Pioneers in the musical style that became known as "folk-rock," Simon and Garfunkel were one of the most popular musical acts of the golden age of rock and roll (see entry under 1950s—Music in volume 3): the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, both born in 1941, became friends in junior high school. As "Tom and Jerry," they recorded their first song, "Hey, Schoolgirl," on a small record label in 1957. They performed solo in the early 1960s—Simon recording as Jerry Landis, Garfunkel as part of Tico and the Triumphs. The two came together again in 1964 and recorded their first album as Simon and Garfunkel, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. The album sold poorly, but a producer friend took one of its tracks, the folk-style "Sounds of Silence," layered electric guitar and drums over it, and got it released as a single...