Red Rubber Ball

In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel's released their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which was a flop. Paul Simon relocated to England before returning to the US a year later after finding out that the song "The Sound Of Silence" had been overdubbed with electric instruments and was a now a huge hit. It was in this period when Simon was pursuing a solo career that he met Bruce Woodley, who was a songwriter and member of the Seekers, and the two wrote this song. It was intended for The Seekers, but Woodley's bandmates turned it down.

This was The Cyrkle's first hit. It was recorded when the band was in danger of disbanding over creative differences. Tom Dawes (the band's bassist) was touring with Simon & Garfunkel, when Simon offered his band this song. When Simon & Garfunkel finished their tour, The Cyrkle recorded it, and their manager, Brian Epstein (who also managed the Beatles), hired them to open for the Beatles' 1966 summer tour, which had audiences of up to 70,000 people.

The Seekers finally recorded a version of this song for their 1966 album Georgy Girl. A live version by Simon & Garfunkel can be found on their 1997 collection Old Friends. Other artists who have covered this song include Del Shannon and Mel Torme.

The Cyrkle were known as the Rondells, before Brian Epstein became their manager and renamed them. John Lennon came up with the new name.

In the US, this was on the charts at the same time as Simon & Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock."

This was produced by John Simon, who would later produce the landmark album by The Band, Music From Big Pink, and also the album Cheap Thrills by Janis Joplin's band Big Brother & the Holding Company.