Tom and Jerry
1957….Tom & Jerry. Art Garfunkle & Paul Simon.
1957 publicity photo of Simon & Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry While still aged 15, Simon & Garfunkel now had a recording contract with Sid Prosen’s independent label Big Records. Using the name Tom & Jerry; Garfunkel naming himself Tom Graph, a reference to his interest in mathematics; and Simon naming himself Jerry Landis, after the surname of Sue Landis, a girl he had dated, the single “Hey Schoolgirl” was released, with the B-side “Dancin’ Wild”, in 1957. Prosen, using the payola system, bribed Alan Freed $200 to get the single played on his radio show, where it became a nightly staple. “Hey Schoolgirl” attracted regular rotation on nationwide AM pop stations, leading it to sell over 100,000 copies and to land on Billboard ‘s charts at number 49. Prosen promoted the group heavily, getting them a spot on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand (headlining alongside Jerry Lee Lewis).The duo shared approximately $4,000 from the song – earning two percent each from royalties, the rest staying with Prosen.[20] They released three more singles on Big Records: “Our Song”, “That’s My Story”, and “Don’t Say Goodbye”, none of them successful.
After graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1959, they were still exploring the possibilities of a music career, though continued their education as a back up; Simon studying English at Queens College, City University of New York, Garfunkel studying first architecture, then switching to art history at Columbia College, Columbia University. While still with Big Records as a duo, Simon released a solo single, “True or False”, under the name “True Taylor”. This recording upset Garfunkel, who regarded it as a betrayal; the emotional tension from that incident occasionally surfacing throughout their relationship. Their last recording with Big Records was a cover of a Jan and Dean single, “Baby Talk”, but the company became bankrupt soon after release; the track was reissued on Bell Records, but failed to sell, so Tom & Jerry was dissolved. Both, however, continued recording, albeit as solo artists: Garfunkel composing and recording “Private World” for Octavia Records, and – under the name Artie Garr – “Beat Love” for Warwick; Simon recorded with The Mystics, and Tico & The Triumphs, and wrote and recorded under the names Jerry Landis and Paul Kane. Simon also wrote and performed demos for other artists, working for a while with Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
After graduating in 1963, Simon joined Garfunkel, who was still at Columbia, to perform together again as a duo, this time with a shared interest in folk music. Simon enrolled part-time in Brooklyn Law School, By late 1963, billing themselves as “Kane & Garr”, they performed at Gerde’s Folk City, a Greenwich club that hosted Monday night open mic performances. The duo performed three new songs — “Sparrow”, “He Was My Brother”, and “The Sound of Silence” — and got the attention of Columbia producer Tom Wilson, who worked with Bob Dylan. As a “star producer” for the label, he wanted to record “He Was My Brother” with a new British act named the Pilgrims. Simon convinced Wilson to let him and his partner have a studio audition, and they performed “The Sound of Silence”. House engineer Roy Halee recorded the audition, and at Wilson’s urging, Columbia signed the duo.
Their debut studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., was recorded over three daytime sessions in March 1964 and released in October. The album contains four original Simon compositions, with the remainder consisting of three traditional folk songs and five folk-influenced singer-songwriter numbers. Simon was adamant that they would no longer use stage names, and they adopted the name Simon & Garfunkel. Columbia set up a promotional showcase at Folk City on March 31, 1964, the duo’s first public concert as Simon & Garfunkel. The showcase, as well as other scheduled performances, did not go wel