The Concert in Central Park

This article is about Simon & Garfunkel's album. For Dave Matthews Band's album, see The Central Park Concert.
The Concert in Central Park
A man with curly hair, Art Garfunkel (left), and a shorter, smiling man, Paul Simon (right).
Live album by
Simon & Garfunkel
ReleasedFebruary 16, 1982 (1982-02-16)
RecordedSeptember 19, 1981
VenueGreat Lawn, Central Park, New York City
GenreFolk rock
Length75:51
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerPaul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee, Phil Ramone
Simon & Garfunkel chronology
The Simon and Garfunkel Collection: 17 of Their All-Time Greatest Recordings
(1981) 		The Concert in Central Park
(1982) 		20 Greatest Hits
(1991)

The Concert in Central Park is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on February 16, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded on September 19, 1981, at a free benefit concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of 500,000 people.[1][2] A film of the event was shown on TV and released on video. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding. The concert and album marked the start of a three-year reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

The concept of a benefit concert in Central Park had been proposed by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis and promoter Ron Delsener. Television channel HBO agreed to carry the concert, and they worked with Delsener to decide on Simon and Garfunkel as the appropriate act for this event. Besides hits from their years as a duo, their 21-song set list included material from their solo careers, and covers. Amongst them were "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer" and Simon's "Late in the Evening", with the show concluding with a reprise of the latter. Ongoing personal tensions between the duo led them to decide against a permanent reunion, despite the success of the concert and a subsequent world tour.

The album and film were released the year after the concert. Simon and Garfunkel's performance was praised by music critics and the album was commercially successful, peaking No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album charts and being certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The video recordings were initially broadcast on HBO and were subsequently made available on Laserdisc, CED, VHS and DVD. A single was released of Simon and Garfunkel‘s live performance of the Everly Brothers‘s song "Wake Up Little Susie". It reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 and is the duo's last Top 40 hit. In Canada the single was No. 4 for 2 weeks on the AC charts.[3]

  1. ^ Robinson, Jennifer (August 7, 2015). "Simon & Garfunkel: The Concert In Central Park". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  2. ^ "Simon and Garfunkel plays to a crowd in Central Park in 1981". nydailynews.com. September 18, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  3. ^ "RPM Top 30 AC Singles - June 19, 1982" (PDF).