They remain one of the biggest-selling duos in history. “The Sounds of Silence” eventually became a worldwide hit, leading Simon & Garfunkel to reunite. That sound ended up becoming a signature for the group, as well as for the nascent folk rock genre. But then, without the duo’s knowledge, Wilson utilized some of Dylan’s electric musicians to add rock instrumentation to the acoustic album track, “The Sounds of Silence.” The tempo was reportedly so uneven that Wilson and engineer Roy Halee had to add large amounts of reverb in the mix to mask the overdub’s timing not matching well. Due to the album’s lack of success, Simon & Garfunkel unofficially broke-up following its release. I said to Albert Grossman, ‘If you put some background to this, you might have a white Ray Charles with a message.’”ĭuring this same period at Columbia, Wilson produced Simon & Garfunkel’s debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM. This guy, Dylan, played like the dumb guys, but then these words came out. I’d been recording Sun Ra and Coltrane, and I thought folk music was for the dumb guys. As quoted in Dylan’s Biograph box set, Wilson’s take on how Dylan went electric is compelling: “I didn’t even particularly like folk music. Perhaps most critically, Wilson produced the Dylan song that changed the course of rock music, “Like a Rolling Stone,” with its merger of folk and rock. Wilson went on to produce both of Dylan’s two follow-up albums: Another Side of Bob Dylan and Bringing It All Back Home. While at Columbia, Wilson produced Bob Dylan’s breakthrough album The Times They Are a-Changin’. During that period, he even scrapped an early session by John Coltrane.įollowing Transition, after its bankruptcy two years later, Wilson became the first Black staff producer ever at Columbia Records (now Sony Music). At the age of 24, Wilson produced and released the debut albums of two of the biggest names ever in jazz: bandleader and Afrofuturism pioneer Sun Ra, and pianist Cecil Taylor. In doing so, he was the secret force that launched two of the biggest superstars of the rock era: Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.Ī towering 6-foot-4, Wilson grew up in racially segregated Waco, Texas.Īfter graduating cum laude from Harvard University, Wilson started Transition Records in 1955. Wilson acted as midwife for the major musical movements above, as well as free jazz. That an African American man played a massive and pivotal role in three seminal musical forms seemingly dominated by Caucasian artists – folk rock, prog rock, and proto-punk – is one of the most tragically untold stories in popular music’s history.ĭespite his life being cut short by a heart attack at age 47 in Los Angeles, Mr. Tom Wilson at Mayfair Recording Studios Times Square, New York City.
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