Columbia Records

==== Simon & Garfunkel ====
Arguably the most commercially successful Columbia pop act of this period, other than Bob Dylan, was Simon & Garfunkel. The duo scored a surprise No. 1 hit in 1965 when Columbia producer [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]], inspired by the folk-rock experiments of Dylan, The Byrds and others, added drums and bass to the duo's earlier recording of "[[The Sound of Silence]]" without their knowledge or approval. Indeed, the duo had already broken up some months earlier, discouraged by the poor sales of their debut LP, and [[Paul Simon]] had relocated to the UK, where he only found out about the single being a hit via the music press. The dramatic success of the song prompted Simon to return to the US; the duo reformed, and they soon became one of the flagship acts of the [[folk-rock]] boom of the mid-1960s. Their next album, ''[[Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme]]'', went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' album chart. The duo subsequently had a Top 20 single, "[[A Hazy Shade of Winter]]", but progress slowed during 1966–67 as Simon struggled with writer's block and the demands of constant touring. They shot back to the top in 1968 after Simon agreed to write songs for the [[Mike Nichols]] film ''[[The Graduate]]''. The resulting single, "[[Mrs. Robinson]]", became a smash hit. Both ''The Graduate'' soundtrack and Simon & Garfunkel's next studio album, ''[[Bookends (album)|Bookends]]'', were major hits on the album chart, with combined total sales in excess of five million copies. Simon and Garfunkel's fifth and final studio album, ''[[Bridge over Troubled Water]]'' (1970), reached number one in the US album charts in January 1970 and became one of the most successful albums of all time.<ref name="bridge">{{cite web|last1=Eder|first1=Bruce|title=Bridge Over Troubled Water|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bridge-over-troubled-water-mw0000191730|website=AllMusic|access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref>