Paul Simon and
Art Garfunkel's pseudonymous early recordings circulated for years on bootlegs until two legitimate collections finally surfaced in Germany. The first, titled
Tom & Jerry, appeared on the Superior label in 2002, and the second,
Recorded as Jerry Landis, on Laserlight in 2006. The latter appears to be devoted to
Simon's early solo recordings issued under the name Jerry Landis, but that is not exactly the case. Most of the commercially released Landis sides appeared on
Tom & Jerry, while
Recorded as Jerry Landis includes "Beat Love," originally released as an Artie Garr (
Art Garfunkel) record. There is no annotation beyond the songwriting credits and publishing information, but it appears that most of the cuts are either demos or previously unreleased recordings made for
Morty Craft's Warwick label in the late '50s and early '60s. "The Lipstick on Your Lips" was issued on a Jerry Landis single, but most of the other tracks do not seem to have been released prior to this collection. Nevertheless, they are fully orchestrated studio recordings that find
Simon cooing ridiculous teen ditties in the most fey voice imaginable. Lovers of early teen pop will be thrilled, but most fans of
Simon & Garfunkel's later work will probably run screaming for the hills. Don't throw away your bootlegs --
Tom & Jerry and
Recorded as Jerry Landis don't account for all of
Simon's Warwick sides.