Art Garfunkel – Just the Voice of Simon & Garfunkel?
Simon & Garfunkel are often described in overly simplified terms: Paul Simon as the songwriter and Art Garfunkel as the voice of Simon & Garfunkel.
Paul Simon wrote the majority of their shared repertoire. Their musical collaboration, however, encompassed other areas as well.
As teenagers, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel already wrote “The Girl for Me” together. The song was registered under their names with the U.S. Copyright Office on May 28, 1956. The surviving copyright record lists Arthur Ira Garfunkel and Paul Fredric Simon as co-authors. The song was never officially released.
“The Girl for Me” therefore documents joint work on a song dating back to 1956. Paul Simon later recalled that he and Art Garfunkel arranged the registration together.
The complete documentation for “The Girl for Me,” including the surviving copyright record, can be found on the Tom & Jerry subpage.
In 1957, they wrote “Hey, Schoolgirl” together as Tom & Jerry. Art Garfunkel later recalled:
“We actually wrote our own song, ‘Hey, Schoolgirl.’”
Art Garfunkel’s contributions to the musical shaping of later recordings are also documented.
For “Scarborough Fair/Canticle,” Art Garfunkel wrote the counter-melody for the “Canticle” section. He later explained:
“I wrote the counter-melody that moved through the lines of the folk song ‘Scarborough Fair.’”
On “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Art Garfunkel suggested adding another verse to the song, which originally consisted of two verses. Paul Simon subsequently wrote it.
Paul Simon has also referred in conversations about their shared work to Art Garfunkel’s involvement in the musical shaping of their recordings.
These examples document different forms of collaboration between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. In addition to writing songs of their own, they included contributions to melody, musical arrangement, and the structure of individual recordings.
Art Garfunkel’s role in Simon & Garfunkel therefore encompassed, alongside his role as a singer, his own musical contributions, which are documented in various recordings and in statements by both artists.
