''Lefty'' is the seventh solo studio album by
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 h ...
, released in 1988. The album features three songs by singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop.
The album's cover photo shows a pre-teen Art Garfunkel holding a baseball bat in the front yard of his childhood home in the
Forest Hills section of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It was taken by his brother Jules.
The album title came from the fact that Garfunkel is left-handed, which the picture established.
The album failed to make the Top 100 in the US (charting at 134) and hit the bottom half of the UK Top 100. Despite this, it yielded three minor hit singles.
The liner notes of the album contain a brief prose text Garfunkel had written in memory of his partner
Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird (September 26, 1953 – June 15, 1979) was an American film actress and photographer. She appeared in three films during the 1970s. Two of them were directed by Monte Hellman. She was romantically involved with Hellman and Art G ...
who had committed suicide in 1979. The album marked a new beginning in Garfunkel's professional life after becoming somewhat of a
recluse
A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...
following the tragedy.
Track listing
# "This Is the Moment" (
David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...
,
Cynthia Weil
Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann.
Life and career
Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Weil ...
, Linda Jenner,
Ray Parker Jr.) – 4:31
# "I Have a Love" (
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
,
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
) – 4:28
# "
So Much in Love
"So Much in Love" is a song written by George Williams and Bill Jackson, and arranged by Roy Straigis. It was originally performed by the Tymes and was the group's first hit single, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart on August 3, 19 ...
" (
George Williams, Bill Jackson, Roy Straigis) – 2:24
# "Slow Breakup" (
Stephen Bishop) – 3:46
# "Love Is the Only Chain" (
Mary Ann Kennedy,
Pam Rose
Pam Rose is an American country music songwriter. In her career, she has been a member of the groups Calamity Jane and Kennedy Rose, both times pairing with fellow songwriter Mary Ann Kennedy. Rose's co-writing credits include the Grammy Award- ...
,
Pat Bunch
Pat Bunch is an American country music songwriter. Much of her earlier chart hits resulted from collaborations with fellow songwriters Mary Ann Kennedy and Pam Rose. Since 1995 Bunch has also had multiple chart successes co-writing with Doug Jo ...
) – 4:07
# "
When a Man Loves a Woman" (Calvin Lewis, Andrew Wright) – 4:30
# "I Wonder Why" (Bill Lovelady,
Marita Phillips
Marita Georgina Knight (''née'' Phillips; formerly Crawley; born 28 May 1954 in London, England) is a British songwriter and author.
Her lyrics have been recorded by artists such as Peter Skellern, Demis Roussos, William Lovelady and Art Garfu ...
,
Peter Skellern
Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart - " You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature use of b ...
) – 3:22
# "King of Tonga" (Bishop) – 3:27
# "If Love Takes You Away" (Bishop) – 3:47
# "The Promise" (Nick Holmes) – 3:57
Personnel
Musicians
*
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 h ...
– vocals
*
Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...
– drums
*
Joe Osborn
Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018[Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...](_blank)
–
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
*
Hugh McCracken
Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...
– guitar
*
Del Newman
Derrick Martin "Del" Newman (5 October 1930 – 10 August 2020) was a British conductor, orchestral arranger and music producer. His orchestral arrangements appeared on songs by many rock and pop artists from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Ca ...
–
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
,
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
, woodwind
*
Robert Sabino
Robert Sabino is an American rock keyboardist.(14 July 1996)Star Turns From a Home in the Firehouse ''The New York Times'' ("Mr. Sabino, a well-known keyboardist, attracted a record producer, Nile Rodgers, who lived in Fairfield County, to some o ...
–
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
*
Stephen Bishop –
omnichord
The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
*
Eddie Gómez
Edgar Gómez (born October 4, 1944) is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist, known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1966 to 1977.
Biography
Gómez moved with his family from Puerto Rico at a young age to New York, where he was raised. ...
– acoustic bass
* Jeremy Steig –
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
*
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
–
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
*
Leah Kunkel – backing vocals
*
Kenny Rankin
Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin would often sing notes in a high range to express emotion.
Biogr ...
– backing vocals
* Pam Rose – backing vocals
* Mary Ann Kennedy – backing vocals
* Robbie Buchanan – synthesizer (1, 3)
*
David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...
– synthesizer (1, 3)
*
Jay Graydon
Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) wi ...
– synthesizer (1, 3), guitar (1, 3)
* Gary Chang – synclavier (1, 3)
*
Steve Lukather
Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...
– guitar (1, 3)
*
Clif Magness
Clifton “Clif” Magness is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for co-writing and producing several tracks on Avril Lavigne’s 2002 debut album, '' Let Go'' including the song "Losing Grip". ...
- backing vocals (1, 3)
* Jon Joyce - backing vocals (1, 3)
*
Jim Haas
James Edwin Haas was an American singer who performed vocals for many artists including Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Pink Floyd, and Barry Manilow. Leif Garrett, after Haas' death, explained that in ...
- backing vocals (1, 3)
Production
*
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...
– producer (2, 4-7, 9, 10), engineer (2, 4-10)
* Art Garfunkel – producer (2, 4-7, 9, 10)
* Jay Graydon – producer (1, 3), engineer (1, 3)
* Steve Gadd – producer (8)
* Stuart Breed – engineer (2, 4-10)
* Ian Eales – engineer (1, 3)
*
Mick Guzauski – engineer (1, 3)
*
Doug Sax
Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...
– mastering
* Ron Lewter – mastering
* Chris Austropchuk – cover design
* Jules Garfunkel – photography (front cover)
* Caroline Greyshock – photography (back cover)
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
1988 albums
Art Garfunkel albums
Columbia Records albums
Albums produced by Geoff Emerick
Albums produced by Art Garfunkel
Albums produced by Richard Perry