October 22, 2008

The Concert in Central Park


For those who view this blog while at work, and your employer has opted to block YouTube, I apologize for my heavy use of it (particularly within this post).

On September 19, 1981, Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a free concert in New York's Central Park. More than 500,000 people were in attendance. A live album from the concert was released the following March. The video of the concert contains two songs that were left off of the live album: "The Late Great Johnny Ace" and "Late in the Evening (Reprise)." "The Late Great Johnny Ace" was interrupted by a fan rushing the stage. Both of these songs appear in the DVD release. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is not listed in the track listing but appears between "A Heart in New York" and "Kodachrome/Maybellene."

1. "Mrs. Robinson"


2. "Homeward Bound"


3. "America"


4. "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"


5. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle"


6. "April Come She Will"


7. "Wake Up Little Susie"


8. "Still Crazy After All These Years"


9. "American Tune"


10. "Late in the Evening"


11. "Slip Slidin' Away"


12. "A Heart in New York"/"The Late Great Johnny Ace"


13. "Kodachrome/Maybellene"


14. "Bridge Over Troubled Water"


15. "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"


16. "The Boxer"


17. "Old Friends"


18. "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"


19. "The Sounds of Silence"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

S&G's Greatest Hits was the first CD I purchased in 1990 when I bought my first CD player. Maybe an odd for a college student, maybe, but their music took me back to a warm happy time as a kid. The Graduate is one of my favorite old movies.

I have a crystal clear memory of being about 7 or 8 and riding in the back of my friend's mom's giant 2-door 70's Buick (no seat belt, of course) listening to the Sounds of Silence on the radio. No clue why the words would have made such an impression on a young kid like me, but they did.

Thanks for finding/posting these great videos. I haven't seen any of their Central Park concert until now.

Leigh said...

For me the memory is of "Homeward Bound," released when I was about ten years old. I can still remember where we were on a street in the old neighborhood when I first heard it.

You know you're getting old when the landmark reunions you looked forward to happened more than twenty-five years ago.

Chris said...

The greatest hits album was one of my first CDs, as well. Someone gave it to me as a Christmas gift around '88. There music is timeless, so it couldn't be odd! I'm glad you enjoyed seeing some of the Central Park concert.

How about, you know you're getting old when you start terms like "landmark reunion," leigh? ;)

Leigh said...

Don't ask. I'll never get over losing John Lennon to that lunatic's bullet before the Beatles could reunite/reconcile for one last tune.

But getting old is okay by me. As Mark Twain memorably remarked, "Consider the alternative . . ."