Art Garfunkel was fascinated by Lennon’s grounded nature. Captivating and engaging, Art quickly realised that John instinctively knew what to say to put him at ease. “He was connected, human and real,” Garfunkel insisted, “and that’s what he did with the whole planet earth. He was a hit record – his very being was like a hit.” He clearly admired the commercial qualities which had enabled The Beatles’ music to entrance the whole world.
Having entered his Dakota apartment, Lennon took the singer into his private bedroom to talk in confidence, away from Ono, Simon and guest David Bowie. Sat on the edge of his bed, Lennon quizzed Artie in incredibly disarming fashion about his recent studio reunion with Paul Simon. “I understand you just recorded together recently in Nashville,” the same location McCartney had chosen to take the newly repaired Wings to stretch and develop as a band the previous summer. “Tell me about your work. How did it go?” [...] Garfunkel summed up their mutual affection with one of Simon’s favourite phrases, one which Lennon had previously used to describe his feelings for McCartney: “We have enriched each other’s lives.”
Lennon shifted in his seat and shared his ongoing creative dilemma with Garfunkel. He revealed that he’d been receiving calls from his Paul in New Orleans, asking if he’d like to participate in this latest, Toussaint-based Louisianan project. Lennon and McCartney’s friendship, it seemed to Art, was strong enough to warrant such an opportunity. “He wants to know if I’m available for the recording, Art. Paul’s interested in doing something with me. He wants to work with me again, and I’m thinking about going to New Orleans to help him with his new album.” Lennon then posed to Art a startling, unforgettable question. “What do you think I should do?”
Urging John to do it, Art reminded him about the vitality of his successful musical collaboration with McCartney. With true eloquence, he pointed to the thrilling sound they’d created together. “What I found with my Paul,” Garfunkel admitted, “is the harmony and the sound happenings are a full agenda. It’s great fun to harmonise. If you’ve not made that blend that you used to make in a long time, you’ll see that it’s pleasurable. Just to produce the harmony is such a nice sensation in the ear and in the heart.”
Have fun, he enthused. Revisit the shared creative thrill of making music with someone you once created such a successful sound with. Ignore the strands of history, he urged Lennon, and leave any old complications behind. “If you can return to the fun of that sound with your old buddy, it will keep you busy.” Keep things on a purely musical level, he insisted, and leave your personalities to one side. If he went with the fun of the musical blend, it would prove a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Lennon looked satisfied and nodded in agreement.
Come Together: Lennon and McCartney in the Seventies by Richard White
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