Simon & Garfunkel perform Scarborough Fair & Punky’s Dilemma on Fred Astaire TV Special from 1968
Stratovision Media Stratovision Media
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 Published On Mar 21, 2023

A very cool clip from a 1968 TV show (with Fred Astaire hosting) of S&G performing (miming to) Scarborough Fair/Canticle. Although unfortunately there is no footage of S&G actually performing or even miming to Punky's Dilemma this versions audio is completely different from the official version found on Bookends. This version of Punky’s has some nice added vocals, added harmony parts and is a completely different mix!

If only their performance of America was included!

Below is a description of the TV show from 1968.

Fred Astaire hosts this surreal 1968 song-and-dance special which is informed by the psychedelic influences of the era. Highlights include the following: an opening dance number by Astaire and Barrie Chase on a set which contains oversized flower petals; the Young-Holt Trio perform "Mellow Yellow" accompanied by Astaire's dancing; Chase and the Herb Ross Dancers perform in front of abstract wooden sculptures to a haunting and distorted version of "Eleanor Rigby"; Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 perform "A Few of My Favorite Things" while a woman in a genie outfit kneels beside Mendes' piano bench; Astaire, smoking a cigar, wearing a fake beard and moustache, joins Chase to perform a comic dance to "The Look of Love," while surrounded by a bevy of female Herb Ross dancers wearing sparkling outfits; Simon & Garfunkel perform "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" and "America"; Simon & Garfunkel then sing "Punky's Dilemma" -- Simon's elliptical ode to a floating cornflake -- as Astaire and Chase perform a soporific dance while garbed like futuristic flower children; Astaire, Chase, and the Herb Ross Dancers then perform a number to "Limehouse Blues," on a set that approximates a Western town which glitters inexplicably; Astaire sings the songs "Shootin' Box in Scotland" (Cole Porter), "I Love to Quarrel with You" (Irving Berlin), "Look to the Rainbow," and "When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich." The host then sings a traditional version of "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails," before dancing to an updated version of the song with the help of "the groovy sound of The Gordian Knot." The Gordian Knot -- five musicians wearing white turtlenecks and beads -- perform on a scaffold in front of a wall covered by large flowers while Astaire dances below in formal attire. Astaire concludes the program by thanking his guests. Includes commercials.

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