Search - Simon & Garfunkel :: Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme (Exp)

Sony/Legacy does great job of preserving a classic.

David Kenner | Fort Worth, Texas United States | 08/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This newly remastered and expanded edition of PSR&T is definitely overdue and most welcome. As was evident with the S&G releases of the past couple of years, "Old Friends" and "The Best of", the original master tapes are utilized in the digital transfer for this compact disc. In fact, a few tunes ("Cloudy", The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine", "A Simple Desultory Phillipic" and "Poem On The Underground Wall") run several seconds longer than the original LP versions we've always been used to. And the sound quality is breathtaking! "Patterns", "Pleasure Machine" and "Phillipic" just jump out of the speakers. They're so clean and crisp and bright that it's almost startling! It's a great package too with all of the original artwork and liner notes reproduced, new photos and liner notes, and complete printed lyrics. It's the most exciting reissue I've heard this year."

Simon & Garfunkle put together their first great album

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme" was the first big breakthrough album for Simon & Garfunkel as artists. Although their first two albums certainly showed promise, there was a big difference with this 1966 album. The difference was that this time Simon & Garfunkel, along with engineer Roy Halee, had total control in the making of the album. Given that their other 1966 album, "The Sounds of Silence," had been thrown together in less than a month to take advantage of the hot single, this makes a big difference. Just compare the horrible overdubbing of "The Songs of Silence" single with basically anything on this album, but especially with the opening track, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle."This was an album that would appeal to college students, with the literary rock of "Dangling Conversation," the caustic commentary of "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)," and the simple juxtaposition of the duo singing "Silent Night" to a piano accompaniment juxtaposed against the headlines from the Nightly News (including the death of Lenny Bruce and the escalation of the war in Vietnam) on the album's final track, "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night." College students would also appreciate the sentiments of "Homeward Bound," the attack on television as "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine," one of the decade's great feel-good songs, "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," and the drama of "Poem on the Underground Wall."But as much as I like the opening track and "Homeward Bound," the song that puts this over the top is the simply beautiful "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her." There was a time in high school when that was my favorite song, and I did not even know a girl named Emily. Along with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "All I Know," "Emily" is one of the songs that truly showcase's Garfunkle's soaring vocals, not to mention Simon's poetic sensibilities. As good as this 1966 album was, Simon & Garfunkle's next album, "Bookends," was even better, and the one after that was the best of all. But then discovered the magic formula here."

A stunning folk-pop album

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 01/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With such classic songs as Scarborough fair / Canticle (a major American hit), Homeward bound (the only UK hit from the album, this was a ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic), For Emily wherever I may find her (sung solo by Art) and the 59th street bridge song - Feeling groovy (a hit for Harper's Bizarre in the UK and USA), this is yet another masterpiece from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.



The famous songs already mentioned are available on countless hits compilations of their music, so if you are thinking of buying this, it is because you want to hear the other songs. They are all of a high quality, notably Cloudy (with its incredible imagery), Big bright green pleasure machine (about TV advertising) and Dangling conversation (about cocktail party gossip).



Yet the most notable track of all may be 7 o'clock news / Silent night. With a peaceful Christmas carol as background, this track reflects on the state of the world back then as relayed in news bulletins. Of course, news bulletins generally focus on problems and tragedies, so a piece like this could have been recorded at any time. Despite world progress, news bulletins are always full of despair, never more so than while I am writing this, soon after the Indian Ocean earthquake.



If you are interested in more than just their hits, this Simon and Garfunkel album is definitely worth a listen."