Editing Simon & Garfunkel (section)

===1953–1956: Early years===
[[Paul Simon]] and [[Art Garfunkel]] grew up in the 1940s and 1950s in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of [[Kew Gardens Hills]] in [[Queens|Queens, New York]], three blocks away from one another. They attended the same schools: Public School 164 in Kew Gardens Hills, Parsons Junior High School, and [[Forest Hills High School (New York)|Forest Hills High School]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5UiKlrlAwEC&pg=PA119|page=119|title=The Neighborhoods of Queens|author=Claudia Gryvatz Copquin|publisher=Yale University Press|date= 2007|isbn=978-0300112993}}</ref><ref name="Brown">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1-dDFQj3gwC&pg=PT41|page=31|title=Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Bittersweet Story Of 1970|author=David Browne|publisher=Da Capo Press|date= 2012|isbn=9780306822131}}</ref> They were both fascinated by music; both listened to the radio and were taken with [[rock and roll]] as it emerged, particularly the [[the Everly Brothers|Everly Brothers]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xrGR7hYesYC&pg=PT27|pages=16–18|title=Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends|author=Pete Fornatale|publisher=Rodale|date= October 30, 2007 |isbn=9781594864278}}</ref> Simon first noticed Garfunkel when Garfunkel was singing in a fourth-grade talent show, which Simon thought was a good way to attract girls. They became friends in 1953, when they appeared in a sixth grade adaptation of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]''.<ref name="Brown" /><ref name="Pete Fornatale 19">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xrGR7hYesYC&pg=PT30|page=19|title=Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends|author=Pete Fornatale|publisher=Rodale|date= October 30, 2007 |isbn=9781594864278}}</ref> They formed a streetcorner [[doo-wop]] group, the Peptones, with three friends, and learned to [[Vocal harmony|harmonize]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfMwjQAO3eQC&pg=PT189|page=189|title=Long Ago And Far Away: James Taylor – His Life And Music|author=Timothy White|publisher=Omnibus Press|date= 2009|isbn=9780857120069}}</ref><ref name="rs">Serpick, Evan (2001). ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll''. New York: [[Simon & Schuster]], 1136 pp. First edition, 2001.</ref> They began performing as a duo at school dances.<ref name="WP"/>

Simon and Garfunkel later attended Forest Hills High School,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/paulsimonlife0000elio|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/paulsimonlife0000elio/page/18 18]|date=2010|author=Marc Eliot|title=Paul Simon: A Life|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn= 978-0-470-43363-8}}</ref> where in 1956 they wrote their first song, "The Girl for Me"; Simon's father sent a handwritten copy to the [[Library of Congress]] to register a copyright.<ref name="WP">{{cite news|author=Richard Harrington|title=Paul Simon, The Sound Of America|date=May 18, 2007|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051700717.html|access-date=September 20, 2014}}</ref> While trying to remember the lyrics to the Everly Brothers song "Hey Doll Baby",<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Runtagh |first1=Jordan |title=30 Fascinating Early Bands of Future Music Legends |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/30-fascinating-early-bands-of-future-music-legends-200891/simon-garfunkels-teen-harmony-duo-tom-jerry-200932/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=September 3, 2023 |date=September 7, 2019}}</ref> they wrote "Hey, Schoolgirl", which they recorded for $25 at Sanders Recording Studio in Manhattan.<ref name="Browne32">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1-dDFQj3gwC&pg=PT42|page=32|title=Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Bittersweet Story Of 1970|author=David Browne|publisher=Da Capo Press|date= 2012|isbn=9780306822131}}</ref> While recording they were overheard by promoter Sid Prosen, who signed them to his independent label Big Records after speaking to their parents. They were both 15.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/paulsimonlife0000elio|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/paulsimonlife0000elio/page/21 21]|date=2010|author=Marc Eliot|title=Paul Simon: A Life|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn= 978-0-470-43363-8}}</ref>