1994
On Valentine's Day, Art Garfunkel performed before a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall in New York City. James Taylor joined Art for a duet on "Crying In The Rain." Jimmy Webb played piano on "Skywriter." Art continued to perform in concert for the better part of 1994. Touring throughout the United States, including; New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Colorado, California, and Canada.
Art Garfunkel and Julio Iglesias performed an exquisite partial harmony duet on the Everly Brothers tune "Let It Be Me." This song was released on Iglesias' top-selling album, CRAZY.
Art Garfunkel appeared on the "Regis and Kathie Lee" program singing, "Crying In The Rain." Art also appeared on NBC's "Today Show" singing "Skywriter," Jimmy Webb accompanied on piano. In March, he made his first appearance at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. He closed the set with a stunning rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
Art Garfunkel was interviewed by long-time New York rock 'n' roll DJ Pete Fornatel for an hour on K-ROCK radio.
On March 3rd, Hollywood hosted a special celebrating the career of actor Jack Nicholson. Art Garfunkel was a guest and spoke briefly about his experiences with Jack shooting CARNAL KNOWLEDGE. They have remained close friends to this day. In fact, it was Jack who gave Art the nickname, "the G." In what turned out to be a comic bit, Jack Nicholson asked Art and actor Harry Dean Stanton to sing a duet on the old Everly Brothers' hit "All I Have To Do Is Dream." Needless to say, Mr. Stanton could not hold a tune - the audience ate it up. Also on March 3rd, NEWSDAY published an article entitled, "Garfunkel: Memories and Melodies - Old Artworks and Art Nouveau" by Steve Parks. Here are some excerpts:
"I've finally had to give up being a control freak," says Art Garfunkel, whose need for orderliness led to a master's degree in architecture from Columbia University. He's had to adjust to a little chaos in his life. "My days of neatness and order are gone," Garfunkel says. "I've become undone by the force of my son. Fortunately, James hasn't gotten into my music collection yet."
While his Westbury Music Fair concert Saturday is billed as "solo", Garfunkel still shares the spotlight. At 52, he's only lately become a family man. On his current tour he's joined on stage by his wife, singer Kim Cermak, and, at times, by their 3-year old son (he likes to sing "Feelin' Groovy") - along with assorted musician friends.
Paul Simon is prominently represented in song, in tribute and in pointed jest. Take Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" solo, for instance. During his recent homecoming concert at Carnegie Hall, the singer explained why he'd previously eschewed this Simon & Garfunkel oldie. "It has my former partner's sensibility about it," Garfunkel said. "But recently I've changed my mind." Maybe it only seemed as though he underscored some of the lyrics as he sang, "Tonight I sing his songs again...but now his words come back to me with shades of mediocrity." The audience ate it up.
"When I see the audience going for it, I just play along," Garfunkel said innocently, tugging on the brim of his navy-blue baseball cap. "I rode the moment." Tufts of gray-blond curls billow out from under the cap, framing his tanned laugh lines as if in silent testimony to a closely guarded clownish side. "You'll notice," he added, "that I also called Paul one of America's great songwriters."
Garfunkel's earliest musical memories are listening to Caruso sing from "The Pearl Fishers" on his parents' Victrola. "I was five years old," he said, "and already I knew that I loved melody and the drama of high notes." Soon he was singing in Hebrew at the Kew Gardens Jewish Center on Main Street. "That's where I discovered the power of the minor key," he said. "I could really make them cry in the aisles. I guess there's a bit of the Yiddish cry still to my singing - a purple edge, the goose bumps after the rain has stopped." The Jewish Center is also where he learned to enunciate each syllable and economize each breath. "In synagogue, they never told you what you're singing," Garfunkel recalled. "I memorized it by the syllable and figured out where to grab gasps of air when nobody's looking. Crescendo takes a lot of breath."
By sixth grade his peer reputation as a singer was established. "Girls, especially, were aware of me as a singer," he said. "That's why Paul wanted to hook up with me at first, I think - to impress the pretty girls."
"We did two-part harmonies, like my parents used to sing," Garfunkel said, "and practiced at home. Any room with tiles was good. We liked reverberation. From there, it was a direct line to the Everly Brothers," whom they imitated, "and to Simon and Garfunkel." By junior high, Art and Paul were using two primitive tape recorders to "stack up harmonies." Then, it was just a subway ride to Manhattan for $10-an-hour studio sessions and, eventually, a single. "Hey, Schoolgirl" sold 150,000 copies in 1957 when Art and Paul (then known as Tom and Jerry) were still in high school. "That was big stuff. A record contract, red blazers, guest shots on 'American Bandstand'."
Besides doing the very occasional movie ("I'd do another if they'd send me a wonderful script"), Garfunkel has also published "Still Water," a collection of prose poems. "It's not the same as writing lyrics," he said when asked if he'd tried putting his poetry to music. "I've noodled around a bit, but I don't think of poems as songs. Only certain phrases marry to a tune."
Garfunkel's current concert tour features songs from UP 'TIL NOW, his most recent solo album, and from the Simon & Garfunkel repertoire. UP 'TIL NOW is a mixed bag of new songs - "Crying in the Rain," a duet with James Taylor; "Just Over the Brooklyn Bridge," the Marvin Hamlisch theme from the recent TV series, and Jimmy Webb's "Skywriter," - and old ones, including Webb's "All I Know" and the original acoustic Simon & Garfunkel track of "Sounds of Silence."
Webb, who wrote "Skywriter" specifically for Garfunkel, is a friend and tennis partner. Have they ever considered a Garfunkel and Webb duo? "Jimmy's brilliant and inventive," Garfunkel said. "We've talked about doing a duet. Maybe it'll happen one day. The only trouble is, we have exactly the same range."
"For me, the voice is my instrument. My center is music. If anything, I am a singer."
On November 15th, Art Garfunkel appeared on the television show "Frasier." He guest starred as a character named Chester in an episode entitled "Adventures in Paradise".
Art performed a show in Osaka, Japan on November 23rd and two shows in Tokyo, Japan on November 25th and 26th.
December 9th, Art Garfunkel performed at the NAS tribute to his friends Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. Other performers included Jackson Brown and Ricki Lee Jones.
By the end of the year, Art reached the Idaho/Washington boarder on his "Walk."
1995
During 1995, Art Garfunkel made three appearances on the "Charles Grodin Show." On Grodin's first show (January 9, 1995) Art was the only in-studio guest. Martin Short also made a guest appearance via satellite. On March 14, 1995 Art and his wife, Kim Cermak were the only guests. Son James made a brief appearance at the end of the show. Art performed two songs, "My Romance" and "Two Sleepy People." Kim joined Art for a duet on "The Water is Wide." David Biglin accompanied on the synthesizer. On August 28th, Art made his third guest appearance on the "Charles Grodin Show." Art discussed his movie BAD TIMING and the S&G television special, SONGS OF AMERICA, and performed "I Only Have Eyes For You."
In April, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Alan Parsons organizes a special concert in Arnheim, Netherlands, starring Walter Cronkite, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper and Art Garfunkel -- who sings "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the conclusion of the event. He is tapped to perform at the 150th anniversary of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, in a special concert with several international stars.
In October, Art Garfunkel toured Italy and performed in concert in Verona, Turin, Milan, Rome, Catania, Bari, Naples and Foligno as well as one show in Brussels, Belgium.
1996
In May, Art Garfunkel attended the Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France. Art was also featured on "Inside Edition," an entertainment television program. Art was promoting the upcoming Disney broadcast as well as the live CD (see below).
In October, the Disney Channel aired a one-hour special entitled ART GARFUNKEL: ACROSS AMERICA. This show was a well produced recording of Art's April concerts from the Registry Hall at Ellis Island. The show included 13 live songs and one studio version of "Goodnight, My Love" (during the closing credits). The video included some beautiful shots of America as well as Art conversing with an off-camera interviewer interspersed between songs.
In December, Art Garfunkel released his ninth album ACROSS AMERICA (acheiving "Gold" record sales in Germany as well as the UK #35). This is a live album from his two night concert at the Registry Hall on Ellis Island (New York Harbor), recorded April 12th and 13th. The CD was released in the U.K. by Hybrid Records (joint partnership with Sire Records Group). The
album was produced by Art and Stuart Breed and features 17 tracks including many Simon & Garfunkel classics, as well as some of Art's hits, including, "I Only Have Eyes for You," "All I Know," "A Heart in New York," "Bright Eyes," "I Will," "Grateful," and a studio version of "Goodnight, My Love." Although James Taylor did not appear in concert, he performed a live duet with Art on Ellis Island during the afternoon of April 12th (this recording of "Crying in the Rain" appears on both the Disney special as well as the CD).
Art did an interview in the Fall of 1996 in which he talks about the history of many of the Across America songs. It contains some very insightful material for both the Art Garfunkel as well as S&G fan.
Art completed his walk across America in August, having covered more than 4,000 miles over a 12-year period.