Bookends

This article is about the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel album. For other uses, see Bookend (disambiguation).

Bookends
Studio album by Simon & Garfunkel
Released	April 3, 1968
Recorded	September 1966, January 1967, June 1967, October 1967 - February 1968
Genre	Folk rock, psychedelic folk
Length	29:51
Label	Columbia
Producer	Simon & Garfunkel Roy Halee
Simon & Garfunkel chronology
The Graduate (1968) Bookends (1968) Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)

Bookends is the fourth studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on April 3, 1968 by Columbia Records. It was produced by Paul Simon, Roy Halee and Art Garfunkel.

The songs of the first side of the album follow a unified concept, exploring a life journey from childhood to old age, while the second side contained unused songs intended for The Graduate soundtrack.

Bookends was a #1 hit on Billboard's (North America) Pop Albums chart, as well as in the UK. Four singles charted: "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "At the Zoo", "Fakin' It" and "Mrs Robinson," which peaked at #13, #16 and #23 and #1, respectively.

In 2003, the TV network VH1 named Bookends the 93rd greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 233 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Releases

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rolling Stone	(positive)
Allmusic
Blender (magazine)

• LP: Columbia KCL-2729 (mono)/KCS 9529 (stereo) - This was the last Simon and Garfunkel album to be released in both mono and stereo. The mono version was pressed in a limited quantity and is considered a rare item amongst record collectors. The mono release also has many sonic differences, most noticeably Paul Simon's trailing echo on "Fakin' It". The song has been released on the 1999 CD compilation The Best of Simon and Garfunkel.
• CD: Columbia CK 09529; Remastered CD: Columbia 66003. It was also released on the MFSL Ultradisc CD series.
• The album is also included in its entirety as part of the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970).

Songs

The first side of the album is musically and thematically unified: it begins (and ends) with the brief guitar piece "Bookends Theme", evoking a "time of innocence", which moves immediately to "Save the Life of My Child" with the sound of a distorted bass synthesizer in the same key, played by co-producer John Simon and set up by Bob Moog himself. The song features vocal asides and sound effects including synthesizer sounds, disjointed choral voices and a sample from their single "The Sound of Silence". This crossfades into "America", a tale of travelling young lovers that contrasts with the estrangement expressed next in "Overs". "Voices of Old People" is as it says, a collection of taped conversations leading into "Old Friends", an idyll of old age with powerful strings and horns, now stark, now sweet, that connect by a single held note to the final, vocal version of the "Bookends Theme". The whole side marks successive stages in life, the theme serving as literal bookends to the life cycle.

The second side features the single "Mrs. Robinson", famous for its inclusion in the film The Graduate and the accompanying soundtrack album. "Overs", "Punky's Dilemma", and "A Hazy Shade of Winter" were also written by Simon for The Graduate soundtrack, but the film's producers rejected them.^{[citation needed]} The song is driven by congas and overdubbed guitar figures. "Fakin' It" and "Punky's Dilemma" also make use of sound effects, percussion loops and an interlude in an English shop featuring the voice of singer Beverley Martyn in the former, background voices and someone stamping downstairs and slamming a door over the walking bass of the latter. "A Hazy Shade of Winter" has an electric rock sound, seguing suddenly into the intimacy of tinkling bells and quiet finger-picking for "At the Zoo".

The record's brevity reflects its concise and perfectionistic production. The team spent over 50 studio hours recording "Punky's Dilemma", for example, and re-recorded vocal parts, sometimes note by note, until they were satisfied. Simon's guitar parts are intricate, percussion is carefully invented and keyboards and electric bass introduced with economy and taste.

A 2001 CD reissue of the album includes two bonus tracks: "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" (originally issued as a B-side to the "Fakin' It" single) and a demo version of "Old Friends".

The "Bookends Theme" was featured during the opening scene of the film Girl, Interrupted, and "Bookends" in the denouement of the film (500) Days of Summer. The song was also included on the Stacey Kent album The Boy Next Door (2003).

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paul Simon, except where noted. 

Side One
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bookends Theme"	0:32
2.	"Save the Life of My Child"	2:49
3.	"America"	3:34
4.	"Overs"	2:14
5.	"Voices of Old People" (Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel)	2:36
6.	"Old Friends"	2:36
7.	"Bookends"	1:16

Side Two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fakin' It"	3:14
2.	"Punky's Dilemma"	2:10
3.	"Mrs. Robinson"	4:02
4.	"A Hazy Shade of Winter"	2:17
5.	"At the Zoo"	2:21

Bonus Tracks (2001 CD reissue)
No.	Title	Length
13.	"You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies"	2:19
14.	"Old Friends (Demo)"	2:11

Chart positions

Charts

Chart (1968)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	3
French Album Charts	3
German Album Charts	40
UK Albums Chart	1
US Album Charts	1

Personnel

• Paul Simon - Vocals, Guitar, Producer
• Art Garfunkel - Vocals, Producer
• Hal Blaine - Drums, Percussion
• Joe Osborn - Bass
• Larry Knechtel - Piano, Keyboards
• John Simon - Production Assistant
• Roy Halee - Producer, Engineer
• Jimmie Haskell - Arranger, Arrangement Preparation
• Bob Johnston - Production Assistant
• Richard Avedon - Cover Photography
• Robert Honablue - Engineer

References

Preceded by The Graduate (soundtrack) by Various artists	Billboard 200 number-one album May 25 - June 14, 1968 June 29 - July 26, 1968	Succeeded by The Beat of the Brass by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Preceded by Delilah by Tom Jones Delilah by Tom Jones	UK Albums Chart number-one album 17 August 1968 - 21 September 1968 28 September 1968 - 12 October 1968	Succeeded by Delilah by Tom Jones Hollies' Greatest by The Hollies