PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: SONGS OF AMERICA WITH ART GARFUNKEL AND CHARLES GRODIN {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of seminars presented by The Paley Center for Media in New York. This seminar hosts a screening of "Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America," a documentary following musicians Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on a concert tour as they contemplate the state of America, interspersed with footage of important events of the day. Host Ron Simon (curator, The Paley Center for Media in New York) offers opening comments before bringing moderator Bruce Fretts (article editor, "TV Guide") to the stage. Fretts offers his own comments before introducing the documentary, screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 110028). Fretts moderates the following guests: director Charles Grodin; and musician Art Garfunkel. The guests touch on such topics as: how Grodin and Garfunkel first met on the set of the film "Catch-22"; how the idea for the television special came about and how Grodin tried to make it representative of Simon's lyrics; Garfunkel's recollections of "life on the road" during the 1960's; a conflict that arose with one of the documentary's production executives; the reaction from Bell Telephone, the documentary's sponsor, to its politically-charged and "humanistic" content; Grodin's ideas about the current state of political affairs in the United States; Garfunkel's reflection on his younger self's "naïve" ideology and how he felt the ideas he was representing were "universal"; how television viewers reacted to the documentary, and the relatively low ratings it garnered; a sketch on a "Saturday Night Live" episode from 1977 involving Grodin, Simon, and Garfunkel; and the possibility of Simon and Garfunkel reuniting. Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: Garfunkel's recent throat problems and his possible return to touring; his thoughts on his son James Garfunkel and his potential singing career; what Garfunkel feels when he watches himself performing; his stint as a cantor in his synagogue and how the impact it has had on his musical work; how Garfunkel's musical style has changed over the years; Grodin's feelings on what he believes is a widespread cultural decline in recent years; the guests' connections to and difficulties with film director Mike Nichols over the years; and speculation on what a modern version of the documentary would be like.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: February 6, 2013 6:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:42:20
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109700
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Bruce Fretts … Moderator
- Charles Grodin … Guest
- Art Garfunkel … Guest
- James Garfunkel
- Mike Nichols
- Paul Simon