Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the 1940's and 1950's in their predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York, three blocks away from one another. They attended the same schools, and were both fascinated by music, listening to the radio and being taken with rock and roll as it emerged, particularly the Everly Brothers. Simon first noticed Garfunkel singing in a fourth grade talent show, which Simon thought was a good way to attract girls. He hoped for a friendship, which started in 1953, when they appeared in a sixth grade adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, after which they formed The Peptones, a streetcorner doo-wop group with three friends, learning to harmonize along the way. In 1956 they wrote their first song, 'The Girl for Me', and then, while trying to remember the lyrics to the Everly Brothers song 'Hey Doll Baby', they wrote 'Hey Schoolgirl', which they recorded for $25 at Sanders Recording Studio in Manhattan. While recording, they were overheard by promoter Sid Prosen, who signed them to his independent label Big Records after speaking to the 15-year old's parents. Under Big Records, Simon and Garfunkel assumed the name Tom & Jerry - Garfunkel named himself Tom Graph, a reference to his interest in mathematics, and Simon chose Jerry Landis, after the surname of a girl he had dated. Their first single 'Hey Schoolgirl' was released with 'Dancin' Wild' on the b-side in 1957, and after Prosen bribed DJ Alan Freed $200 to play the single on his radio show, it attracted regular rotation on nationwide AM pop stations, leading it to sell over 100,000 copies and landing on Billboard's charts at number 49. Despite this early success, neither of their next two singles for Big Records got anywhere near the charts, and so after graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1958, the pair continued their education should a music career not unfold, with Simon studying English at Queens College, City University of New York, and Garfunkel studying architecture before 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, which upset Garfunkel, who regarded it as a betrayal, and the emotional tension from the incident occasionally surfaced throughout their relationship. They continued recording as solo artists while together as Tom & Jerry, with Garfunkel's own 'Private World' and 'Beat Love' being released under the name of Artie Garr, while Simon recorded with the Mystics and Tico & The Triumphs, and wrote and recorded under the names Jerry Landis and Paul Kane. After graduating in 1963, Simon joined Garfunkel, who was still at Columbia University, to perform again as a duo, this time with a shared interest in folk music. By late 1963, billing themselves as Kane & Garr, they played at Gerde's Folk City, performing three new songs - 'Sparrow', 'He Was My Brother', and 'The Sound of Silence' — which attracted the attention of Columbia Records staffer Tom Wilson, and they were signed after auditioning 'The Sound Of Silence' for the label. Simon & Garfunkel's debut studio album 'Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.' was recorded over three sessions in March 1964 and released in October, and with five compositions by Simon, it heralded a new sound on the folk circuit. Simon was adamant that they would no longer use stage names, so the record was issued under the name of Simon & Garfunkel, and Tom & Jerry were no more. In 1967 the UK label Allegro released an album of Tom & Jerry singles, but attributed them to Simon & Garfunkel, and put a contemporary photo on the cover, with this attempt to portray the record as a new Simon & Garfunkel album so incensing Simon that he took legal action to get the album withdrawn on both sides of the Atlantic. The one odd thing about the Allegro collection was the inclusion of two instrumental tracks, the mournful 'Tijuana Blues', and the jazzy 'Simon Says', which were previously unheard, but unlike any of their other recordings. This short-ish album collects all the duo's tracks recorded as Tom & Jerry, as well as the afore-mentioned 'Beat Love' by Artie Garr, and an otherwise unreleased song by Jerry Landis as a bonus.
01 Hey Schoolgirl (single November 1957)
02 Dancin' Wild (b-side of 'Hey Schoolgirl')
03 That's My Story (single May 1958)
04 (Pretty Baby) Don't Say Goodbye (b-side of 'That's My Story')
05 Our Song (single February 1958)
06 Two Teen-Agers (b-side of 'Our Song')
07 Baby Talk (single June 1958)
08 Lookin' At You (single May 1959)
09 I'm Lonesome (b-side of 'Lookin' At You')
10 Surrender, Please Surrender (single August 1962)
11 Fightin' Mad (b-side of 'Surrender, Please Surrender')
12 Tijuana Blues (single October 1967)
13 Simon Says (b-side of 'Tijuana Blues')
14 Flame (recorded by Jerry Landis 1961)
15 Beat Love (single by Artie Garr October 1959)
