The original idea was for
Art Garfunkel to record an album of songs written by
Jimmy Webb. But when the leadoff single, "Crying in My Sleep," failed to make the charts, Columbia Records withdrew the album and induced
Garfunkel to put together a cover of
Sam Cooke's "(What A) Wonderful World" with
Paul Simon and
James Taylor harmonizing. The single and a revised version of the album then made the Top 40. But
Watermark is still a
Garfunkel-Sings-
Webb album, except for one song. And the initial idea was a good one:
Garfunkel handles
Webb's wistful pop songs well, and he has made good choices from
Webb's songbook, dating back to the '60s, though avoiding his big bits. The result is
Garfunkel's most cohesive solo album. [The original version of
Watermark, on test pressings and only a very few commercial copies, was available briefly in October, 1977. The revised version, containing "[What A] Wonderful World," was released in January, 1978.] ~ William Ruhlmann