1. Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits (1972)
2. Simon and Garfunkel's Collected Works (1990)
3. Old Friends (1997)
4. The Best of Simon and Garfunkel (1999)
5. The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970) (released 2001)
6. The Essential Simon and Garfunkel (2003)
Mostly From Wikipedia:
1.Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits (1972)
Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits is the first compilation album from Simon and Garfunkel, released on June 14, 1972 well after the pair broke up.
The album was a unique mix of original studio recordings and four previously unreleased live recordings. The album's minimalist packaging does not date the latter, although some have placed them to a November 1969 concert. In any case, the live settings benefitted the emotional straightforwardness of Paul Simon's lyrics on "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" and "Homeward Bound", while "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" rang with newfound purpose due to the simple purity of Art Garfunkel's vocal.
The remaining ten studio songs comprise eight singles released between 1965 and 1972, "America" being issued as a single several years after its appearance as a track on the Bookends album, and two album tracks, "Bookends" and "The Boxer." All but "America" and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" made the Top Ten, with the latter peaking at #11, and "Mrs. Robinson" topped the chart aided by its appearance in Mike Nichols' hit movie The Graduate. "The Sound of Silence" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" both peaked at #1 as singles in their studio versions, and "The Boxer" peaked as a single at #7 in an edited form.
Greatest Hits peaked on the U.S. albums chart at #5. The album has proven a long and durable seller, currently being certified for 14 million units sold in the U.S. alone. As such it is easily their best-selling album ever in the U.S., and indeed holds the record in the U.S. for the best-selling album ever by a duo.
I bought the record album while I was in law school, after the Army, and it got a lot of play.
Side one
"Mrs. Robinson" – 3:51
"For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" (live) – 2:25
"The Boxer" – 5:08
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" (live) – 1:50
"The Sound of Silence" – 3:04
"I Am a Rock" – 2:52
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel) – 3:09
Side two
"Homeward Bound" (live) – 2:42
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" – 4:51
"America" – 3:33
"Kathy's Song" (live) – 3:22
"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (Paul Simon, Jorge Milchberg, Daniel A. Robles) – 3:07
"Bookends" – 1:19
"Cecilia" – 2:53
2. Simon and Garfunkel's Collected Works (1990)
Simon and Garfunkel's Collected Works is a three-disc compilation of the 58 songs in the five Simon and Garfunkel albums: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, Bookends, and Bridge Over Troubled Water. It was commercially released in 1990. I bought the tape cassette of this collection in the days before I started switching to CD's
3. Old Friends (1997)
Old Friends is a boxed set of Simon and Garfunkel songs, released in 1997. The three-disc anthology collects most of the duo's best-loved works, adding several then-rarities for good measure.
The cover features a photo of the artists in their heyday. Paul Simon appears in a curious pose, with his hand appearing to pinch the air in front of his face. The reason for this is that Simon was actually smoking a cigarette at the time, neither he nor the record label were in favor of promoting this habit in 1997.
It should be noted that most (but not all, curiously) of the rare tracks included on Old Friends subsequently appeared on both the reissues of Simon and Garfunkel's five studio albums as well as the later boxed set The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970)
This was my first Simon & Garfunkel CD that I bought when I started to convert my music to CD's.
Track listing
Disc 1
"Bleecker Street"
"The Sound of Silence"
"The Sun Is Burning"
"Wednesday Morning, 3 AM"
"He Was My Brother"
"Sparrow"
"Peggy-O"
"Benedictus"
"Somewhere They Can't Find Me"
"We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'"
"Leaves That Are Green"
"Richard Cory"
"I Am a Rock"
"The Sound of Silence" (Single Version)
"Homeward Bound"
"Blues Runs the Game"
"Kathy's Song"
"April Come She Will"
"Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall
Disc 2
"Patterns"
"Cloudy"
"The Dangling Conversation"
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle"
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"
"For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her"
"7 O'Clock News/Silent Night"
"A Hazy Shade of Winter"
"At the Zoo"
"A Poem on the Underground Wall"
"Red Rubber Ball" (Live in New York City, 1967) - appears only on this collection
"Blessed"
"Anji"
"A Church Is Burning"
"Fakin' It"
"Save the Life of My Child"
"America"
"You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies"
"Punky's Dilemma"
"Comfort and Joy" - appears only on this collection
"Star Carol" - appears only on this collection
Disc 3
"Mrs. Robinson"
"Old Friends/Bookends"
"Overs"
"A Most Peculiar Man"
"Bye, Bye Love"
"The Boxer"
"Baby Driver"
"Why Don't You Write Me"
"Feuilles-O"
"Keep the Customer Satisfied"
"So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright"
"Song for the Asking"
"Cecilia"
"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)"
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"
"The Only Living Boy In New York"
"Hey, Schoolgirl/Black Slacks"
"That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"
"My Little Town"
4. The Best of Simon and Garfunkel (1999)
The Best of Simon and Garfunkel is a 1999 greatest hits album by Simon and Garfunkel, released by Columbia Records, containing 20 tracks. It is the best one disk album of Simon & Garfunkel. If a casual fan owned just one disk of their music this is the one I would recommend. Only major issue is it does not have "Kathy's Song" I just recently bought this CD and highly recommend it.
Track listing
"The Sound of Silence" - 3:07
"Homeward Bound" - 2:29
"I Am a Rock" - 2:52
"The Dangling Conversation" - 2:38
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" - 3:10
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" - 1:55
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" - 2:17
"At the Zoo" - 2:17
"Fakin' It" - 3:12
"Mrs. Robinson" - 4:04
"Old Friends/Bookends" - 3:57
"The Boxer" - 5:10
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" - 4:54
"Cecilia" - 2:56
"The Only Living Boy in New York" - 3:59
"Song for the Asking" - 1:52
"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" - 3:08
"For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her (Live)" - 2:22
"America" - 3:37
"My Little Town" - 3:52
5. The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970) (Released in 2001)
The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970) is a 5-disc box set of Simon and Garfunkel recordings, released by Columbia Records in 2001. The CDs are packaged in miniaturized cardboard sleeves resembling the original vinyl record dust jackets, and a booklet containing photos and writing of interest is also included.
Four of the five discs are augmented with a few rarities, many of which made their debut on 1997's Old Friends retrospective, rendering the previous collection nearly (but not completely) obsolete.
Also made obsolete by The Columbia Studio Recordings is the 1990 anthology Collected Works. The two releases share the same fifty-eight recordings, with Columbia Studio Recordings adding ten bonus tracks for good measure.
Fans and completists should not mistake any Simon and Garfunkel anthology for being complete, despite the finality inferred by the title of either of these collections. The complete recordings have yet to be released in a single, concise package
6. The Essential Simon and Garfunkel (2003)
The Essential Simon & Garfunkel is the first double-disc best of compilation by Simon & Garfunkel of 33 of their songs.
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 on November 1, 2003, at number 27. It spent 11weeks on the chart. The release of this album was coordinated with their reunion "Old Friends Concert Tour." Good to take on a car trip. Wish they had left off "A Most Peculiar Man" and "Richard cory".
Disc one
"Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." (live) 2:44
"Bleecker Street" 2:44
"The Sound of Silence" 3:06
"Leaves That Are Green" (live) 2:30
"A Most Peculiar Man" (live) 2:33
"I Am a Rock" 2:51
"Richard Cory" 2:56
"Kathy's Song" (live) 3:22
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (Garfunkel/Simon) 3:10
"Homeward Bound" 2:29
"Sparrow" (live) 3:03
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" 1:55
"The Dangling Conversation" 2:38
"A Poem on the Underground Wall" (live) 2:06
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" 2:17
"At the Zoo" 2:23
Disc two
"Mrs. Robinson (From The Graduate)" 4:03
"Fakin' It " 3:18
"Old Friends " 2:35
"Bookends Theme" 1:21
"America" 3:37
"Overs" (live) 2:25
"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (Milchberg/Robles/Simon) 3:07
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" 4:53
"Cecilia" 2:54
"Keep the Customer Satisfied" 2:34
"So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" 3:42
"The Boxer" 5:09
"Baby Driver" 3:16
"The Only Living Boy in New York" 3:58
"Song for the Asking" 1:50
"For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her" (live) 2:26
"My Little Town" 3:51
