I looked though this entire thread and see only a few references to Paul Simon. Here's my story.

We were regulars at MSG in the sixties, particularly the Folk Club. One evening during the week, while having a pint, Frank Duffy came over and said:

"Make sure you come next Sunday. I met this guy in Greenwich Village who is sensational. His name is Paul Simon."

Paul was touring England but was not well known, even in the States. During his UK tour his solo album became quite popular and, I believe, while touring he and Art (Paul's guest when we saw him, but they did not sing together), got a call from New York saying that the re-recording of Paul's solo album was number 1!

Needless to say, when I saw him that Sunday night, I was blown away. His solo version of "Sound of Silence", with acoustic guitar, is far superior to the Simon and Garfunkel rendering, IMO.

A story my dearly departed friend, Pete Smith (not the Pete mentioned on this thread), liked to tell about the evening goes as follows:

At the end of the evening, suitably oiled with many pints of Guinness, we ended up on the stage with Paul. At some point Paul turned to Smith and said (about me), "What's this guy's name?" to which Smith replied "Pete". Then Paul (apparently) turned to me and said "Pete, you're pissed!"

I have no memory of this (Guinness will do that), but I will take it as my claim to fame!