Roy Halee
2021Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
Charles Grodin
Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
“Songs of America” shows the two on stage, in the studio and on a concert tour across a turbulent country. Their ambitious Bridge Over Troubled Water album had yet to be released and the glorious title song was heard here by the general public for the very first time. The program showed news clips of labor leader/activist Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, the Poor People’s Campaign’s march on Washington, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, JFK and Robert Kennedy and other events that were emblematic of the era. “Songs of America” was originally sponsored by the Bell Telephone Company, but the execs there got cold feet when they saw what they’d paid for—legend has it that they looked at the footage of JFK, RFK and MLK during the (powerful!) “Bridge Over Troubled Water” segment (approx 12 minutes in) and asked for more Republicans! (Not assassinated Republicans, just more Republicans...you know, for balance!) The special was eventually picked up by CBS.
Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
The Harmony Game
Jennifer Lebeau
Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
The end of a decade when the world was in crisis and inspiration and hope needed resurrecting, an influential duo released a masterpiece of popular music, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Through darkness and light, the album takes its listeners on an emotional ride echoing the era and one which continues to inspire an audience the world over 40 years later. Its symphonic hymn of a title track became an anthem for a generation. The Harmony Game tells the story behind what is widely considered Simon and Garfunkel's best work, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The influential duo's last studio album has its legacy shrouded in rock n' roll mythology with legendary tales of inspiration, innovation and separation. Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and their collaborators share the journey in their own words and reflect back on its impact 40 years later and includes never before seen film, photos and memorabilia.
The Harmony Game
Classic Albums: Paul Simon - Graceland
Jeremy Marre
Paul Simon, Ray Phiri
Singer-songwriter Paul Simon had been on the cutting-edge of pop music throughout most of the 1960s and the '70s, first as half of the seminal folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, and then as a well-received solo artist. But the rise of 1980s rock and new wave saw a decline in Simon's commercial success, and the singer responded by experimenting with different musical styles--most notably, world beat--that culminated in his adventurous 1986 masterpiece GRACELAND. The album's fusion of American folk-rock songwriting and buoyant South African rhythms not only broke new ground in pop music, but became Simon's biggest-selling solo record. This episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series examines the making of Simon's groundbreaking work through interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, music videos, and live performances of album tracks such as "Boy in the Bubble," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," "You Can Call Me Al," and "Under African Skies."
Classic Albums: Paul Simon - Graceland
Log Rollers
Mannie Davis
Roy Halee
Heckle and Jeckle, the talking magpies, are in need of upgraded-housing and decide to help themselves to the logs and lumber laying unused in Big Pierre's lumber yard. Big Pierre thinks this a bit high-handed on the part of the two birds, and his objections leads to several battles and mêlées, which leads to a big explosion which causes the logs to fall and form a house. But the house collapses, and Heckle and Jeckle shrug it off and depart the premises.
Log Rollers
Little Anglers
Connie Rasinski
Roy Halee, Doug Moye
Papa Bear is off for a relaxing day of fishing at the lake, but he is followed by his little cubs, who proceed to make his day miserable. They catch more fish than he does and use unconventional ways to do it, and they are also responsible for him getting dunked in the water several times.
Little Anglers
Growing Pains
Eddie Donnelly
Roy Halee, Philip A. Scheib
After watching a television commercial, Papa Bear decides to take up gardening but has more than his share of problems. The little bears give him a bag of 'speedy-grow' in stead of weed-killer, and the weeds thrive and take over his garden. Worms are feasting on his tomato crop, and the anti-worm spray he uses engulfs him rather than the vines. Papa Bear, worn-out, in pain and bandaged, is in his easy-chair when the same commercial, that earlier had inspired him, comes on again, and the angry bear rips open the television set and throttles the announcer.
Growing Pains
Satisfied Customers
Connie Rasinski
Roy Halee
Heckle and Jeckle, the talking Magpies, are running rampant and causing much havoc in a supermarket mush to the dismay of the proprietor. Seveal wild chase ensue, with the store owner on the short end of most of them, until all three are caught inside of a giant soap bubble and carried skyward. The bubble bursts, and H & J are returned to the cartoonist's inkwell.
Satisfied Customers
Duck Fever
Connie Rasinski
Roy Halee, Philip A. Scheib
Papa Bear, his cubs and the Hound Dog go duck hunting and, as usual, the experts (Papa and the dog) have nothing but misadventures, while the amateur hunters bag all the ducks. When Papa returns home, empty-handed, angry and frustrated, he throws the ammunition into the fireplace, followed by a barrage of bullets firing upward through the chimney and bringing down a flock of ducks that were flying overhead.
Duck Fever
A Howling Success
Connie Rasinski
Roy Halee, Doug Moye
A favorite plot at the studio: a character running around the house being terrorized mostly by his own imagination. A sure-fire setup for freak-out animation by Jim Tyer, Carlo Vinci, Conrad "Connie" Rasinski (the director, after whose dog "Pago" was named) and Paul Sommer.
A Howling Success