The cover photograph was taken by an actress, not a professional photographer. Laurie Bird, Art Garfunkel's girlfriend at the time, framed the image for an album that almost had no obvious single. On October 25, 1977, Columbia Records released Watermark, the third solo studio album from the former Simon & Garfunkel singer, and the record arrived with a problem already built in.
A first single that stalled
The first single, "Crying in My Sleep," stalled completely. It never touched a chart. Promo copies of that single called the album simply Art Garfunkel, a sign that the project may have started as a self-titled statement. Instead, the record needed a rescue, and the rescue came from a song Garfunkel had not written and had not planned to lead with.
Jimmy Webb wrote most of Watermark and played keyboards and arranged on the sessions. The album was cut at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama, with stops in New York and Los Angeles. It was soft rock, polished and careful, and it carried a quiet ambition. But the song that changed its fortunes was "(What a) Wonderful World," written by Herb Alpert, Sam Cooke, and Lou Adler.
Three voices on one track
Garfunkel did not sing that one alone. Paul Simon and James Taylor added harmony vocals, a rare alignment of three distinct voices on one track. The single climbed to number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top of the Adult Contemporary chart. In January 1978, the album was reissued with "(What a) Wonderful World" replacing a track called "Fingerpaint." The cover version had become the centerpiece. The hit version also drew on a wider circle of players than the rest of the album. Richard Tee, Hugh McCracken, Tony Levin, Steve Gadd, and Ralph MacDonald all performed on the track, and the Jay Clayton Voice Group added choral backing. The Oklahoma Baptist University Chorale also sang on the recording.
Paul Simon and James Taylor added harmony vocals, a rare alignment of three distinct voices on one track.
There was a deeper shadow over the sessions. Watermark became the last recording to feature saxophonist Paul Desmond. Soon after the sessions, Desmond died of lung cancer. His playing sits inside an album that also featured the Irish group The Chieftains, with Paddy Moloney on uilleann pipes and whistle and Derek Bell on harp. The album's reach extended beyond North America and Europe. In New Zealand it climbed to number 18, while in Australia it reached number 41 on the Kent Music Report. Those chart positions gave Watermark a presence in the southern hemisphere as well.
Garfunkel produced the album himself, with Phil Ramone producing only the "Wonderful World" track. The record reached number 19 on the Billboard 200. In Canada it went to number 15, in Norway number 11, and in Britain number 25. It earned gold status in Canada and the United States. The album's success was measured in more than chart positions. It earned gold status in Canada and the United States, and silver status in Britain. Those certifications confirmed that the reissued version had connected with listeners in several markets.
The story of Watermark is not one of immediate triumph. It is a record that had to be adjusted after release, with a hit single grafted onto it and a title quietly clarified. Laurie Bird's cover photo now holds a specific moment: an album in transition, saved by a cover song and marked by a farewell from Paul Desmond.