(Reuters) (12/05/03)

Edited By Michael Bennett

NEW YORK, NY - SIMON AND GARFUNKEL brought their much-anticipated reunion tour to their hometown of New York this week, joking about their years of estrangement and turning out the soaring harmonies that made them singing icons in the 1960's.

Receiving a lengthy standing ovation before they even played a note on opening night on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, the two, both 62, kicked off with the song "Old Friends" to roars of delight from the sold-out crowd.

The tour, which began in October, is Simon and Garfunkel's first full-fledged tour in 20 years.

Childhood friends who grew up together in New York, the two joked on stage about the much-publicized disagreements and disputes that kept them from playing -- or even talking -- together for decades.

"We started to sing together when we were 13 years old," Paul Simon said. "We started to argue when we were 14."

Art Garfunkel chimed in to say that actually it had been one single argument that stretched over the years.

"I wanted to call us Garfunkel and Simon," he said.

Tuesday's show, the first of three in New York, was a nonstop string of old favorites, with several numbers bringing tears to the eyes of many in the audience who looked old enough to have listened to Simon and Garfunkel many decades ago.

With Paul Simon on guitar and Art Garfunkel's tenor floating through the melodies, the two performed such hits as "Homeward Bound," "Bridge Over Troubled Water and "America."

For a first encore, they played "Cecilia" and "The Boxer." For the second encore, they played "Leaves That Are Green" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song."

In the audience, Heidi Catlett, a dental hygienist, said she came to New York from Homer, Alaska, to see the show.

"I'm speechless," she said afterward. "I'd do it again. I'd walk."

The duo recorded their first single in 1957 when they were called Tom and Jerry and went on to release hit albums from "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM" in 1964 to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in 1970 before breaking up to pursue solo careers.

The pair played a series of shows in New York in 1993 and a few shows in Japan that same year, but had not undertaken a full tour since 1982-83.

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