Simon and Garfunkel/Tokyo,Japan 1982 3Days

Simon & Garfunkel disbanded in 1970, but although they continued to meet at events and TV recordings, they did not restart in earnest until 1981. For that reason, the reunion live tour that took place from 1981 to 1983 has historical significance. During those three years, I think the happiest time was the performance in Japan. Although they raised the alarm of a revival with a spectacular Central Park concert, the three years ended with album production stalling and a quarrel breaking up. That is why the 1982 performance in Japan looks even more glorious. Today, I can't help but feel that the position has changed a bit, but for Japanese people at the time, S&G was a symbol of the glorious youth pop music of the 1960s (an era in which the term "rock" was not often used), and the British representative was the Beatles. If that's the case, S&G will represent America. Despite not being able to come to Japan in real time, more than ten years have passed since their disbandment, and even more so, when their influence and popularity has increased due to a revival, they have restarted and performed in Japan. It created a huge fever (an expression that is no longer used anymore, haha) that gripped Japan. For this reason, S&G's hospitality for visitors to Japan is VIP level. Paul, who had already visited Japan as a solo artist, and Art, who had actually come to Japan privately in the late 1970s, would not have felt bad about the hospitality. As a result, I was surprised to hear that I was allowed to interview not only when I arrived at the airport, but also on the platform while traveling on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. It would be unthinkable now for someone as big as they were, but back then, adults were not too fussy about their affairs, and they probably felt better about the hospitality they received. In fact, the expressions on both of their faces were surprisingly peaceful. Regarding the Japan performance in 1982, which can be called the glorious days of this reunion, the sound sources of all performances have been released as items to date, and there is a track record of all releases except for the first day, May 7th. The only Days items that are still available today are items from the second day in Osaka on the 8th (I'll touch on that later), and the three days in Tokyo were reported to be ``more relaxed'' by the media, who were reporting on the situation at the time. As for ``AT KORAKUEN'', a luxurious set released 10 years ago that recorded all three performances with the best audience, it has been sold out for a long time, and there have been constant requests for reissues among enthusiasts. That was finally realized, but due to the high quality of the sound, we didn't make any changes to the sound source this time either. Even so, it has been remade from the master and will be released as a 2018 version, which is not just a reissue. Regarding the second day of the Osaka performance that I mentioned earlier, the two fulfilling items from ZION continue to be well received. This is also the best audience “AT OSAKA STADIUM” and the soundboard recording “EASTBOUND” that appeared nearly 10 years ago. I thought that the second day in Osaka and the performance in Japan in 1982 would be decided by the appearance of the latter, but the original was a sound board recording using a cassette with PA out. This is a familiar recording format for ZEP, but this type of sound source has the disadvantage that the sense of realism is inevitably diluted. Moreover, it is true that most of the enthusiasts who were present at Osaka Stadium in May 1982 said, ``It's different from the sound and enthusiasm I heard that day.'' In addition, benefiting from the era when recording equipment was developed, the value of the audience recording "AT OSAKA STADIUM" has never faded, which was an unexpected result. Rather, for the Tokyo performance where the sound board was not discovered, the demand for “AT KORAKUEN” increased even more, and as a result, it was sold out. S&G's revival live performance was held for three consecutive days at the nostalgic Korakuen Stadium. It is the audience recording that takes you back in time to the days of fever (lol) at that stadium. It is an audience recording with very wonderful sound quality for all three days, but the first day is the most powerful. The sound image was truly on throughout the show, and it was at the highest level as an audience recording at an outdoor stadium at the time. Furthermore, the way the two of them listened to a broken Japanese MC immediately after the show started, which caused a lot of attention when it was released 10 years ago, gave the impression to the media that they were ``more relaxed than Osaka.'' I think that may be a factor in why I gave it to you. It would also be similar to the fact that Paul was about to burst out in the middle of “Mrs. Robinson”. On the second day, there was a lot of clapping at the beginning of the show, and the performance seemed to be pushed back a bit. However, it becomes easier to listen to "Scarbough Fair", which is popular in Japan and has a quiet performance. On this day, Paul's tension was the highest among the three days, and after singing "Sakura Sakura" in a blur, he sang "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" unusually intensely. Furthermore, in front of ``The Late Great Johnny Ace,'' he tried to somehow communicate with the Japanese audience, who had difficulty communicating in English. And perhaps because the third day is the last day, the clapping is loud throughout, but the great thing about this sound source is that it still has high quality sound. What's more, this day was the day when a surprise event occurred, Paul's "One Trick Pony", which seemed to be the only performance during the reunion tour. At the time, it must have had a strong image as the title song of an album that was already underperforming in terms of sales, but it is strange that it was only played on this day for some reason. However, most of the musicians who participated in the recording of the song were on the stage that day, and it was a special number that was presumed to have had enough time to perform suddenly. This may have been a service that Paul was aware of on the last day of the tour. After all, the sound source has been sold out for a long time, so I think there are many enthusiasts who will hear it for the first time with this release. Since "AT KORAKUEN" has not been available on the second-hand market, this release is all the more highly anticipated. That enthusiastic Stadium Days has been reborn and will appear for the first time in a while. Korakuen Stadium, Tokyo, Japan 10th, 11th & 12th May 1982 TRULY PREFECT SOUND(from Original Masters)Live at Korakuen Stadium, Tokyo, Japan 10th May 1982 Disc 1(51:58) 1. Intro. 2. Mrs. Robinson 3. Homeward Bound 4. America 5. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard 6. Scarbough Fair 7. My Little Town 8. Wake Up Little Susie 9. Still Crazy After All These Years 10. Bright Eyes 11. Late In The Evening 12. Slip Slidin' Away 13. El Condor Pasa 14. Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover Disc 2 (47:30) 1. The Late Great Johnny Ace 2. American Tune 3. Kodachrome/Mabellene4. Bridge Over Troubled Water 5. The Boxer 6. Old Friends/Bookends7. 59th Street Bridge Song 8. The Sound Of Silence 9. Late In The Evening Live at Korakuen Stadium, Tokyo, Japan 11th May 1982 Disc 3(56:02) 1. Intro 2. Mrs. Robinson 3. Homeward Bound 4. America 5. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard6. Scarbough Fair 7. My Little Town 8. Wake Up Little Susie 9. Still Crazy After All These Years 10. Bright Eyes 11. Late In The Evening 12. Slip Slidin' Away 13. El Condor Pasa 14. Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover 15. American Tune Disc 4(40:05) 1. MC 2. The Late Great Johnny Ace 3. Kodachrome/Mabellene 4. Bridge Over Troubled Water 5. The Boxer 6. Old Friends/Bookends 7. 59th Street Bridge Song 8. The Sound Of Silence 9. Late In The Evening Live at Korakuen Stadium, Tokyo, Japan 12th May 1982 Disc 5(46: 13) 1. Mrs. Robinson 2. Homeward Bound 3. America 4. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard 5. Scarbough Fair 6. My Little Town 7. Wake Up Little Susie 8. Still Crazy After All These Years 9. Bright Eyes 10. Late In The Evening 11. Slip Slidin' Away 12. El Condor Pasa Disc 6(51:52) 1. Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover 2. American Tune 3. One Trick Pony 4. Kodachrome/Mabellene 5. Bridge Over Troubled Water 6. The Boxer 7. Old Friends/Bookends 8. 59th Street Bridge Song 9. The Sound Of Silence 10. Late In The Evening