Biography
Eddie Simon, younger sibling of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon, pursued an alternate path in music shaped by talents that surfaced at an unusually early age. Widely regarded as the more instinctive player of the two, he had already mastered guitar and begun classical study at a point when Paul Simon was still searching for a suitable instrument and ultimately chose the guitar. Physically nearly identical to his celebrated brother—enough that fans occasionally mobbed him for photographs under the mistaken belief he was Paul—Eddie Simon also matched him closely as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He first stepped into public view unobtrusively, serving in a support role during Simon & Garfunkel’s final tours. In 1967 he took part in the earliest planning of the folk-rock ensemble Wings, whose original members included former Spanky & Our Gang vocalist Oz Bach and Pam Robins, once of the Serendipity Singers; Jim Mason had already taken Simon’s place by the time the band stabilized and entered the studio. The following year he participated in the Guild Light Cage, a short-lived unit that issued the single “The 14th Annual Fun And Pleasure Fair” backed with “Cloudy,” the latter written by Paul Simon. Throughout the 1970s Eddie Simon built a thriving teaching practice at New York’s Guitar Study Center and reportedly worked in radio as well. He has since appeared in multiple documentaries devoted to Simon & Garfunkel and to Paul Simon, as well as in numerous print profiles of his brother’s career.
Singles
