NOT TO BE SILENT
December 2, 2011 – 4:31 amIn their earliest recordings, Simon and Garfunkel offered a great debt to The Everly Brothers. Then they grew up.
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SIMON & GARFUNKEL
Tom And Jerry: Complete Recordings [Purple Chick PC 53/54, 2CD]
Out-of-print recordings by Simon and Garfunkel compiled by fan collective, Purple Chick, in 2008. Ex SBD stereo.
Before Simon and Garfunkel, the duo was known as Tom and Jerry. They released many singles that disappeared under a torrent of wannabe pop acts trying to be the next Everly Brothers. Then in 2000, a UK label, Burning Airlines, released Two Can Dream Alone, a single disc attempt to make some sense of Simon And Garfunkel’s earliest recordings. But due to misidentifying two tracks as Simon and Garfunkel recordings, that release was allowed to go out-of-print.
Then in 2002, a label that specialised in live albums released Tom & Jerry, an abridged version of the Burning Airlines CD less the two tracks that had nothing to do with Simon or Garfunkel. That album has also become out-of-print.
Simon & Garfunkel fans are not getting younger. October saw the release of yet another Paul Simon hits album. It doesn’t seem like the duo’s early recordings or their Tom & Jerry singles are ever going to get another release.
Thankfully, the Purple Chick collective have assembled a comprehensive two volume release of early works by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The songs are by no means essential but they do show the duo’s folk rock influences especially their attempts at mimicking The Everly Brothers.
Here’s a description by William Ruhlmann of the duo’s early recordings:
“The music bears little resemblance to Simon & Garfunkel’s folk-rock recordings of 1964-1970. Hey, Schoolgirl, originally released on Big Records, is in an Everly Brothers/Buddy Holly mold, and the duo’s unsuccessful follow-ups, Our Song and That’s My Story, are in that style, too, while Simon’s first solo single, True or False, released under the name True Taylor, finds him aping the hiccupping rockabilly sound of Holly and Elvis Presley.
“On songs like Shy and Just a Boy, released on either side of a Warwick Records single in 1960, Simon clearly was aspiring to be another Frankie Avalon. In keeping with the more gimmicky sound of the early ’60s, he moved on to up-tempo novelties like The Lone Teen Ranger, which actually made the charts in early 1963.
“The material on this album is likely to fascinate as well as flabbergast fans of Simon & Garfunkel’s later recordings. No small part of the fascination will be that Garfunkel wrote a lot of this material as well as singing it, since he dropped out of songwriting later on. It would be nice to have a complete collection of Simon & Garfunkel’s juvenilia sequenced in chronological order, but this partial selection may be the best to be expected, and the duo’s fans may enjoy hearing their youthful efforts, as long as they don’t buy it expecting work of the caliber of The Sound of Silence.”
Ruhlmann was reviewing Superior’s Tom & Jerry compilation. We reckon Purple Chick’s two disc set is far more comprehensive and the sonic quality certainly helps.
- The Little Chicken 
These tracks are no longer available for sharing.
Disc 1 (TT: 70:55m)
The Girl For Me (2.6MB)
Hey Schoolgirl (3.0MB)
Dancin’ Wild (3.1MB)
True Or False (2.9MB)
Teenage Fool (3.8MB)
Our Song (2.6MB)
Two Teenagers (3.2MB)
That’s My Story (3.3MB)
(Pretty Baby) Don’t Say Goodbye (2.7MB)
Baby Talk (2.8MB)
Lookin’ At You (2.6MB)
I’m Lonesome (2.7MB)
Anna Belle (2.7MB)
Loneliness (3.1MB)
Beat Love (2.8MB)
Dream Alone (3.1MB)
Just A Boy (2.9MB)
Shy (3.3MB)
I’d Like To Be (2.9MB)
Play Me A Sad Song (3.1MB)
It Means A Lot To Them (2.9MB)
Private World (3.9MB)
Please Forgive Me (3.5MB)
I’m Lonely (3.0MB)
I Wish I Weren’t In Love (2.7MB)
Surrender, Please Surrender (2.9MB)
Fightin’ Mad (2.8MB)
The Lone Teen Ranger (3.1MB)
Lisa (2.7MB)
Carlos Dominguez (3.8MB)
He Was My Brother (4.1MB)
Disc 2 (TT: 71.23m)
Just To Be With You (3.6MB)
Ask Me Why (2.6MB)
All Through The Night (3.4MB)
(I Begin) To Think Again Of You (3.2MB)
Let Me Steal Your Heart Away (3.0MB)
Motorcycle (2.8MB)
I Don’t Believe Them (3.5MB)
Express Train (3.0MB)
Wildflower (3.5MB)
Cry Little Boy Cry (3.5MB)
Get Up And Do The Wobble (3.3MB)
Cards Of Love (3.0MB)
Noise (2.7MB)
Tijuana Blues (3.3MB)
Simon Says (3.5MB)
Flame (3.1MB)
Beat Love (No Harmony) (2.9MB)
Dreams Can Come True (3.4MB)
Up And Down The Stairs (2.6MB)
Back Seat Driver (2.7MB)
Wow Cha Cha Cha (2.5MB)
A Charmed Life (5.6MB)
Sleepy, Sleepy Baby #1 (3.3MB)
Sleepy, Sleepy Baby #2 (3.3MB)
That Forever Kind Of Love (3.4MB)
Lighthouse Point #1 (4.0MB)
Lighthouse Point #2 (3.7MB)
Aeroplane Of Silver Steel (2.5MB)
Bingo (2.0MB)
Forever And After (3.4MB)
Every time Simon & Garfunkel release a compilation, it’s yet another greatest hits selection. But we’ve always been partial to their first Greatest Hits album released in 1972. You can still buy a copy here
17 Responses to “NOT TO BE SILENT”
Thanks for these recordings. Had only heard one or two songs (once each) on the radio before this. Funny how I was listening to early Everly Brothers studio/TV recordings yesterday.
By 3yrsnojob on Dec 2, 2011
These recordings have been on my “wish list” for decades. Thank you very much for providing them!
By Improper Bostonian on Dec 2, 2011
Hi guys - am i going nuts or did you not post this set on April 7 and 8 this year?
I have, in my BigO folder, the “Complete Tom and Jerry” with identical jpgs, same track listing, same Purple Chick Origins - but the file sizes then were larger, being 320kbps not 192.
Or has it previously been distributed - maybe in connection with a No BS contest?
By tony on Dec 2, 2011
when i was in 1st grade pauls mom was my first grade teacher. he would come into my class and sing to us each week. this was 1966-67. later on in 80-95 i was a celeb photographer on the streets of nyc and would often run into paul and ask him about his mom and how she was. of course being 6 yrs old i didnt fully appreciate what i had at the time. my elementary school has a site and i didnt know it existed til last year when another friend of mine who found me thru facebook last year also brought it to my attention. when i joined that site i found there were some discussions about mrs. simon there as well. some other memories of pauls visits were mentioned. its nice that ppl remember this from 44 yrs ago. its kinda cute that paul probably tried out some of his new songs on 6 yr olds. and thats only a couple of years after these recordings here were done. im figuring these here recordings were done 1957-63. i was almost 4 when the beatles arrived and i saw them live twice when i was 5 and 6. i do remember the screaming. now i have the tapes to enjoy. well i have had them since i started collecting 30 odd yrs ago. thank u for this. peace
By darth on Dec 3, 2011
Hello Tony
Thanks for your note. It’s likely you got it from some other source. Cheers.
By bigozine2 on Dec 3, 2011
Thanks for a listen.
And, darth, thanks for the memories. A really nice post.
Ace K.
By Ace K on Dec 7, 2011
The later Jerry Landis recordings were the transition from teen pop to folk and I can clearly hear Artie on a couple of tracks (”Bingo” “He Was My Brother”). The recording of “Brother” could well be the same as the one later issued on the first S&G Columbia album (”Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”) as it included the altered lyrics in the second verse “this town’s going to be your burying place.” Paul’s original (found on his solo “Songbook” album) had “Mississippi’s going to be your burying place,” a lyric found objectionable by the Columbia Music staff. I have never heard the original Jerry Landis single on Oriole (UK) and so I have no way of knowing for sure if the same recording of “He Was My Brother” appeared both places. Thanks for sharing these rare recordings!
By Christopher D on Dec 7, 2011
Hey Darth, I also had Mrs. Belle Simon in first grade then 2yrs later they switched her to third grade so I had her again! I don’t think Paul came in when I had her but she used to play their records to the class during rest periods. One time we were out on a trip walking around the neighborhood and she had us stop at her house. Some of us went in probably to use the bathroom. Walking down her long hallway there were a ton of gold records on both sides of the walls! Also look for the BBC doc from the mid 80’s when Paul drives around our old neighborhood pointing out his house and our old shchool yard! Great days!
By Mikey on Dec 8, 2011
Thanks for these. I’ve always wanted to hear these early songs.
By Charl on Dec 10, 2011
Great to finally be able to hear these. Thanks
By Matt on Jan 12, 2012
Wait, so Tom & Jerry never recorded “Black Slacks?” Did either of them even write it? I always assumed it was a Tom & Jerry song because S&G played it in a medley with “Hey Schoolgirl.”
By JohnnyLurg on Apr 13, 2012
JohnnyLurg, The Sparkletones formed in 1956 at Cowpens High School in Spartanburg when the group’s members were between the ages of 13 and 16.
At their first recording session they recorded the 12-bar blues “Black Slacks”, with Paul Anka (who had been recording in the studio earlier that day) as an uncredited background singer. Bandmembers Joe Bennett and Jimmy Denton co-wrote “Black Slacks”. Released as a single soon after, “Black Slacks” became a local hit and slowly built up national recognition as the group set out on a tour that criscrossed the U.S. several times over, also performing on The Nat King Cole Show, American Bandstand, and The Ed Sullivan Show. “Black Slacks” remained on the U.S. charts for over four months (a rarity at that time), peaking at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 late in 1957.
By 4yrsnojob on Apr 15, 2012
mikey - i saw that documentary but didnt realize it was a bbc one. i had it on vhs til july 02. and yes i remember him walking thru the side yard towards the playground area and stopping behind the school and talking to the camera or interviewer. at least 26 yrs ago that program was. wow. i watched it with my ex wife. look for the site for our old school and join up in order to communicate with others there. i havent been back to the site since i joined myself but several found me because of it and communicated with me once i joined up. thanks to facebook i found a small number of people that i hadnt talked to since 65 thru 72 and since.
By darth on Apr 15, 2012
los lobos is on austin city limits right now.
By darth on Nov 9, 2014
after los lobos which was only half a show and great by the way.. i dont know who the other half was.. sorry.. i didnt catch her name.. was the bluegrass underground show with davina and the vagabonds. only a half hour show but wow!!! i wasnt familiar with them and theyre not bluegrass at all but i highly recommend checking them out on youtube. they covered i’d rather go blind by etta james and st. james infirmary to close out the show. very dixieland jazzish and in some ways reminded me of old school bette midler but u would have to check them out to get it. also kinda reminded me of alabama shakes altho they werent blues. huge talent on that davina for sure.
By darth on Nov 9, 2014
i read your article its interesting if you want and jerry more videos visit it
By TOM AND JERRY NEW 2016 on Nov 3, 2016
why we watching tom and jerry cartoons why because its very loving cartoons
By Tom and jerry Cartoons on Nov 21, 2016