Make no mistake about two things:
One, Simon & Garfunkel were back together, but back together for nothing more than a song and a cup of coffee. And two, the song that brought them together for their first Top 40 hit in over five years was hardly that of admiration, especially the picture that Paul Simon painted.
The song that did the trick was "My Little Town," which made its Top 40 debut at No. 30 as the second-highest debuting song on November 1, 1975, only KC & The Sunshine Band's "That's The Way (I Like It)" debuting higher at No. 28.
Simon & Garfunkel scored 13 Top 40 hits between 1965-70, their first being the chart-topper, "The Sounds Of Silence," and their last being "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" in the fall of 1970. After their breakup, the duo waited a bit before getting into their next musical project with Art Garfunkel going into an acting career.
Paul Simon would break the ice with his self-titled album that featured the Top 5 "Mother & Child Reunion" and "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard." A year later, he recorded the album, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" that featured a pair of No. 2 hits, "Kodachrome" and "Loves Me Like A Rock."
In 1973, Garfunkel finally released his first solo album, "Angel Clare," the highlight being Jimmy Webb's gorgeous ballad and Top 10 hit, "All I Know."
Both men had their careers going forward in solo mode. But as Simon was writing material for his newest album in 1975, "Still Crazy After All These Years," he was thinking about his former partner, the man who helped make a name for him. And the song he was writing was, let's say, outside the box.
"My Little Town" was far from an ode to the town the narrator grew up in. For as brilliant as Simon's writing is in it, it's the picture he's painting of a drab, dreary town that never changes for the better that has his audience standing at attention, talking about how after a rain, there's a rainbow, but it's a familiar rainbow that has black in it as he sings, "It's not that the colors are there. It's just imagination, they lack. Everything's the same back in my little town."
This beautifully crafted composition was far from a positive ode to the town Simon writes about (and for the record, he said he never wrote this song about his own hometown of Forest Hills, N.Y.). And after the syrupy, sweet ballads Garfunkel sang about, Simon figured his old partner could use a change.
When he contacted his partner, Simon played him the song. Garfunkel was on board.
They recorded the song for two albums -- Simon's "Crazy" and Garfunkel's "Breakaway." And to promote the song, the pair made their triumphant return on a fledgling show that Simon was the host of in its second-ever episode.
That show as "Saturday Night Live." They did this song as well as "The Boxer" and "Scarborough Affair" and the buzz after the show was such that the song, which was at No. 81 on October 18, 1975, on the Billboard Hot 100, jumped up 34 notches to No. 47 the next week before leaping into the Top 40 on November 1 at No. 30.
The production of the song -- produced by Simon, Garfunkel and Phil Ramone -- features the haunting low piano keys pressed by Barry Beckett, the quiet bass line played by David Hood and a memorable percussion by Ralph MacDonald. Even more unique are the vocals -- in one of the rare moments in their history together, neither man took on lead vocals. From start to finish, they are singing in two-piece harmony, making "My Little Town" one of the duo's most unique songs ever.
The tune is done in relative quiet with McDonald's percussion and those low notes continually being pressed by Beckett on the piano highlighting the mood. By the time the song reaches the chorus, it's pace and tempo increases and the horns become a major part of the song, especially in the fadeout.
"My Little Town," the song with amazing allusion thanks to Paul Simon's pen, peaked at No. 9 in December. But it wasn't going to be the last time Simon and Garfunkel would be together on the chart. In 1978, Garfunkel asked Simon and good buddy James Taylor to come in and collaborate on "Wonderful World," a slowed-down, acoustic-sounding Top 20 remake of the Sam Cooke 1960 classic.
And, of course, Simon and Garfunkel continue to tour from time to time, starting with 1981's triumphant concert in Central Park. Simon continued to have an amazing solo career, highlighted by his 1986 Grammy-winning Album of the Year "Graceland." In 1995, the duo was finally elected into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.
They will still do this little song called "My Little Town." And though Simon didn't necessarily write the song about his hometown, he painted a picture of a lot of hometowns that the listener didn't like living in.
As for the top of the Top 40 that week, Elton John's "Island Girl" finished out an amazing run to No. 1 -- from the No. 36 debut on October 18, to No. 8 the very next week and then to No. 1 in its third week, the fastest-climbing No. 1 hit in John's career.
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