Is Paul Simon One of the Most Underrated Guitar Players Ever?

Paul Simon is well known for being one of the greatest songwriters of modern times, having penned a multitude of iconic hits including “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “Bridge over Troubled Water.” But his superlative talent as a folk guitarist is often overlooked.

Emerging from the American folk revival during the 1950s and performing under the name Tom and Jerry, Simon and Art Garfunkel released their debut album as Simon & Garfunkel – Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. – in 1964. Soon after, Simon traveled to England in pursuit of a solo career.

During this time, he also produced one of the greatest folk guitar albums of all time: Blues Run the Game by Jackson C. Frank. Fellow American Frank was a regular on the British folk circuit in the mid ‘60s – a scene that nurtured several groundbreaking guitarists.

Among these folk guitar luminaries were Bert Jansch and Davey Graham. Graham was perhaps the most influential of the bunch. Jansch’s cover of Graham’s acoustic instrumental classic “Angi” (spelled “Angie” on Jansch’s 1965 eponymous debut long-player) in turn inspired Simon to record the track (retitled “Anji”) for Simon & Garfunkel’s 1966 sophomore album, Sounds of Silence, following his return to the US.

In this clip filmed for television in 1967 at the UK’s Granada Studios, Simon is using a Guild acoustic to perform the number. According to Guild expert Hans Moust – who happens to be currently working on part two of his definitive publication The Guild Guitar Book – around this time, Simon was using a pair of special-order Guild F-30 flat-tops featuring ebony fingerboards along with rosewood backs and sides (as opposed to the regular F-30 specs of rosewood fingerboard and mahogany back and sides.)