LIVE FROM NEW YORK CITY 1967

Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals). Producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee, Bob Irwin. Recorded at Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, New York on January 22, 1967. Includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is a limited edition packaged in a deluxe rainbow-foil digipak. Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals). Producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee, Bob Irwin. Recorded at Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, New York on January 22, 1967. Includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Though this live recording captures a high-profile Simon & Garfunkel concert on the band's home turf at what was arguably the height of their celebrity, it was not made available to the public until 35 years later. Decades down the road, it provides us with a snapshot of an important moment in American cultural history. Flower power was in full bloom, as was the "folk boom," the first flush of the singer-songwriter movement, and these two unassuming lads from Queens were at the vanguard. As they sing without a backing band, using only Paul Simon's skilled acoustic guitar work for accompaniment, the angelic purity of their voices nicely contrasts the world-wise, highly sophisticated lyrics of Simon's compositions. While there are a couple of non-LP tunes tackled here ("You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies," "A Church is Burning"), the real revelation comes with some of the more familiar songs. We're used to hearing such hits as "A Hazy Shade of Winter" and "I Am a Rock" all dolled up in full-band folk-rock regalia, but these acoustic versions show that the rhythmic inventions Simon utilized to make up for the lack of a band were ahead of their time, prefiguring the style subsequent folkies would employ years down the road. As attended to by Abe Velez, the whole package comes together nicely, with effective graphics and informative, Anthony DeCurtis-penned notes completing a highly evocative experience.