Monday, September 19, 2005

"Old Friends" reunite in the park...

Although they had teased us by briefly reuniting at recording sessions and for benefits, it was on this date in 1981 that Simon & Garfunkel would give us the ultimate concert reunion in Central Park...

Paul Simon tells us what it felt like to reunite with partner Art Garfunkel in front of 500,000 fellow New Yorkers, "It was numbing. It was so big and it was happening only once. We did what we'd done when we were an act in the 60s. I talked a bit too but found it impossible to hold a dialogue with half a million people." Asked what he thought about the LP of the concert, he added, "I don't particularly like it. I don't think that Simon and Garfunkel as a live act compares to Simon and Garfunkel as a studio act". Millions of Simon & Garfunkel would disagree. Simon & Garfunkel would perform 19 songs in their reunion concert, including an outstanding medley that contained "Kodachrome" and Chuck Berry's "Maybelline"...

"Old friends, old friends, sat on their parkbench like bookends". On September 19, 1981 that parkbench held 500,002 old friends...

More September 19 Memories...

1958) Elvis Presley left the Brooklyn Navy yard for Germany and his army unit...

1968) Steppenwolf picks up a gold record for "Born To Be Wild"...

1970) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" premieres on CBS-TV...

1973) Gram Parsons of the Byrds dies of a drug overdose...

1974) Bad Company's debut album (self titled) goes gold...

1975) Eric Clapton gets a gold record for "I Shot The Sheriff"...

1978) Linda Ronstadt releases "Living In The U.S.A."...

1981) Simon & Garfunkel reunite in Central Park (feature story)...

1982) "Hill Street Blues", "Barney Miller", Alan Alda and Carol Kane are big winners at 34th Emmy Awards Show...

1993) "Seinfeld", "Picket Fences" and Ted Danson win at the 45th Emmy Awards Show...

2002) President George W. Bush asks Congress for authority to use all means, including military force if necessary to overthrow Saddam Hussein...

2002) Kansas City first base coach Tom Gamboa is attacked during a game by two fans (father & son) at Comiskey Park in Chicago...

2003) AOL Time Warner decides to drop "AOL" from its name, becoming Time Warner Inc...

Happy Birthday to...

1921) Billy Ward (Billy Ward & The Dominoes)...

1926) The "Dook of Flatbush" Duke Snider...

1928) Adam ("Batman") West...

1940) Righteous Brother Bill Medley...

1945) Freda Payne...

1964) Trisha Yearwood...

1974) Jimmy Fallon...

Happy Trails to...

Donn Clendenon, the most valuable player in the Mets 1969 World Series victory. First baseman Clendenon hit 3 home runs and had 4 RBIs in the Mets 5-game victory over the Orioles to capture their first world title. He hit .274 with 159 home runs and 682 RBIs in 12 seasons with Pittsburgh, Montreal and St. Louis before being traded to the Mets midseason of 1969...

After retiring from baseball in 1972, Clendenon earned a law degree in 1987. Tom Seaver called Clendenon "a complete professional" and credited Clendenon with giving him the confidence to come back following a poor pitching performance in game 1 of the 1969 World Series. Donn Clendon was 70...

Commentary...

I was lucky enough to see, make that hear, the 1981 Simon & Garfunkel Reunion Concert in Central Park. I made sure I arrived early enough to get a close view of this historic show, arriving an hour before the concert started. An hour before wasn't early enough. It was a beautiful day and people had streamed into the park hours before the show putting me near Cleopatra's Needle, light-years away from the stage set up in the meadowlands. I would get my revenge however when Simon & Garfunkel performed at one of the CBS Records sales conventions some years later...