Simon & Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park
February. 21,1982 NRThe Concert in Central Park is a live album by Simon & Garfunkel. On September 19, 1981 the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park attended by more than 500,000 people. They released a live album from the concert the following March (Warner Brothers LP 2BSK 3654; CD 3654). It was arranged by Paul Simon and Dave Grusin, and produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Phil Ramone and Roy Halee. The concert was also shot on videotape, televised by HBO in 1982, and subsequently released on various home video formats. The VHS and DVD contain two songs that were omitted from the live album: "The Late Great Johnny Ace" and "Late in the Evening (Reprise)". "Johnny Ace" was disrupted by a fan rushing the stage who came very close to attacking Paul. This incident was both frightening and coincidental, as the song is an elegy upon the murder of John Lennon just one year earlier.
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Reviews
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
Great Film overall
Best movie of this year hands down!
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
This is outstanding concert featuring most of the famous singing duo's best songs, of which there were many. There is a good mix of fast and slow songs and so-so stereo. Too bad they couldn't have re-mixed this in 5.1surround for the DVD.Simon and Garfunkel are such pros. The two harmonize so well it's amazing and even though they were live, playing in front of a mammoth crowd, most of their songs sound like perfect studio takes. Yes, a couple might not sound as good as those original studio recordings but some - thanks to the great backup band here - sound even better than the originals! Most are equal....and ALL of them are winners. There are no "clunkers" in this group.The boys looked a bit smug, but when you can draw literally hundreds of thousands of fans to a concert, I guess it's hard to be humble. They were real superstars of their music era.
I have the VHS version, which I enjoy on regular occasions. I just purchased the DVD version, and (at the time) there was a new song played called The Late Great Johnny Ace. In fact, Paul Simon said so just before performing it. Now this seems to be missing from the DVD. And it doesn't seem to be hidden anywhere. Does anyone out in music land have any idea what happened to this? Anyway, this will go down in history as one of the best outdoor concerts ever performed, especially coming "10 years after" (does that name ring a bell?) the duo split up to pursue solo careers. S&G sound just as good here as they did when they first joined up. This is an absolute must-have for any serious baby-boomer music fan like me.
As one who attended this show, let me say that the video is a terrific testement to one of the best concerts I ever attended. Where else can 300,000 people gather for a musical event and there not be one incident, not one arrest and at the end, the fans clean it all up themselves. That's what happened on the late summer night in 1981. From Ed Koch's introduction to the soul stirring finale, this reunion concert is packed with hits from Simon & Garfunkle, as well as from Paul Simon's solo career.
This pleasant documentation of the 1981 reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is a must-see for die-hard fans, of course, but it's likely to please the more casual listener also. The duo's much-ballyhooed get-together shows that even though the partners may have been unequal in songwriting talent, there was still something special about them when they reunited to harmonize on their classics. Simon's post-Garfunkel compositions work well too, and a highlight is his "Slip-Slidin' Away," in which his soaring voice on the chorus wraps beautifully around Artie's. "Late in the Evening" is a standout also, showcasing the band of top-notch New York musicians assembled for the occasion, including Steve Gadd and Richard Tee.