In a new interview with NME, Art Garfunkel revealed he wanted to harm Paul Simon before their tearful reunion.
“Paul said to me, ‘Arty, it’s not that you spoke to the British press and that you didn’t do it well…[it’s that] I felt you wanted to hurt me. That’s what got me,'” the singer explained. “And I thought, ‘That’s true.’ I wanted to hurt him. The next thing I knew, I burst into tears… and then there were hugs.”
Despite their past fallouts, the two have often reconnected, though their relationship has been volatile. The latest feud followed a 2015 interview where Garfunkel criticized Simon, but he later regretted it.
“I don’t want to say any anti Paul Simon things, but it seems very perverse to not enjoy the glory and walk away from it instead,” Art said of his departure from Simon & Garfunkel in a chat with The Sunday Telegraph. “Crazy. What I would have done is take a rest from Paul, because he was getting on my nerves. The jokes had run dry. But a rest of a year was all I needed. I said: ‘I’m not married yet. I want to jump on a BMW motorbike and tour round Europe chasing ladies.'”
Garfunkel also said he first became friends with Simon because he felt sorry for his height, adding, “That compensation gesture has created a monster.” When the interviewer asked if Simon has a Napoleon complex because of his height, the singer replied, “I think you’re on to something. I would say so, yes.”
Simon & Garfunkel’s last studio album, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ came out in 1970, the same year they broke up. They reunited briefly in 1993 and again in 2003 for the Old Friends Tour.
After performing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, they planned a 2010 North American tour. However, Garfunkel’s vocal problems in January 2010 led to the tour being canceled. They performed ‘Mrs. Robinson’ at a tribute that year, but the tour never happened. When Garfunkel regained his voice, Simon didn’t want to tour anymore.
