The Song Paul Simon Wrote That Art Garfunkel Initially Didn't Want to Sing.

Music history is full of fantastic duos, but it's a fair bet that if quizzed, many people would name Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel as one of the finest musical partnerships of all time. Both men grew up in Queens, New York, attended the same schools, and were fascinated by the world of popular music. They went on to make a huge impact on the genre, both together and solo. But it turns out that their most successful song as a duo, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” was initially nearly turned down by its lead vocalist.The rise of Simon & GarfunkelPaul Simon and Art Garfunkel | Screen Archives/GettyImagesSimon and Garfunkel’s first performance together occurred during a sixth-grade adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. By the time they were 15, the pair had written and sold their first record, “Hey, Schoolgirl,” and had signed their first professional contract with Big Records.From 1957, Simon & Garfunkel continued their education whilst recording together as Tom & Jerry, writing songs, and releasing solo records. After Simon graduated from Queens College and while Garfunkel was studying at Columbia, the duo reconvened and rebranded as Kane & Garr to sing and play in Greenwich Village. Spotted by Columbia Records A&R man, Tom Wilson, they were soon snapped up by that label and released a debut studio album under their own names called Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. in October 1964. Three more well-received LPs followed over the next four years: Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and Bookends, firmly establishing the two men as among the most successful stars of their time.Although Simon & Garfunkel's final studio album, 1970’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, received mixed reviews on its initial release, it has since become widely recognized as one of the best folk-rock works of that decade. Several songs from the album have gone on to become deeply beloved, including “Cecilia,” “Bye Bye Love,” and their sublime version of the Peruvian classic, “El Cóndor Pasa.” Perhaps the most surprising fact about this record is that the title track, which shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, came close to sounding very different from the version we all know today.Why Art Garfunkel nearly turned down “Bridge Over Troubled Water”Paul Simon wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in 1969, taking inspiration from the great gospel group the Swan Silvertones’ number “Oh Mary Don't You Weep.” As Simon later recalled: “Every time I came home, I put that record on, so it was in my mind. I started to go to gospel chord changes and took the melody further." It's Garfunkel who laid down the distinctive lead vocal on the track, but, according to Simon, when he first played his partner the demo, “…he didn’t want to sing it. He couldn’t hear it for himself. He felt I should have done it. And many times, I’m sorry I didn’t do it.”Decades later, Garfunkel told an interviewer that, as far as he remembers, his initial reticence was only an act of generosity—he felt that the song was so good that Simon deserved a chance at spearheading it. Whichever version comes closest to the truth, it's fascinating to note that there was a chance that this now-classic number might not have featured Garfunkel's voice singing lead at all.