Who Eased Minds Best?

There are many things about being a kid that one never forgets.

For example, I will never forget being 11 years old in the spring of 2001 and sitting in the passenger seat of my aunt’s black Nissan, eating my medium-sized cup of French Vanilla ice cream mixed with gummy bears. We were parked in front of a now long-gone Baskin-Robbins shop almost hidden inside a shopping center near Desert Inn and Sandhill, not far from the Boulder Station Hotel & Casino in the southeast corner of Las Vegas. The CD playing on the car radio was 1972’s Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits. Even 15 years later, I remember the powerful and dramatic crash that hit the la-la-lie chorus of “The Boxer.” I also recall setting my teenage romantic angst to the psychedelic sound and melody of “The Sound of Silence.” Finally, I still remember a wonderful kind of fear flowing down my spine while hearing the dramatic “Wall of Sound” force of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. It was a kind of power only matched by Art Garfunkel belting those infamous high notes in the song’s crescendo.

Nothing can supplant what I felt when I first heard Garfunkel's performance, which is impressive when one considers that “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is perhaps the most covered song among the many songs Paul Simon has written over the last 70 years. Like choosing the best James Bond, choosing the best version of “Bridge” is almost futile. However, since life is about fun list rankings and various forms of debate, here are the five versions of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” that I consider the best apart from the original.

#5 — Johnny Cash & Fiona Apple

Recently, I wrote about Cash’s 2002 swan song American IV: The Man Comes Around, and how it was a slightly mixed effort, compared to other American albums, due to what I saw as the overfamiliarity of Cash and Rick Rubin’s strategy of covering contemporary music. One of the more successful covers on American IV (outside of Cash’s memorable cover of “Hurt”) was Cash’s lovely duet of “Bridge” with Fiona Apple. As I wrote in my review, the age difference between 70-year-old Cash and 21-year-old Apple framed this version of the song as showing that friendship and strong bonds can transcend many differences and barriers, including race, gender, and age. The beauty of “Bridge” is that it works in any scenario.

#4 — Elvis Presley

It’s important to note that even the covers that I rank low on this list are not inferior by the ranking. I often believe the number game is like the “underrated/overrated” game, where people debate art and artists who get too much credit or don’t receive enough praise. What one person ranks at the bottom of a list may score the highest rating with another, which is fine.

Elvis Presley's version of “Bridge” is certainly one of the most famous cover versions, and it is certainly a song Elvis gave his heart to from his early 1970s Las Vegas performances right down to his final concert ever on June 26, 1977 (at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.) Listening to any live version of Presley’s “Bridge” is seeing the King in full command of his powers. His emotional conviction and stage command is a perfect formula for this number. Thanks to YouTube, one can search for any of Elvis’ many live performances of “Bridge” and choose your favorite. I would probably recommend his That’s The Way It Is performance live from Vegas in 1970 or the emotional final live Indianapolis version, recorded only a few weeks before his passing.

Paul Simon had a complicated relationship with hearing his boyhood idol taking on his ballad. After hearing Elvis’ version for the first time, Simon was reputed to have said, “How can I compete with that?” By the time Simon sat down with Howard Stern last year, it appeared he had cooled on The King. Simon admitted to Stern that while he loved how Elvis sang the ballad, he felt it was not as good as it could have been. In his eyes, Presley was let down by the decision to more or less copy Simon’s arrangement. “The problem with this is, if you left Elvis Presley to just sing that song, he would have been great,” Simon said. “Instead, they virtually copied the Simon & Garfunkel arrangement, which is kind of a dearth of imagination.”

#3 — Paul Simon (Solo)

It is now a part of the S&G legend that Simon initially declined Art Garfunkel’s suggestion that he [Paul] sing the lead vocal on “Bridge” and forever regretted it afterward. Simon also later admitted he felt left out when, while touring with Art at the time, he often stood off stage while Garfunkel took ovation after ovation at the end of “Bridge”, not pausing to acknowledge and cite Simon as the song’s composer. The various other covers of the ballad that followed probably made it hard for Paul to find his own space to try a hand at “Bridge”. While Simon did sneak a few of his solo versions on TV appearances after splitting with Art, even releasing a live version for 1974’s underrated Live Rhymin’, it was not until the early 1990s, around the time of Rhythm of The Saints, that there was enough space for Simon to experiment without the fear of comparison or competition.

Simon’s later live versions of “Bridge” for his August 1991 Central Park concert, and his 1992 performance on MTV Unplugged each feature Paul’s relaxed tenor, mixed with a jazz-style phrasing that recalls Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” singing style. What is also notable about Simon’s versions is that he appears to be blending his original arrangement with the style of my #1 pick on this list. The crucial key to Paul’s versions is the gospel flavor of pianist and longtime bandmate Richard Tee, whose blend of jazz and gospel informs the soulful rearrangement, especially at the song’s crescendo. Sadly, Tee’s Unplugged performance would be one of his last with Simon. He died in June 1993 of prostate cancer.

By the time Paul took to the stage on Saturday Night Live in October 2018 to perform a moving, string-based, version of “Bridge” (on his 77th birthday, no less), he had more than earned his place to not only be recognized as the songwriter but also as one of the perfect voices for his perfect ballad.

#2 — Roy Orbison

Considering that Elvis Presley famously called Roy “the greatest singer in the world”, I think he would appreciate this writer ranking The Big “O” over him. Orbison’s live performance of “Bridge”, performed while on tour in Australia in 1972, is not as well-known as some of the versions listed here. Still, Roy’s straightforward fidelity to Simon’s arrangement is a lovely tribute to the dramatic pop ballad strength of the original, just as Presley’s version was. Roy, an underrated songwriter in his own right, was not known much for covers, but when he did, his four-octave range and his soulful baritone made him a perfect ambassador for those songs blessed by his touch.

Even before covering “Bridge”, the S&G influence was clear in some of Orbison’s later songwriting. His 1967 ballad “Communication Breakdown” seemed to echo some of S&G’s pop ballads, just mixed in with Orbison’s recurring themes of lost romance.

#1 — Aretha Frankin

You can’t argue with legend status, pure vocal power, and the thoughts of Paul Simon himself.

Outside of Garfunkel’s version, Paul has often cited the Queen of Soul’s “Bridge”, recorded in concert for her 1971 landmark Live At The Filmore West, as his favorite cover, as recent as his wonderful interview with Stephen Colbert earlier this year. Aretha’s “Bridge” is certainly the one cover that, more than the others, has had the largest charge of fans proclaiming it superior to the original. I only slightly fall short of that agreement, but there is no doubt that as she did with “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”, Aretha took control of the song and pulled out the gospel roots that Simon himself sensed after he finished writing the song. While Simon felt Elvis’ version was hindered by copying the original form, Franklin restructured the arrangement for her version, especially with the addition of her piano playing, which had long been rooted in the gospel tradition.

There is also the matter of timing with Aretha’s version. Whereas most other covers of “Bridge” can easily emphasize the bonds of friendship and love. Aretha’s “Bridge” took that and added political flavor along with spiritual. Just as she turned “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” from a frustrated husband’s lament to a powerful anthem for the disenfranchised and abused, Franklin expanded the “Bridge” theme of friendship to serve as an open hand stretched out to a country in 1971 still battling the scars of racism and violence. By the time Aretha finishes singing, one senses that only the fearful and timid would even think about hesitating to cross any bridge if, on the other side, one saw Franklin’s strong and soothing persona that promises love and truth.

Nothing will replace what Art Garfunkel brought to my ears at age 11. However, more than the others listed, it’s fitting that one of the greatest voices America has ever produced comes closer than anyone else to snatching the crown of “definitive version” away from Ol' Artie.

In fact, to many ears, Aretha Franklin does exactly that.

Sincerely: Random Access Moods