Today’s classic song of the day is a deep cut from one of the most popular albums of the 1970s. The song is “The Only Living Boy in New York,” from Simon & Garfunkel’s Grammy-winning 1970 album, Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Paul Simon wrote “The Only Living Boy in New York” after partner Art Garfunkel took an acting job in the movie Catch-22, which was filming in Mexico, leaving Paul alone in New York City. The movie shoot ran several months over schedule (a story in itself), which made Paul feel abandoned and, well, you can hear the rest for yourself. The first verse of the song describes the situation fairly clearly:
Tom, get your plane right on time
I know your part’ll go fine
Fly down to Mexico
And here I am, the only living boy in New York
The “Tom” in the first verse references the fact that Simon and Garfunkel originally called themselves Tom & Jerry (Artie was Tom; Paul was Jerry). They even had a minor hit under that name with 1957’s Everly Brothers-like “Hey Schoolgirl,” which rose all the way to #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. T&J officially broke up, the boys did some early solo stuff individually, then they reunited as Simon & Garfunkel in 1963. You know the rest of the story.
“The Only Living Boy in New York” is a very atmospheric track with an eerie vocal backing that feels longer than its 3:59 running time. Instrumental backing was provided by what was then S&G’s standard studio crew, the Golden Trio of Larry Knechtel on organ, Joe Osborn on bass, and Hal Blaine on drums. (Mr. Simon and and Fred Carter Jr. played acoustic guitars.) The instrumental tracks were recorded in November of 1969 at CBS Studios in Los Angeles and the vocals at Columbia Studios in New York City.
Simon and Garfunkel broke up shortly after the release of the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, both going on to have successful solo careers (Paul more than Artie). After their breakup, the duo would continue to reunite for a number of concerts and tours in the succeeding years. Their last major tour together was the “Old Friends” tour in 2003-2004, more than twenty years ago now.
