#9: Cecilia by Sweet Henry

City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: May 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Cecilia”
Lyrics: “Cecilia”

Sweet Henry was the name of a British studio musician, who had some pop recordings in the early 1970’s. Little is known about Sweet Henry, or even the studio musician’s name. An online search generates links to an English grammarian named Henry Sweet (1845-1912) who published works on Old English, Old Norse, phonetics and grammar. But Henry Sweet was deceased for several decades before studio musician credited as Sweet Henry was recording in the early 1970s.

The first single release was a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel tune “Cecilia”.

“Cecilia” was written by Paul Simon. He was born in 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. His dad was a bandleader who went by the name Lou Sims. When he was eleven years old he met Art Garfunkel and were both part of a sixth grade drama production of Alice In Wonderland. By 1954 Paul and Art were singing at school dances. In 1957, in their mid-teens, they recorded the song “Hey, Schoolgirl” under the name “Tom & Jerry”, a name that was given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached No. 49 on the pop charts.

After many challenges in the music industry, in 1966, the duo had their first hit, “The Sound Of Silence”, which climbed to number-one. This was followed by two more Top Ten hits that year: “Homeward Bound” and “I Am A Rock”. As well, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” was a Top 20 hit later in ’66. In 1967, Simon & Garfunkel enjoyed chart success with “At The Zoo” and “Fakin’ It”. They had several hit singles from the film The Graduate, including “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” and “Mrs. Robinson”. The latter won the duo Grammy Awards in 1969 for both Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

In November 1968 Simon and Garfunkel recorded “The Boxer”, which would become the first track recorded for their 1970 album release Bridge Over Troubled Water. The single was a Top Ten hit in the spring of ’69. But it was the title cut that became their biggest hit, spending six weeks at number one from late February into April 1970. The song was ranked number one for the year 1970. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” won Simon and Garfunkel Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song. While the album won Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical. Other singles from the album included “Cecilia” and “El Condor Pasa”.  The duo split in 1970, though they reunited to release “My Little Town” in the mid-70s.

Meanwhile, Paul Simon had a string of solo hits in the 70s. These include “Mother And Child Reunion”, “Me And Julio Down By the School Yard”, “Kodachrome”, “Loves Me Like A Rock”, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, and “Slip Sliding Away”. He remained on the radar in the 1980 with “Late In the Evening”, which earned him a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category; And “You Can Call Me Al” from his Graceland album. He released his fifteenth studio album, Seven Psalms, in 2023.

“Cecilia” by Sweet Henry peaked at #1 in Kingston (ON) and #2 in Hamilton (ON). It also charted in Wilkes-Barre (PA), San Jose (CA), and Cypress Gardens and Jacksonville (FL).

In Canada, “Cecilia” by Simon & Garfunkel was a a number-one hit in Medicine Hat (AB), Ottawa, and Vancouver. It was a Top Ten hit in Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Rimouski (QC), Victoria, and Windsor. Internationally, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” was a number-one hit in Argentina, and the USA (Cashbox), #2 in Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and West Germany, #3 in Belgium, Switzerland, and #6 in Australia and Austria.

Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” was 2:55 in length, while Sweet Henry’s recording of the song was 2:31 in length. Neither are to be confused with the 1925 Herman Ruby and Dave Dreyer tune about a “cute flapper” named “Cecilia”.

In 1970, Sweet Henry released the single “Any Old Time Your Lonely and Sad”, which was a Top 30 hit in Scranton (PA). “Falling In Love With Baby”, a third single, was not commercially successful.

January 8, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Paul Simon Biography,” Paul – Simon.info
“Sweet Henry,” Discogs.com.
Herman Ruby and Dave Dreyer, “Cecilia“, Irving Berlin Inc., 1925.

CKWS 960-AM Kingston (ON) Top Ten | May 11, 1970