The Concert in Central Park It Be", and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, who had recently departed the NBC-TV comedy/variety series "Saturday Night Live". Simon himself financed the US$750,000 cost of the staging and the video recording. It is unknown how much HBO paid for the television and video rights of the recording; US$1 million according to some sources, over US$3 million according to others. The film includes the two songs that had not appeared on the album, and at 87-minutes, runs 12 minutes longer. HBO televised the film, "Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park", on February 21, 1982, five days after the
The Concert in Central Park with room for each to showcase some solo material. Simon, who had resumed songwriting after a long hiatus, interrupted a series of studio recording sessions for the concert preparations. He used the live show as an opportunity to test one of his new songs in front of an audience. Garfunkel also planned to present a new song, "A Heart in New York", from his soon-to-be released album "Scissors Cut". The two differed on the presentation of the concert. Garfunkel wanted to recreate the duo's mid-1960s live performances, using only their voices backed by Simon's acoustic guitar. Simon felt that this