On this day in 1966 — 55 years ago — Simon and Garfunkel’s album, "The Sound of Silence," was released by Columbia Records.
The song was written by Paul Simon over the period of several months between 1963–1964.
A studio audition led to the duo signing a record deal with Columbia Records, and the song was recorded in March, 1964 at Columbia Studios in New York City for inclusion on their debut studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M..
Released in October, 1964, the album was a commercial failure and led to the duo breaking apart, with Paul Simon returning to England and Art Garfunkel to his studies at Columbia University. In Spring, 1965, the song began to attract airplay at radio stations in Boston and throughout Florida.
The growing airplay led Tom Wilson, the song's producer, to remix the track, overdubbing electric instrumentation with the same musicians who backed Bob Dylan's, "Like a Rolling Stone." Simon & Garfunkel were not informed of the song's remix until after its release. The single was released in September, 1965.
The song’s #1 chart success led the duo to reunite and hastily record their second album, which Columbia titled, Sounds of Silence, in an attempt to capitalize on the song's success. The song was a Top 10 hit in multiple countries worldwide, among them Australia, Austria, West Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Generally considered a classic folk rock song, the song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically important" in 2013, along with the rest of the Sounds of Silence album.
Originally titled "The Sounds of Silence" on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. as well as on the single release and Sounds of Silence album, the song was retitled for later compilations beginning with Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.
Here, the duo perform the hit at Madison Square Garden, 2009