Simon & Garfunkel Live At Kraft Hall 1968

For the last several days I have been watching live performances of Simon & Garfunkel from back in the 60's. The one I am particularly fond of is the live at Kraft Music Hall from 1968:




There are several 10-20 minute performances of theirs from around the world on YouTube but I especially like this one because there is a beautiful reverb that paints each song here. And two of my all-time favorite S&G songs are here: For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her & Patterns.

My first listening experience with "For Emily..." was the version on the 1972 best of collection. It was a live version and I was somewhat annoyed with live versions of songs on hits packages where I expected familiar studio recordings. Not really knowing this song meant it wasn't too burdensome for me to listen to it, but there were other songs on this album that I did know and was disappointed to hear live versions taking the seat of the ones I knew.

Mind you I was much younger then--in junior high, high school even--so I did not care too much for unfamiliar slow songs. But over the years "For Emily..." has grown deeply on me and has become a must-have S&G song. It is this live version from 1969, however, that is the penultimate classic for me. The original album version plays like a completely different song with more instruments and effects. This live version is Garfunkel's solo vocal with Simon's 12-string acoustic guitar and it is absolutely splendid!

A few days ago I decided to see if there was a live version video of this song on YouTube since so many wonderful things are now available on there to watch. To my surprise I came across this Kraft Hall version and I fell in love all over again. While the sonic fidelity may not be pleasing to many, I found it to be perfectly uplifting with an aforementioned large-hall reverb effect that added so much to the song. The sound source is from a mono film camera so there's plenty of noise and a flat, unequalized response. But that is good enough for me. Perfect even. I would eschew hi-fidelity, multi-track stereo any day for beautiful sounds captured by a single microphone and some wonderful, natural reverb.

To add to this wonderful live version of "For Emily...", there are some subtle strings which poke through just before the third verse. Just makes the song even more beautiful.

Watching this video also led me to learn the guitar intro to it and realize that the guitar solo in the middle is not as terribly complicated as the live '69 version had me believe all these years.

Among the other black & white videos I found of theirs was another where "For Emily..." was performed. While it was another fantastic rendition, there was absolutely no reverb and I just gotta have my fix of reverb otherwise it sounds too close and intimate. The only benefit to the no-reverb version is that you can hear every nuance of Garfunkel's effortless voice vibrato.

I only wish that this S&G Kraft Hall performance were longer. Would love to hear a few other of my favorites done there, including "Blessed", "A Hazy Shade of Winter" and "Scarborough Fair."

But there is one more performance I really enjoyed from this set. "Patterns" became a favorite song of mine the first time I heard it way back in my cassette days. And to hear them sing it here over the studio backing track is nothing short of what I define as the pinnacle sound of 60's pop/rock music. Once again that natural reverb sounds gorgeous and even adds an element of eeriness combined with the largely dark lyrics. Sound quality not an issue for me. Yes, it's not what I consider to be ideal but in my opinion a little de-hissing would be sufficient. In fact, it's the lo-fi-ness of the recording that makes it sonically more appealing to me. In this era of overproduction and limitless sonic technological improvements, there is much to be said about the simplicity of basic recording techniques and analog equipment.

I recommend watching the entire 19-minute performance but if the desire is to only see the ones I've written about, here they are:




Beware of other versions out there. Some YouTube users take the video, remove the original audio and superimpose audio from another source, usually a cd. I'm not a fan of this. I say leave the original audio in place no matter how bad it may sound to your ears. Some of us enjoy lo-fi!

And here is one that I uploaded myself:

Songs for the Christmas Season 28

First up today is another great one from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles called "It's Christmas Time" from 1970.

We'll follow that one up with a very old recording. It's called "On a Christmas Day" by Lead Belly from 1942.

Songs for the Christmas Season 24

First up today is a not-so-jolly view of Christmas time. Perhaps a more realistic view but not a cheery song nonetheless. Still a good one that makes you think a bit. It's by Bobby Goldsboro and it's called "Look Around You It's Christmas."






Next is Burl Ives with "Christmas Child (Loo Loo Loo)." Perhaps not a well known holiday staple but it serves a very nice message and is a pleasant recording.

Songs for the Christmas Season 19

Today I'm featuring some newer and perhaps lesser known songs for the season. First is a comtemporary folk song by Maria Dunn called, "God Bless Us Everyone." It's a moving song and the lyrics merit close attention.





Next is a jazzy, tongue-in-cheek song by Michael Franks titled, "I Bought You a Plastic Star (For Your Aluminum Tree)."
Note: this is the best version I could find online. Unfortunately it doesn't sound all that great and is rather loud.

Songs for the Christmas Season 4

Not all Christmas/seasonal music has to be uptempo and exciting. Some of it is downright depressing and I don't like those at all. But there are some songs that are really mellow and reflective and I enjoy those very much. Here are two of my favorites.

First, we have Glen Campbell with "Christmas is for Children" from his very mellow X-mas album of 1968. The title may be misleading as at the end he concludes that "aren't we all children, Christmas Day."






Next is a not-so-Christmas song but definitely a favorite around this time of year. It's John Denver singing about the winter beauty, peace & smiling faces of "Aspenglow" from 1975.

The Folk Festival, WDCB 90.9 FM

I don't listen to much radio anymore. At least not with a physical, traditional AM/FM receiver. There are radio programs I listen to online that I used to tune in on a radio. They are much easier to record this way and sound better. I don't have to worry about a cassette not being long enough to record a longer show.

One of the programs that I still enjoy listening to is "The Folk Festival" found on WDCB 90.9 FM public radio from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn IL. The show is live on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm.

I've been listening to the show since the days George Brown used to host it. He passed away suddenly and then Lily Kuzma took over as host. The show is basically 2 hours of mostly Contemporary Folk/Americana music with occasional tinges of international folk and studio guests who give interviews and perform live versions of their songs.

I have not listened to the show for a while now due to the music selection being less interesting than in the past and the imbalance of talk vs. music when the guests come on. But I do have plenty of shows that I recorded over the years and will be providing links to those programs here on this blog.

I don't have much information on the shows other than the dates they were first broadcast. If you want to know the names of particular songs or artists you will probably find them mentioned at some point in the program.

Stayed tuned for links to the shows!