Prior to release , the band helped put together and performed at the Monterey Pop Festival , which signaled the beginning of the Summer of Love on the West Coast . " Fakin ' It " was issued as a single that summer and found only modest success on AM radio ; the duo were much more focused on the rising FM format , which played album tracks and treated their music with respect . In January 1968 , the duo appeared on a Kraft Music Hall special , '' Three for Tonight '' , performing ten songs , largely taken from their previous album . '' Bookends '' was released by Columbia Records in April 1968 , 24 hours before the assassination of civil rights movement activist Martin Luther King Jr. , which spurred nationwide outrage and riots . The album debuted on the '' Billboard '' Top LPs in the issue dated April 27 , 1968 , climbing to number one and staying at that position for seven non-consecutive weeks ; it remained on the chart as a whole for 66 weeks . '' Bookends '' received such heavy orders weeks in advance of its release that Columbia was able to apply for award certification before copies left the warehouse , a fact it touted in magazine ads . The album became the duo 's bestselling to date , helped by the attention for the '' Graduate '' soundtrack ten weeks earlier , creating an initial combined sales figure of over five million units
assassination
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Simon & Garfunkel