Hey. I was going through some old sheet music and came across the original Bridge Over Troubled Water written by Paul Simon and sung by Artie Garfunkle. I have always loved the gospel feel of this song and the sheet music is very accurate how's it's played on the original studio recording. The date on the music is 1969 and I got it about 1975. Still in good condition and I have started learning it, although it is not easy to sight read, for ma anyway.

Has anyone here learned it? If so, how long did it take you to memorize it? When Simon and Garfunkle played the famous NYC concert in Central Park years ago, the piano player onboard was the late great session player Richard Tee. I don't have the record, only an MP3 of the tune, but I heard that Richard Tee did not play on the studio version.

Does anyone know who the piano player was on the studio version? IMHO, BOTW was one of the greatest songs ever written by Paul Simon, his masterpiece and he has written hit after hit, he is such a prolific composer and performer.

Thanks for your help

katt

Larry Knechtel, one of a brilliant, versatile group of LA session musicians called "The Wrecking Crew." You can learn more about them here. The story behind the group is mindblowing, and there's a documentary movie out about them as well.

What are you actually asking???

1. yes.

2. about 1/2 hour.

3. Larry Knechtel.

Thanks for the link. I remember hearing the about the studio pianist Larry Knechtel and didn't know he was the player on BOTW. Cool

katt

Great article , thanks/.

JP, I don't get your question what I'm asking, it's in black and white. Are you being sarcastic or something?. If so, don't respond when someone on the forum here asks for help or information. Sorry if I'm missing your point dude
katt

J, where can I find the documentry you recommend?

katt

The URL for it is:

http://www.wreckingcrew.tv/

It doesn't have a theatrical release yet, though.

COOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL, man, COOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
LUV it

katt
thanx again

Sorry about that, Katt - honestly no offence was intended.

I just noticed that I posted that at 11.15pm on Thursday - and that particular night

I was 'led astray' by some pals (ok, we got very drunk!), and having re-read it I can see

that it may have come across as a bit flippant. As I said, no sarcasm was meant.

John.

No prob -- it's the most amazing story when you think about it.

Other areas of the country with major music scenes have similar stories. Nashville is the same way. They had a similar group of go-to people who played on everything there that got dubbed the A Team. And Motown is amazing -- VAST amounts of music came out of Detroit, vast. And the same people played on every single one of those recordings. That group was called the Funk Brothers, and I think there is a doco about them already that can be bought on Amazon.com.

The big thing about the Wrecking Crew was the breadth of music they worked with. They would flip from Dean Martin to Tina Turner to Cher, Lalo Schifrin, and a commercial jingle without breaking a sweat.

Ok, JP, you was a bit blitzed that night, I've been there, so thanks for the explanation. I really want to see the Wrecking Crew documentary which will feature Larry K on piano. Hopefully he'll play BOTW on the acoustic grand as a demo. Looking forward to seein' it. If anyone here has already seen it, please gives us a review.

later dude

katt

Katt,

This is a version I did a while ago. Let me know what you think.

http://www.box.net/shared/dc2uqqexfl

Manndrew

Hey Manndrew. Very nice work and sensitive feel on your interpretation of BOTW, shorthand, hehe. So tell us, what kind of keyboard you played it on (acoustic/digital piano), did you learn it off the sheet music and record or both, and how long did it take you to get it down? How did you record it, GarageBand, Logic, Mac/PC?

I'm working on it myself, listening to the record and reading through it, but trying to interpret the piece in my own way. As I listen to the original version laid down by the great session pianist Larry Knechtel, I'm wondering if Paul Simon had a note for note chart or if he just handed Larry a basic map of the tune and asked him to come up with something creative. As a pianist/keyboardist myself, I have always been impressed with the emotional overtone that the song conveys each time I hear it and sit down to play it.

BTW, what I am attempting to do is play through 8 bars at a time, getting the fingerings and phrasing down and then memorize in 8 bar sections. Almost there.

Thanks for sharing it here at the forum. Fine work!!!

katt

Katt,

I played and recorded this on a Roland FP-7 and then transferred it to a Zoom recorder. Then I normalized the recording with Audacity software. I have played BOTW off and on for several years and never really completed the song until I recorded it in February. I wanted to play it straight forward with a few little touches and used the version found in a S&G anthology. Actually, I prefer the keyboard work from the central park concert. I forget who did that. Good luck Katt. I always get a warm fuzzy feeling when I play this.

Manndrew

I played the FP-7 at GC and was very impressed with the sounds, user friendly and most of all, great feel on the keyboard action. It has a real sturdy, solid casing, great for live gigs. A little heavy though for my back muscles, 50 lbs+, but...

In reference to the S&G concert at Central Park, the famous session keyboardist Richard Tee was the guy in the band.

IMHO, it does a fine job sampling an acoustic grand, very warm, not tinny sound. Do you use it for live gigs and have a stereo speaker system to run it through?

katt

Katt,

Sad to say I don't do too many gigs these days and so far I don't have any kind of speaker system for the FP-7. It's basically a stay-at-home toy.

Manndrew

Unfortunately, Larry Knechtel just passed away on Thursday in Washington state at the age of 69.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/08/21/award-winning-musician-dies

His Wikipedia entry lists a very impressive list of career accomplishments.

Damn. :-(

Was anyone able to view the trailer? I get a quick flash then nothing?

Wow...that was pretty neat...

How long have you been playing?

Never mind. It's a FireFox issue for me.

Ray, Let's put it this way, I began playing the piano when a candy bar was 5 cents. It's been off and on since then. Thanks for listening.

Manndrew

FWIW, the guy who made the film is pushing HARD for a theatrical release. If you haven't signed up for the outtakes on the website, def do so. They're great, and he can use the numbers as proof that there's a big audience for a release. The whole story is so amazing.

This is a bit ironic on the timing I posted the thread regarding the pianist Larry Knechtel who played the great intro of BOTW, and just last week he passed on at age 69. A little young to make the final exit in this day, but we all have a number assigned to us for our demise and playing the final bar when we are born. I imagine Larry is jammin' with Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, and Jaco Pastoruis at the big gig on number 9 cloud 9.

Sad, but at least we have many recordings that Larry K left us to enjoy and learn from.

katt

Seems to work now. But it's brief.