Althouse: "George came up to me at a party once and said 'my Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.'"

May 26, 2015

"George came up to me at a party once and said 'my Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.'"

"He meant that psychologically they had the same effect on us. The Pauls sidelined us. I think George felt suppressed by Paul and I think that’s what he saw with me and my Paul. Here’s the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory."

Said Art Garfunkel, in a long interview, in which I also learned that he's got a website where he lists every book he's ever read and it's — in his words — "heavy shit... not fluff." He lists the books in the order he reads them and includes the number of pages in each book.

20 comments:

cubanbob said...: I can see why they split. 40 years on and he is acting like a bitter ex-wife. He created a monster? Not much of a narcissists are we. Still they were good together.; 5/26/15, 5:33 PM
Roger Sweeny said...: Neither Art nor George were all that special after they lost their Pauls.; 5/26/15, 5:57 PM
Fabi said...: George was a good songwriter and an average guitarist. It may have been tough to have been overshadowed by Paul and John, but it was the proper pecking order -- to put it mildly.; 5/26/15, 5:58 PM
William said...: The good thing about being a wealthy rock star is that you don't have to waste a lot of time in pursuit of long legged women with large breasts. They come to you, and you have a lot of free time to read books.....I don't see how he's gained. Much wisdom from all his reading, but, to be sure, there's not much wisdom to be extracted from a lot of the books on his list.; 5/26/15, 6:07 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: It's a wonderful book list -- he has some great ones: Catch -22 by Heller, some Orwell, "Making it" by Norman Podhoretz.

You can learn a lot about a person based on what books they read.

Garfunkel comes off as whiny in the interview, but he has some brains.; 5/26/15, 6:23 PM
dwick said...: Here’s the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory."

Really? Most serious analyses these days credit Lennon for bringing the really creative "heavy shit... not fluff" to The Beatles musical catalog - McCartney (other than Hey Jude) mostly just the more formulaic "silly love songs"... The primary reason Paul has been able to run away with his probably unfair share of the glory is because he's still out there in front of people singing his Beatles songs while Lennon and Harrison have been been dead going on 35 and 15 years now, respectively.

And here's some more truth: Simon was a helluva music man who gave the duo it's music and creative energy - Art brought a pretty voice. Anyone who feels the need to list the books he's read along with the number of pages for each on his public website would seem to have some serious self-image issues. Geesh..; 5/26/15, 6:24 PM
dustbunny said...: Aspergers?; 5/26/15, 6:34 PM
Dave in Tucson said...: McCartney had plenty of great songs of his own (going all the way back to I Saw Her Standing There). Lennon and McCartney both benefited greatly from the synergy of their partnership, though Lennon missed it more than McCartney did post-breakup.; 5/26/15, 6:39 PM
John Christopher said...: I keep a list like that too as a draft email in Gmail. I started after my kids were born and I was worried I would reading fewer books each year. A half dozen years in, it is a nice stroll down memory lane.; 5/26/15, 6:44 PM
Fabi said...: Sure, dwick. I often sing Helter Skelter as a silly serenade. I agree with Dave -- look at the pap that Lennon produced after The Beatles. Maybe I'm Amazed by itself blows away the sum of John's post-breakup catalog.; 5/26/15, 7:09 PM
Bob R said...: Though there are some definite similarities in their relationships with the Pauls, comparing himself to George Harrison is very flattering to Garfunkle. George was far better than an average guitarist. Not all guitarists are measured by the number of EVH pull-offs they can stuff in a measure. George has dozens of signature intros and fills that people study today. An average guitarist would kill for one. Shinola is the stuff you put on your shoes, dwick.; 5/26/15, 7:49 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: Art and George are Ex-Wives.

Everything they have said and done afterward is understood best in this context.

I am Laslo.; 5/26/15, 8:16 PM
Fabi said...: George knew most of the chords from Mel Bay, but that's about it. His fills are mundane. Perhaps I've missed something, Bob R. Care to point me to some of George's guitar genius? Thanks.; 5/26/15, 10:03 PM
Fabi said...: George deserves serious accolades on the tone front. The sounds he produced from running his Gretsch Country Gentleman and Tennesseean through his Vox AC30 was fundamental to their early sound and he was the first to use that combo (to my knowledge). He also put the Rickenbacker 360-12 on the map -- another incredible tone that he pioneered.; 5/26/15, 10:19 PM
Etienne said...: Garfunkel? I thought he was dead. Shouldn't he be dead by now? I mean, what, isn't he like 95 now?

I mean, he was an old man when my vinyl collection went to the landfill in 1981.; 5/26/15, 10:37 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: After reading the article, I am convinced that, in the future, "garfunkle" will be a synonym for "insufferable."; 5/26/15, 10:59 PM
donald said...: The best thing John Lennon ever did was the Rock n Roll album. All covers. All incredible. Wouldn't pay a dime for anything else.; 5/27/15, 6:23 AM
MadisonMan said...: War and Peace is a favorite?

Eeesh.

I love seeing lists like that. That's a lot of books.

That's a good idea, though. Maybe I'll start one. I just finished Rust. A little glib at times, and too much focus on moustaches, but I learned a lot.; 5/27/15, 6:42 AM
Tank said...: MM

I did that for a few years. I found out that I read about 75 books a year, depending on how many LONG books were in there. It's interesting to look back at. Maybe I should do it again.

It's also good for not starting a book you actually read 10-15 years ago, but forgot you read until you get 50 pages in.; 5/27/15, 7:30 AM
Bricap said...: I liked what Harrison did on Cream's song Badge.

I'm not sure the comparison is completely apt. AG was the voice for the duo, and a very strong voice it was. I don't think GH on guitar rivals that. GH did have a catalog that didn't get to see the light of day until after the breakup, the album All Things Must Pass. I don't think he did a lot after that, though, and it probably didn't help that he was sued for My Sweet Lord. AG didn't seem to do much after his split, whereas Simon really thrived, the culmination of which was Graceland. McCartney post breakup never had a masterpiece like Graceland, and Lennon didn't, either.; 5/27/15, 5:13 PM