ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur Posted: March 11, 2011 04:42 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index 19 14 9 43Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyCD Of The Week: Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over TroubledWater" Read More: Art Garfunkel , Bridge Over Troubled Water , Graceland , Paul Simon , Pop Music , Roy Halee , Simon And Garfunkel , The Beatles , The White Stripes , Entertainment News MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 9/11 Responders Warned They Will Be Screened For Terrorism Ties (EXCLUSIVE) Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Trump Rip Each Other In Heated Political War Of Words PlayStation Network Could Be Down For Days FOLLOW USBIG NEWS: Celebrities | Britney Spears | LeAnn Rimes | Lindsay Lohan | Tribeca Film Festival | More...</p><p> PHOTOS: The Funniest People Not On TwitterMiranda Kerr & Orlando Bloom Step Out To 'The The Funniest Someecards For Easter 2011Weekly Roundup of eBay Vintage Clothing Finds News Web Like 276K April 24, 2011 | Log In | Sign Up Get Alerts SHARE THIS STORY Submit this story Get Entertainment Alerts Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES Like 20K Like 4K FRONT PAGEPOLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA TECH COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD FOOD LIVING IMPACT EDU LOCALSIMON AND GARFUNKEL -- BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (Sony Legacy) Yes, it seems like all the major record labels do anymore is package and repackage albums to get fans to buy them again.</p><p> But every once in a while they take extra care with an important album and it doesbecome an essential purchase for devotees and newcomers.</p><p> What Springsteen fan didn't want to get theDarkness boxed set? And what S&G fan won't want to check this out? The album of course is their crowning work.</p><p> What makes this modestly priced CD ( $15 on Amazon ) a really good buy, however, are the extras.</p><p> Along with the CD comes a DVD with more than two hours ofbonus material.</p><p> Songs Of America is a politically-charged hour-long special that aired on CBS right before the album came out.</p><p> And The Harmony Game is an exceptionally good making-of documentary.</p><p> Of course, it begins with the music and as Paul Simon reveals the song that came first was "The Boxer." A wealth of detail emerges in The Harmony Game.</p><p> Producer Roy Halee tells a great story about setting up a drum kit in the hallway right near the elevators to get the booming sound that distinguishes thattrack -- and practically giving a heart attack to a night watchman in the process.</p><p> The basic rhythm trackfor "Cecelia" -- hands thumping on blue jeans and an out of tune guitar -- was pulled out of a jam sessionArt and Paul had with friends on Blue Jay Way (the street made famous by George Harrison) when in LosAngeles during the summer of the Manson murders.</p><p> Many of the stories will be familiar to ardent fans.</p><p> But what producer and director Jennifer Lebeau captures so well -- by interweaving archival footage with new interviews -- is the chemistry between thetwo, their shared sense of humor and give and take.</p><p> Halee is handed his due as well, with both Art andPaul appreciating the ground-breaking work he did for them. (I love the image of Halee wanderingthrough a recording studio and clapping his hands until he finds the echo he's looking for and knowwhere he wants to place the drums and other instruments for a certain song.) Popeater: Brad and Angelina's Strict Nanny Requirements Shelterpop: Unplugging Appliances: Do I REALLY Have to Do This? What To Do About Smelly Feet Noam Chomsky Is the World Too Big to Fail? The Contours of Global Order AOL Real Estate: Prince William and Kate to Live in Royal Mansion TV Squad: Maria Menounos Relives Her Paparazzi 'Wardrobe Malfunction' on 'Lopez' (VIDEO) DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5 Sam Waterston Saving Easter Island’s Marine Ecosystems David O.</p><p> Russell FDR Said it All in 1936 -- Who Will Follow in His Steps Today? Like 1K Like 1K Like 1K Like 664 Like 3K Like 55 Like 52 Lindsay Lohan Is 'Angry' About Jail Sentence READ MORE Antoine Dodson Arrested READ MORE By staying tightly focused on the making of this album and going almost track by track over the recording, the movie neatly encapsulates their entire career.</p><p> Even a grace note at the end is nicelyhandled: instead of a voice-over saying their breakup wasn't permanent and detailing their subsequenttours and the like, the movie just flash forwards to the concert in Central Park.</p><p> This making-of truly isone of the best of its kind I've seen, especially for one simply offered as a bonus on a CD reissue.</p><p> Now gomake one for Joni Mitchell's Blue or Court & Spark.</p><p> Songs of America -- the TV special -- is more of a curio, but it's a fascinating one.</p><p> It begins with almost an apology by the sponsor explaining that Simon & Garfunkel speak for the kids and have earned theright to tell us what they think -- in other words, don't blame the sponsor for what they're about to say.The film was conceived and directed by Charles Grodin (yes, that Charles Grodin) with Simon andGarfunkel.</p><p> The sum total of his directing career up to that point was being fired from Candid Camerathree times in a six week period.</p><p> That's it.</p><p> And yet, he helmed the special and CBS let Simon & Garfunkel deliver not a concert film or entertainment special, but a quiet, thoughtful look at their America, extolling Cesar Chavez, mourning JFK and Bobby and MLK (footage of Bobby Kennedy's funeral train was accompanied by "Bridge Over Troubled Water," the first time the public would hear the tune), showing a plane sky-writing a peace symbol in the air (during the Vietnam War, of course), and on and on.</p><p> They sing a little and talk a little, but it's as much a tone poem about the state of the country as it is about them.</p><p> It's simply not conceivable that anything similar would happen on a major network today.</p><p> And it'salso not bad, in a wistful sort of way.</p><p> This sort of earnest fare can date quickly.</p><p> Yes, Songs Of America is a time capsule; quite a good one.</p><p> And then there's the music.</p><p> Plenty of stories are told about the title track: how Paul wrote it and knew right away it was special, how Art and Roy pushed him to write a third verse and make the song BIG, howaudiences reacted to it when they performed it in concert before the album was released and thus werehearing the tune for the first time and so on.</p><p> And yet I don't think anyone ever answered my burningquestion: who had the genius idea to take what was clearly a grand finale and put it at the beginning ofthe album? If ever there was a song that begged to be the final cut, surely it was this one.</p><p> It's funny.</p><p> In the back of my mind, I've never liked the vague, odd lyrics in that third verse ("Sail on,silver girl....").</p><p> Intellectually, it bothered me, but emotionally of course I went for it every single time.Placing the song at the beginning of the album somehow worked brilliantly.</p><p> But it did create the hugeproblem of deciding what song would follow it.</p><p> The choice was Paul's precursor to his work onGraceland . "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" is an existing tune he wrote English lyrics for; it's so other- worldly and quiet -- and yet with an insistent spirit -- that it eases you back down from the heights of "Bridge." And then they're off.</p><p> The romping "Cecelia" -- we learn from Paul -- blew the minds of soldiers in Vietnam with its reference to casual sex.</p><p> The smarts of "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright," the epic feel of"The Boxer," the sheer sonic beauty of "The Only Living Boy In New York," the joy of "Bye Bye Love" andthe gentle "Song For The Asking" come tumbling one after the other.</p><p> TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 10 Lindsay Lohan Back in the Slammer Beckhams In, Obamas Outat Royal Wedding Olsen's Wacky Fur Outfit MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2 HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3 HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2 More Celebrity News at People.com More Celebrity News at Popeater.comStefano Langone Reveals His Relationship Status READ MORE Royal Wedding Guest ListRevealed: Who's Going? 'Bed Intruder' Star Antoine Dodson Arrested Paul Reiser's New Show Yanked After Two Weeks Tyler Perry To Spike Lee: 'Go Straight To Hell' Mel Gibson Opens Up: 'I Could Easily Not Act Again Viral Star Antoine Dodson ARRESTED Like 5K Gwyneth Paltrow Is Right.</p><p> We're All Jealous. (Of Her and George W.</p><p> Bush.) Like 4K Lindsay Lohan Quickly Released From Jail After...</p><p> Antoine Dodson Arrested For Marijuana Possession 'The Hangover 2' Trailers: New TV Spots... 'The Office' Season Finale: Jim Carrey Joining...Very few bands can walk away at the peak of their game both creatively and commercially.</p><p> Obviously, the Beatles did it.</p><p> So did the Police and arguably The White Stripes (though their commercial success wasvery modest compared to the others).</p><p> And Simon and Garfunkel did it with Bridge Over Troubled Water.</p><p> Tell me, what's your favorite Simon and Garfunkel song? And can you name any other acts that chose to walk away from it all at their peak? CDS OF THE WEEK: CD #1 Ladysmith Black Mambazo -- Songs From A Zulu Farm CD#2 David Wax Museum -- Everything Is Saved CD#3 Adele -- 21 CD #4 The Low Anthem -- Smart Flesh CD #5 Ron Sexsmith -- Long Player Late Bloomer CD # 6 Simon and Garfunkel -- Bridge Over Troubled Water SOME BEST CDS OF THE YEAR/DECADE LISTS: THE BEST CDS OF 2010 THE BEST CDS OF THE 2000sTHE BEST CDS OF 2009 THE BEST CDS OF 2007 Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews .</p><p> NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of CDs or digital downloads by numerous labels to consider for review and feature coverage.</p><p> He typically does not guarantee any coverage in exchange for these CDs and indeed receives far more albums than he ever comes close to covering in his variousoutlets.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz More in Entertainment...</p><p> Sponsored Links Mom Is 55, Looks 30...</p><p> Her clever $5 wrinkle therapy angers Botox Doctors.</p><p> Find Out How! 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