Art Garfunkel admits that he was shocked by their break-up, confesses that a reunion tour is probably not on the cards, and rubs salt into the wounds by saying that it didn't matter that Paul Simon got all the critical acclaim because he got all the gorgeous women!
They may have always endured a love/hate relationship, but Art says that he didn’t see it coming when Paul decided to split up their duo act.
And Art was so incensed that he took an acting role in the movie adaptation of Catch-22 to rub his former friend Paul’s nose in the fact that he himself had never been offered a film role.
Simon & Garfunkel first met when they were still only 11-years-old – and they would go on to scoop six Grammy Awards together.
They were always squabbling, but when they broke up Art was flabbergasted by the “betrayal”, which was “a surprise blow to the gut”.
In his new memoir, Garfunkel reveals why he went into acting straight after they split up: “Maybe I was doing just that – finally socking it to Paul, making him feel bad he wasn't given an acting role.”
Garfunkel was always perceived as the lesser talent of the two. But as he notes in his book entitled ‘What Is It All But Luminous, Notes from an Underground Man’, “Paul won the writer's royalties. I got the girls. Glory found its way to me -- Fabulous foxes, slim-hipped, B-cup, little Natalie Woods.”
Looking at the positive side of their time collaborating, he writes: “'I never would have had this career if Paul Simon wasn't such a magnificent rhythm guitar player. His grooves underlie all our music.
“Think of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water' – yes I am proud of my vocal performance but the song is Paul's.
“Is there any writer in our time with such beauty and poignancy of heart and mind. I doubt that anyone has received gifts to rival the songs he put through my singing voice.”
He believes that they complimented each other. “'For two thirds of a century, his arm has been around my shoulder,” he writes. “ He's dazzled me with gifts. I nurtured him in his youth. He brought me into prominence. I taught him to sing. He connected my voice to the world. I made us stand tall. All of our personal belongings are intertwined.
On the possibility of a reunion tour, he has this to say: “'It takes two to tango. I don't want to be the blushing bride waiting for Paul Simon to walk down the aisle.”