Simon Says “Applaud. .”And They Did

1967-02-19 Towson, MD, Towson College, Stephens Auditorium (0300 pm show)

Simon & Garfunkel performed here during the closing day of “Sweetheart Weekend”. It was Bev Berlett Norwood who arranged as chairperson of the Student Government Association. that the duo performed at Towson College, she writes:

“As an executive board member of the Student Government Association of Towson College in the late 1960s, I served as the chairperson of the Special Events Committee. I was responsible for contracting speakers for lectures as well as for hiring performers for concerts and major dances. (Today, this is a full-time paid position.) In 1967, I booked Simon and Garfunkel for our Sweetheart Weekend Concert. They were phenomenal! I met with them prior to the concert, when they asked me specific questions about our college. They especially wanted to know what might trigger laughter and applause from the audience. Cleverly and inventively, they incorporated the information into their performance. I have so many fond memories of that day, as do so many others who attended the amazing concert! Our college president, Dr. Earl T. Hawkins, even thanked me personally and wrote in the college newspaper how I had arranged for Simon and Garfunkel to appear.”

Here’s the review of the Simon & Garfunkel performance:

By LARRY HORWITZ [source: Towson College, MD, Tower Light, February 24 1967]

Simon Says “Applaud. . And They Did”

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sort of breezed into Towson around two thirty last Sunday afternoon, an hour after the first students had queued up in front of the doors to Steph-en’s Auditorium. Paul Simon, a small dark-haired guy, began Picking out some stray notes on the piano while Art Garfunkel, a sensitive-faced frizzy-haired boy, unpacked a paisley tie and a pair of suede Beatle boots from a suitcase that had twenty or thirty airline check stubs tied to the handle. Meanwhile Stephen’s Auditorium was filling with students, all growing impatient as the scheduled hour for the start of the concert came and passed. The house lights dimmed, a Spotlight hung on the curtain’s edge, and somewhat humbly, With no introduction, the pair Walked onstage and moved right into their first song. From the very start the audience was with Simon and Garfunkel and the pair knew it; they performed well, happily, joking with one another and singing and playing with a very rew-laxed attitude. Paul Simon, twenty-four and a graduate of Queen’s College in New York, writes all of the songs that the pair record and perform. His writing is literate, meaningful and usually full of striking and sometimes poetic imagery. The first half of the concert showcased some of the pair’s most popular songs. After a twenty-minute intermission the boys came back onstage.

The relaxed mood, the assurance, the ease with which they performed to a college audience was aptly demonstrated by the fact that Paul Simon was cheerfully and unselfconsciously sucking on a grape lol-lipop which he lay on a table next to his 12-string guitar while he was singing. The second half seemed, if possible, better than the first. Nine consistently good songs were not enough for an enthusiastic aud-ience which brought the pair back for two encores. One song which brought peals of knowing laughter was “”The Zoo Song”” which included the line “”Hamsters turn on frequently”” and led Paul Simon to tell a satiric story about marijuana smoking in Darien, Connecticut. Still seeming humble the boys bowed one, twice and left for the downstairs dressing room amidst sustained applause.
Crowds of varied types assembled outside of the dressing room, after the Sunday afternoon concert of Simon and Garfunkel. There were half a dozen long tressed high school teeny-bop-pers and two rather loud members of the Hell’s Angels and the sportscoated student leaders and their hig-heeled dates and kids and faithful admirers and autograph seekers and photographers and simply curious types. All were allowed in the room, but only after the singers had been allowed to change and speak with some friends. Paul Simon, smoking filtertipped cigarettes and sitting on a table, signed autographs and shook hands while he spoke. “”The Beatles, I think they’re great. This is a nice school. I thought this was good, a good performance.”” Simon was smiling, being nice to everyone, Comment being extremely courteous, sign-ing autographs, being friendly, personable, speaking very quiet-ly and answering a question about the continuity of his song writing, a question about the message or theme he’s trying to get across. “”I don’t know if it’s so much a conscious thing, but we’re dealing with things that concern us. Things like alienation and hypocrisy and love and communication, and, of course, the lack of it.” A strange-looking boy with a moustache asked about the image of Simon and Garfunkel: Simon answered gently, “”it’s really us; we act the same way offstage as on. If we didn’t we wouldn’t be honest.”” Someone challenged the performance and asked why they only told two jokes, Sinion smiled, “”We’re not comedians; if something strikes me as funny or absurd, I mention it. Nightclubs are alien to me.”” “”No, I don’t think too much of Donovan.”” “”I like Bach, the Impressionists, Indian sitar music.”” Art Garfunkel came quickly into the room, trying to hurriedly pack, and was forced to pose for several pictures. He too was quiet and sensitive but spoke faster, and slightly more candidly than his partner. “

“Yes, I’ll eventually teach, I’m not at all sure what level,”” said the twenty-five year old, who is at work toward his Ph.D. from Columbia. A boy in a red sweater asked about the apparent one-sidedness of the arrange-ment; Simon does all the writ-ing.”Yes, but there are two ways in which you can express yourself; I lack the skill of writing but Paul is providing material with which I agree and can express through speech. Paul’s songs, the themes of. his songs, are not to be argued with, they’re not for agreeing with or disagreeing with. They are questions, examinations of an area which troubles us, and probably everyone.”” Do they ever disagree on a song by Simon, “”Rarely. There isn’t any discontinuity; we both are con-cerned with the same things and Paul just writes it well, some-thing I can’t do. Sometimes he shows me a song which I don’t like musically, but never one I don’t like from any other basis.”” The room grew pretty active as their manager began to rush them off to meet a plane. It seemed as though they would have been content to stay and talk with the kids for a while longer. It seemed as though Simon and Garfunkel enjoyed speaking with these people to whom their music speaks so ef-fectively.

[Source: Tower Light, Towson College, February 24, 1967]