IT IS Saturday April 24, 2010, a warm muggy day in New Orleans. After days of monsoon like rain the sun has finally broken through and Simon and Garfunkel, whose on-off relationship has been one of pop’s great soap operas over the past 50 years, are about to take to the stage.
Things, however, are far from sunny backstage. Despite assurances from Garfunkel to his old friend and partner that the vocal cord problems he has been suffering from the last couple of months would be sorted out by the time the date came around, it was clear at a soundcheck that morning things were still far from right. They struggled through the performance somehow, but Paul Simon, the eternal perfectionist, was mortified and the US tour that was to follow the New Orleans concert was immediately cancelled. Apart from a brief appearance two months later, it was the last time they would perform together in public.
Now 80, and still touring when lockdowns allow, Garfunkel’s relationship with Paul has played a huge part in his life.
Art was born in November 1941 and grew up in the New York borough of Queens, the middle of three boys, and the son of Rose and Jacob, a travelling salesman. It was a comfortable, middleclass area and Art and his brothers, Jules and Jerome, would play football in the street when they weren’t swapping baseball cards, playing chess or attending Hebrew school to learn about their Jewish faith.
From when he was just five, Art’s parents
