Angel Clare

"Traveling Boy" was the third single of the album and the opening track. Written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, the song tells the story of a young man heading for the road, leaving a lover behind. The opening track piano riff was made by Larry Knechtel, with J.J. Cale performing the guitar solo. Garfunkel took three takes on the vocal, the first two failing because he couldn't keep his voice loud enough during the first middle eight. Sally Stevens performs the soprano note at the start of the guitar solo.

"Down in the Willow Garden", the second track, was a country classic popularized by singer-songwriter Charlie Monroe, about a young man who kills his lover in the town's willow garden, and the events that follow, from his attempts to hide the body to his father's hypocritical advice and, finally, his own demise. Paul Simon sang harmony on the final verse and chorus with Garfunkel, along with Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead playing lead guitar (overdubbed later by Roy Halee in San Francisco). Garfunkel went on to say it was one of his favourite country songs and loved working with Simon again. Garcia, however, was less pleased with the results, referring to his contribution as "an overdub in a sea of overdubs" and expressing his dismay at not having been allowed any improvisational freedom.Trager, Oliver. The American Book of the Dead. Simon & Schuster, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-684-814-025}}.

The third track, "I Shall Sing", was released as the second single from the album. The calypso based song (which would later be a hit for Boney M),{{cite web|url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/7526/premiere-van-morrison-i-shall-sing/|title=Premiere: Van Morrison – I Shall Sing|first=Danny|last=Ecclestone|date=October 3, 2013|accessdate=December 3, 2018}} written by Van Morrison, was changed from calypso to a Latin beat by Jim Gordon, with Milt Holland providing the prominent percussion (namely agogo bells, timbales and maracas), Joe Osborn on bass and Jules Broussard performing the saxophone solo, based on an Antônio Carlos Jobim song that he had heard early that year.

"Old Man" was the most controversial track of the album because of Garfunkel's interpretation of the song. Garfunkel himself admitted that he tended, in those days, to listen to the melody before the words and so was quite happy to embed a strong string arrangement and vocal changes. Randy Newman, the song's composer, however, went on to say that he actually loved Garfunkel's version, despite bad press from Rolling Stone magazine. Strings were supplied by Peter Matz, Stuart Canin, Ernie Freeman and Jimmie Haskell, with Garfunkel having arranged the vocals, strings, and instrumentation himself. The highest note of the song, an A5, is also the highest note on the album, on the line "The Birds Have Flown Away."

"Feuilles-Oh/Do Space Men Pass Dead Souls On Their Way to the Moon?" (the fifth track of the album) was a combination of the traditional Haitian folk song with a middle section based on the melody of J.S. Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" Choral N°33. Linda Marie Grossman wrote the lyrics when she was Garfunkel's fiancee. The couple were married at her Nashville home a year earlier (October 1, 1972) but divorced less than two years later (August 1975), with Garfunkel later saying that not only did he not love her, but he did not like her much during their short marriage.{{cite web|url=http://www.artgarfunkel.com/articles/telegraph.html |title=Official Website |publisher=Art Garfunkel |date= |accessdate=November 21, 2011}}

"All I Know", the sixth track of the album, was the first single of the album. The Jimmy Webb composition became Garfunkel's highest US Charting single.

"Woyaya" is a cover of a song by the Afro-pop band Osibisa that was released two years prior.

File:2009-0723-CA-005-GraceCathedral (pc).jpg, photographed in 2009, where Angel Clare was recorded]]

Angel Clare was recorded at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.{{cite web |last1=Fong-Torres |first1=Ben |title=From The Archives: Art Garfunkel - The Rolling Stone Interview - |url=https://rollingstoneindia.com/from-the-archives-art-garfunkel-the-rolling-stone-interview/ |website=Rolling Stone India |access-date=29 March 2022 |date=5 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Garfunkel - Angel Clare (1973, Vinyl) |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/770117-Garfunkel-Angel-Clare |website=Discogs |access-date=29 March 2022 |language=en}}

In addition to the usual 2 channel stereo version the album was also released by Columbia Records in 1973 in a 4 channel quadraphonic version on LP record and 8-track tape. The LP version was encoded in the SQ matrix format.

The album was reissued in the UK in 2018 by Dutton Vocalion on the Super Audio CD format. This edition contains both the stereo and quadraphonic mixes.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side A

| title1 = Traveling Boy

| writer1 = Paul Williams, Roger Nichols

| length1 = 4:55

| title2 = Down in the Willow Garden

| writer2 = Charlie Monroe

| length2 = 3:54

| title3 = I Shall Sing

| writer3 = Van Morrison

| length3 = 3:30

| title4 = Old Man

| writer4 = Randy Newman

| length4 = 3:20

| title5 = Feuilles-Oh/Do Space Men Pass Dead Souls on Their Way to the Moon?

| writer5 = Traditional/Johann Sebastian Bach; lyrics: Linda Grossman

| length5 = 3:07

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side B

| title1 = All I Know

| writer1 = Jimmy Webb

| length1 = 3:43

| title2 = Mary Was An Only Child

| writer2 = Jorge Milchberg, Albert Hammond, Michael Hazlewood

| length2 = 3:26

| title3 = Woyaya

| writer3 = Sol Amarfio, Osibisa

| length3 = 3:15

| title4 = Barbara Allen

| writer4 = Traditional

| length4 = 5:22

| title5 = Another Lullaby

| writer5 = Jimmy Webb

| length5 = 3:29

}}

• Guitar: J. J. Cale, Larry Carlton, Fred Carter Jr., Jerry Garcia, Dean Parks, Louis Shelton,
  Paul Simon. Mandolin, bouzouki: Tommy Tedesco
• Bass: Joe Osborn, Carl Radle
• Keyboards: Larry Knechtel, Michael Omartian
• Drums: Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon
• Percussion: Milt Holland, Jorge Milchberg
• Saxophone: Jules Broussard, Jack Schroer
• Recorder: Mark Friedman
• Strings: Stuart Canin, Ernie Freeman, Jimmie Haskell, Peter Matz
• Backing Vocals: Dorothy Combs Morrison, Paul Simon, Sally Stevens, Jackie Ward, St Mary's Choir

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{{certification Table Entry|title=Angel Care|type=album|artist=Art Garfunkel|region=Canada|award=Gold|relyear=1973}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Angel Clare|type=album|artist=Art Garfunkel|region=United Kingdom|award=Silver|id=508-2696-2}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Angel Clare|type=album|artist=Art Garfunkel|region=United States|award=Gold}}

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Category:1973 debut albums

Category:Art Garfunkel albums

Category:Albums produced by Roy Halee

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Art Garfunkel