Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "The Sound of Silence" 3:08
2. "Leaves That Are Green" 2:23
3. "Blessed" 3:16
4. "Kathy's Song" 3:21
5. "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" 2:37
6. "Anji" 2:17
Side two
1. "Richard Cory" 2:57
2. "A Most Peculiar Man" 2:34
3. "April Come She Will" 1:51
4. "We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'" 2:00
5. "I Am a Rock" 2:50
Simon & Garfunkel Band Members / Musicians
Paul Simon – lead vocals, guitar
Art Garfunkel – lead vocals
Fred Carter Jr., Glen Campbell, Joe South – guitar
Larry Knechtel – keyboards
Joe Osborn – bass guitar
Hal Blaine – drums
Bob Johnston – producer
Sounds of Silence was recorded in April, June and December 1965 at CBS Studios in New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California.
"The Sound of Silence" (electric overdubs) personnel
Simon & Garfunkel Band Members / Musicians
Al Gorgoni, Vinnie Bell – guitar
Joe Mack – bass guitar
Bobby Gregg – drums
"The Sound of Silence" overdubs were recorded at Columbia's "Studio A" at 799 Seventh Avenue near 52nd Street by Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. Neither Paul Simon nor Art Garfunkel were aware of the session or the plan to release an electric remix of the song until after the overdubs had been recorded.
Sounds of Silence is the 2nd studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence". The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed by Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.
"Homeward Bound" was released on the album in the UK, placed at the beginning of Side 2 before "Richard Cory". It was later released in the US on the following album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. It was also released as part of the box set Simon & Garfunkel Collected Works, on both LP and CD. Many of the songs in the album had been written by Paul Simon while he lived in London during 1965.
Solo acoustic versions of "I Am a Rock", "Leaves That Are Green", "April Come She Will", "A Most Peculiar Man", and "Kathy's Song" had appeared on The Paul Simon Songbook, released in August 1965 in England as had another version of the title track. "Richard Cory" was based on the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" was essentially a rewrite of the previous album's "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.", "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'" had appeared on the b-side of "The Sound of Silence" a few months before and "Anji" was a cover of an instrumental piece by guitarist Davey Graham whom Simon had met in England. Hence the only brand new Paul Simon composition on the album was "Blessed".
The album is also included in its entirety as part of the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970). On March 22, 2013, it was announced that the album will be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
