who lived with my family, passed away in early November of 1982 at the age of 92.

I was very close to my grandmother and though her death was one of the most peaceful and graceful passings I have ever witnessed, it was nonetheless very sad.

I remember many a night in early December playing this album in the darkened room of my parent’s basement – over and over again.

The song “She’s Right on Time” with its references to putting up Christmas trees really hit home at the time and nowadays whenever I hear that song it brings me back to that darkened room – once again still and reflective and unsure about the future.

Needless to say this album will always hold a special place in my heart and the fact that it’s Joel’s strongest collection of tunes doesn’t hurt either.

Above you can see photos of the various versions of this album I own – the original vinyl pressing still in the shrink wrap with hype sticker (love me some hype stickers!), a Made in Japan for Europe CD first pressing, a Made in Japan for the U.S. first CD pressing and the crown jewel and best sounding version I own a MFSL SACD/Hybrid CD that came out recently.

All of these versions of the album sound good but my most played are the vinyl (you can’t beat the warmth of the first pressing) and the excellent MFSL CD issue.

Somewhere I own a another early U.S. CD pressing in its original longbox but I can’t seem to locate it at the moment. If I do I’ll add it to a later post.

There will be more Billy Joel albums highlighted in future posts but I thought I’d start at the top with “The Nylon Curtain”.

Seeing how it’s the beginning of February I guess the Christmas tree will have to wait a few more months.

I may take a spin into the darkness anyway by putting this album on and letting the past flood over me.

Safe journeys until my next post and may you find light in your darkest nights  – TTFN!