Born: October 13, 1941
City and Country of Origin: Newark, New Jersey
Music Training:
Awards: 1975 Grammy for Album of the Year, "Still Crazy After All These Years;"1986 Grammy for Album of the Year, "Graceland"
Top Recordings: "Sounds Of Silence," "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Mrs. Robinson," "Kodachrome," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." "Slip Slidin' Away"
Paul Simon Biography: Paul Simon is considered to be one of the foremost American songwriters of the century. His family moved to Forest Hills, Queens shortly after his birth. It was there that he met elementary school classmate Art Garfunkel who lived three blocks away. The two of them shared a keen interest in rock'n roll music and began even at that early stage of their lives to prepare for a professional singing career. Together working as Tom and Jerry they hit the charts for the first time with "Hey School Girl." It would be the only offering under that name that would make the charts. While attending Queens College as an English major he worked at the Brill building in Manhattan as a songwriter with the likes of Carol King, her husband Jerry Goffin and Neil Diamond. It was during this time that Simon came under the influence of the Greenwich Village folk explosion. Influenced by the work of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez he penned "Leaves That Are Green" and the "Sounds Of Silence." He showed them to Art Garfunkel who thought they were absolutely gold. At this time Simon was also making the rounds of record companies in New York peddling songs for the music publisher E.B. Marks. During a meeting at Columbia Records he made it known to one of the staff producers Tom Wilson that he was also a songwriter and had his own group. Wilson arranged a studio audition. Wilson quickly signed the duo to a recording contract. They released their first album Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. which seemed to be a flop. Simon who spent a lot of time in England was picked up by CBS (UK) as a solo artist and recorded the Paul Simon Songbook which was released only in the UK during the spring of '65. Tom Wilson recognizing the folk rock trend took the acoustic track "Sounds Of Silence" and overdubbed electric guitar, bass, and drums, and released it as a single. The reult was a number 1 hit and Simon and Garfunkel were established. Simon wrote the song "Mrs. Robinson" for the movie The Graduate which featured a number of the duos songs. In 1970 the two split and in 1972 Simon recorded the self titled album Paul Simon which included the song "Mother and Child Reunion." There Goes Rhymin' Simon his next album which also sold a million copies contained the hits "Kodachrome" and "Loves Me Like a Rock." In October of 1975 he released Still Crazy After All These Years which won the Grammy for Album of the Year and contained the hit single "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." He did reunite with Art Garfunkel briefly to record "What a Wonderful World" which also featured James Taylor. The album Graceland, released in August, 1986, featuring a blend of South African rhythyms won him another Grammy for Album of the Year. In August of 1991 he joined with Art Garfunkel to give a free concert in New York's Central Park. In 2004 Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a world tour.

Music by the Decade:

Sounds of the Fifties

Sounds of the Sixties

Sounds of the Seventies

Sounds of the Eighties

Sounds of the Nineties