Recording artists were expected back in the day to crank out three or four singles per year, plus a couple of albums. This Simon and Garfunkel single was their sole 1969 release of any kind. It took over 100 hours to record; most of the vocals were done in St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in NYC for its acoustics, with some music tracks in Nashville. That thundering snare drum was played by Hal Blaine in front of an open elevator door to get the desired echo from the shaft. Paul Simon said the lines about workmen’s wages and seeking out the poorer quarters came from the Bible. There was a lost verse, deleted for time constraints. Simon occasionally included that verse when he performed the song in concert.
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