1964

When Paul Simon first arrived in Britain in the mid-1960s, he was still an emerging American songwriter searching for inspiration. What he found was Martin Carthy, one of England’s most respected folk musicians — and a traditional ballad called “Scarborough Fair” that would soon become famous around the world.

Carthy says he taught the song to Simon in 1964, years before iconic folk duo Simon & Garfunkel turned it into their haunting hit “Scarborough Fair/Canticle.” But what started as a friendly exchange of songs became one of the longest misunderstandings in folk history.

A new interview with The Times tells the story,

"When Paul Simon passed through Britain in 1964, Carthy taught him 'Scarborough Fair' as well. It led to bad blood between the two for years, with Carthy believing the New York songwriter had stolen his arrangement for the Simon & Garfunkel classic 'Scarborough Fair' / 'Canticle.'”

For decades, the British musician quietly carried that frustration, convinced that Simon had lifted his version of the song. But time — and a closer listen — changed everything.
“He actually wrote a song in tribute to 'Scarborough Fair,' he didn’t steal my arrangement, and if I had bothered to listen to his version for 30 seconds, I would have realised,” Carthy admitted. “Paul is an entirely honourable person.”

“Scarborough Fair” has its own long, winding story. Simon learned the centuries-old ballad from Carthy while visiting London in 1965, and Carthy had first picked it up years earlier from a folk songbook by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. When Simon & Garfunkel reimagined it as “Scarborough Fair" / "Canticle” — pairing it with anti-war lyrics from Simon’s earlier “The Side of a Hill” — it became one of their signature songs, later featured in The Graduate. The duo’s version credited only themselves as writers, which initially upset Carthy, but the two men ultimately reconciled when Simon invited him to perform the song with him in London in 2000.

JUNE 1964

JULY 1964

01 july

London Angleterre

At Floksong El Torro

09 july

London Angleterre

Bunjies

?? july

London Angleterre

Folk Club

AUGUST 1964

Flamingo Club

DATE UNKNOW 1964

Queen's College

Folk festival

Folk festival

Folk festival

Folk club

Cross Keys

1965

Paul Simon with Leonard Bernstein (the most influential American conductors and composers of the 20th century)

JANUARY 1965

Paul Simon with Georges Chatelain (Musician, producer and Sound engineer (founding the famous CBE recording studio in Paris in 1966)

Folk Club

Geoff Speed's Folk Club

Local Folk Club

The Three Horseshoes

Am FIVE to TEN

The 3 Horseshoes

Starr Inn / Polytechnic Flok Club

Fisherman's Cot

The Student Prince Folk Club

The Roundhouse

BBC

The Roundhouse

26 jan

London

The City Temple Hall

JULY 1965

??? July

Swansea Angleterre

Swansea University

??? July

Exeter Angleterre

Newhayse House

??? July

Exeter Angleterre

El Zamba Café

 

??? July

Exeter Angleterre

King's Arms

??? July

Edingburg Castle

??? July

Sidmouth Angleterre

Local Folk Club

??? July

Budleigh Angleterre

Dukes Head Folk Club

??? July

Tiverton Angleterre

Dukes Head Folk Club

23 july

London

25 july

Lindon

London

London

Cambridge Angleterre

Folk Festival

AUGUST 1965

??? aug

London Angleterre

Flamingo Club

20 aug

London Angleterre

Catford Railway

21 aug

Angleterre

Les Cousins

24 aug

Angleterre

25 aug

Barking Angleterre

30 aug

Beshill On Sea Angleterre

De La Warr Pavillon

Folk Festival

SEPTEMBER 1965

16 sept

21 sept

City ?? England

Stevenage Bowes Lyon House

OCTOBER 1965

Birmingham Angleterre

Jug O'Punch

08 oct

Angleterre

The Minor Bird

 

18 oct

London

BBC

22 oct

Hampstead Angleterre

The 3 Horseshows

27 oct

London Angleterre

Leduce

NOVEMBER 1965

??? nov

Harlem Holland

Waaggebouw

DECEMBER 1965

01 dec

Haarlem

Waag Haarlem (Pays Bas)

Sinterklaas visits Paul Simon and Cobi Schreijer

23 dec

London Angleterre

Les Cousins