These copies are somewhat difficult to locate for collectors. First, as a promotion, it was released on red vinyl to radio stations, with a mono mix on one side and a stereo version on the other. They released "I Am a Rock" as a single in the late spring of 1966, and the song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, the third single (chronologically) by Simon & Garfunkel to reach the top 5 (after "The Sound of Silence" and " Homeward Bound"). The duo cashed in quickly on their new-found success. The album quickly capitalized on the success of the new album's title track as a #1 single, and itself rose to #21 on the Billboard charts. Along with most of the other tracks on the album, it was produced by Bob Johnston and recorded in New York at Columbia Recording Studios using some of the same session players that had appeared on Bob Dylan's recent Highway 61 Revisited LP. "I Am a Rock" was the fifth and closing track on Side 2 of the record. The result was the album Sounds of Silence, which the duo released the following January. Simon immediately returned to the United States, and with Garfunkel in December 1965 began a series of hasty recording sessions to match the electric "mold" created by Wilson with many of the other songs that Simon had recorded on the Song Book, including "I Am a Rock," which was re-recorded during these sessions on 14 December 1965. When Simon heard about the success of this song, he was still touring in Europe as a solo folk singer. He then released the song as a single, whereupon it entered the United States pop charts. While Simon was in Denmark during the summer of 1965, Tom Wilson, the producer of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., responded to requests for " The Sound of Silence" from American radio stations and dubbed an electric guitar, bass, and drums onto the original track. In 1965, the solo-acoustic version "I Am a Rock" was also released as a rare A-side of a single in the UK, backed with "Leaves That are Green".Įlectric version with Garfunkel "I Am a Rock" For this release Columbia included two bonus tracks, one of which was an alternate take of "I Am a Rock", during which one can plainly hear Simon stamping his foot for a beat. The album was not released on CD until March 23, 2004. I don't regret the loss." Īs a result, the Song Book album was only made available in North America when it was released as part of the boxed set of albums Paul Simon: Collected Works. It is perfectly clear to me that the songs I write today will not be mine tomorrow. I am not ashamed of where I've been and what I've thought. It is discomforting, almost painful, to look back over something someone else created and realize that someone else was you. I have included them because they played an important role in the transition. There are some here that I would not write today. contains twelve of the songs that I have written over the past two years. This was partly because Simon himself was dissatisfied with the album, saying on the album's liner notes: Until 1981, the initial recording of "I Am a Rock" on The Paul Simon Song Book remained unavailable in North America. It was included on his solo-acoustic The Paul Simon Songbook LP released in the UK in the summer of 1965. Simon likely began writing the song before the end of January 1964, and had it completed by May 1965, when he first recorded it. Some sources say that it was performed by Simon on January 27, 1965, on a promo show for the BBC. The song was not included on Simon & Garfunkel's acoustic debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which was released on October 19, 1964. Thematically, "I Am a Rock" deals with isolation and emotional detachment. Writing, recording, and commercial success Solo-acoustic version It was released as a single in 1966, and subsequently included as the B-side of the 1971 A-side reissue of " The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, as the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, re-recorded it on December 14, 1965, and included as the final track on their album Sounds of Silence, which they released on January 17, 1966. It was first performed by Simon alone as the opening track on his album The Paul Simon Songbook which he originally recorded and released in August 1965, only in the United Kingdom. " I Am a Rock" is a song written by Paul Simon.
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