Paul Simon - Bridge Over Troubled Water 1992

[@mjmsongs]

Richard Tee plays the piano I hear in my head. Thank you, sir.

[@production58]

There has never been and there may never be another player like Richard Tee.. so brilliant and so Music.. I’m happy I knew him and got to experience his vibe in New York..

[@patriziagaido2159]

Ma che meraviglia questo tastierista!!!!

[@PS_testing321...]

My first concert ever was Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour in 1983. I was 15. I started out with a bang!

[@Azabaxe80]

When I was in college I took what I thought was a gimme 3 credit course. Gospel performance. I can carry a tune, but soul is something that few people have, and being in that choir reminded me that I’m not one of them. I did get to sing behind bona fide gospel performers, and when you’re in the presence of one of those, you see magic happen. The choir director and professor for the class was pastor of a local church, and he paid close attention to the singers’ hands, because, to my surprise, they were not spastic manifestations of the Spirit, but rather detailed instructions that the Reverend relayed to us. Stop, slow down, faster, let’s go over that part again, the whole thing. The majority of us in the choir had never stepped into a Black church in our lives, and quite a few of us were Jewish, and we had to have all that explained to us. Real education. Anthropology at its best. Seeing Simon sing a gospel song is jarring, (never mind that he wrote it), because it took me back to my gospel experience. The way that Tee kept looking at him reminded me of how my old reverend professor looked at all those gospel singers back in the day. And Simon made hand gestures that I hope meant something, because, like me, he’s not part of that culture and the language doesn’t come naturally. Tee was masterful here, and he rewrote that tune in such a way that even the singer-composer had to do a new interpretation of his own song. Or maybe Tee finally materialized what Simon had had in his head when he first wrote the song.

[@MikeFloutier]

Magnificent, thank you! 🎹🥁etc🍾❤️

[@TCHNOSTRYKER]

Masterful song writing and masterful piano playing (if that is a good enough word for this masterpiece)

[@p0775567]

Ah! The original Mr. Tee

[@Ema1223y2j]

Brilliant composer; every song is Paul's...

[@WolfgangRP]

Too bad he pretty much gave up writing :(

[@thelevisullivan]

@@WolfgangRPHe just released an album of new material last year, Seven Psalms.

[@orbison]

When I think of Paul's version of BOTW, which is not bad (you have to say that since Art, Elvis, and Aretha have all fought to claim the definitive version.) I think of Mr. Tee's gospel flavored piano playing. It is sad that this was one of the last times Tee performed with Paul. He died in June 1993, a few months after this performance.

[@mirandac8712]

orbison Tee : Simon :: Preston : Beatles :)

[@VelvetPunk4life]

orbison Art's is the definitive version. I wish we had a long-lost demo of Paul singing it in the original key (not original-original) and full-length.

[@82706527]

Wow what a rendition-Mr. Tee totally off the chain + Mr. Gadd playing one-drop…pretty sick. They must’ve had an ambulance standing by…

[@ruiresende84]

Tee’s version is the best, instrumentally.. my opinion

[@cocolossal69]

@backinthefire1 Yep, mine too :)

[@enriquegutierrez873]

This is an Artie´s song no doubt about it

[@OscarDunn-yb9is]

It's good...but NO ONE does it better than Art Garfunkel....period...

[@tomelrick8609]

Richard Tee cooks this thing like a pot of Chili that has simmered to perfection on the stove top all afternoon....I mean man oh man....then add in that thumping bass line and Stevie G on the trap kit....there's no better back up for ANY singer...!!

[@patriziagaido2159]

Who Is playing keyboard? Great!!!!❤

[@csongormiklos5722]

Richard Tee, he was a genius.

[@godsbeautifulflatearth]

Basically Hammond Organ parts on Piano....🤔

[@VelvetPunk4life]

I have been analyzing the different versions Paul has released over the years, from Live Rhymin' to the Central Park show to this one and I can't really get behind any of them. Bridge was one of the most successful attempts at white gospel, if there ever was such a thing. To have included a gospel chorus and organ, etc., might have seemed like a cheap pastiche or imitation of the genre, and I'm glad they didn't use either for it. The Live Rhymin' version was released at a time when PS was still fascinated with gospel; listen to Still Crazy in places for reference. The 80s-90s rendition restored it to the key which we all know well, but added a full band and backing vocalists similar in nature to the Jessy Dixon Singers' participation in LR's version. I can't enjoy it too much because from that point forward, it sounds too much like a feel-good slow jam meant for the bedroom. At worst, it comes across as a gonzo Peter Gabriel So outtake. I can find some solace in this version as it eliminates the backing vocalists.

[@Lundy.Fastnet.Irish_Sea]

VelvetPunk4life The Paul versions I like the most of this song are the original-original version (the one with falsetto and different lyrics) and the Live Rhymin version. In the Live Rhymin, I can feel the gospel better than in more recent versions. For some reason, the gospel kept getting more "artificial" over the years.

[@ruiresende84]

VelvetPunk4life very nice analysis.. i only disagree i that the piano by Tee on this version is for me the best arrangement of the song.. the reggae bit is indeed a feel good slow jam thing that i dont appreciate.. but that piano...

[@production58]

And may I ask who you are to think that you’ve got the credit to put down something so wonderful as what we were just listening to.. every version has different vibes to it and every song can be done in many different ways especially when it’s your song.. so how about you doing something better?.. when was your last hit?