Neil Diamond, The #21 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"This Diamond shines like no other."

"Neil's songwriting is incredible."

"His voice is God gifted and emotions behind his singing incomparable.

"Favorite male singer of all-time."

"Gorgeous man, gorgeous singer, gorgeous music."

"Neil is one of the best performers ever."

"What a talented man and a talented writer!"

"A remarkable 50-year career full of legendary songs.  Neil Diamond is an American icon who did it his way."

"A legend.  That voice is awesome."

"Neil has a voice that could make a person almost cry.  His songs were so perfect for every generation."

"I love this man.  Tremendous talent."

"How beautiful are his songs!  OMG--Powerful!"

"Incredible singer/songwriter!"

"Neil Diamond is one of the best singer/songwriters of all-time."

"His music is terrific.  He is his own performer with his own vision."

"I really don't think it is humanly possible for anyone to be cooler that Neil Diamond."

"Neil Diamond is an American cultural treasure."

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, attending Erasmus Hall High School.  He sang in the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club together with classmate Barbara Streisand.  He then went to Abraham Lincoln High School, where he was a member of the fencing team.  Neil received his first guitar at age 16, and after seeing folk singer Pete Seeger at a concert while at Surprise Lake Camp in New York, Neil was inspired to write his own songs.

After graduation, Diamond worked as a waiter in the Catskills, where he met Jaye Posner, who would later become his wife.  Neil attended New York University on a fencing scholarship as a pre-med major and was a member of the 1960 NCAA national championship fencing team.  When Neil was 10 credits away from graduating, Sunbeam Music Publishing offered him a 16-week job for $50 a week.  Neil accepted the job, but when that time ran out, he began writing and singing his own songs for demos.

But it was a struggle, and he was in and out of employment for seven years, existing on one sandwich a day for one of them.  

Neil and friend Jack Packer got a recording contract as Neil and Jack, and four singles, while unsuccessful, got good reviews.  Later in 1962, Neil signed a solo deal with Columbia Records.  But after an unsuccessful single, Columbia dropped him and Diamond went back to writing songs for the next seven years.

In 1963, Neil married Jaye Posner and they had two daughters, Marjorie and Elyn.  The two divorced in 1969.

Neil was able to sell just one song a week, barely enough to live on.  But he seemed to find the secret to great songwriting during this time.  "Something new began to happen," Diamond said to Ben Fong-Torres in an interview published in Rolling Stone magazine on September 23, 1976.  "I wasn't under the gun, and suddenly interesting songs began to happen, songs that had things none of the others did."

Diamond spent his early career at the Brill Building in New York City.  His first success as a songwriter came in November 1965 with "Sunday And Me", which Jay and the Americans turned into a Top 20 hit.  The Monkees recorded the Diamond songs "I'm A Believer", A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You, "Love To Love", and "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow).  "I'm A Believer" sold over one million copies within two days of its release and reached #1 for seven weeks.  

Diamond recorded these songs himself, but the cover versions were released before his own.  Other artists to record Diamond's music included Elvis Presley, Deep Purple, Cliff Richard, Lulu, and Mark Lindsay, former lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders.

 

In 1966, Diamond signed a recording contract with Bang Records.  He recorded "Solitary Man", which Neil describes as "an outgrowth of my despair" (at the time), as the lead single from his debut album The Feel of Neil Diamond.  It is the orchestral arrangement, and especially the horns, that is the backbone of the song.  It stalled at #55, and is one of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

Diamond opened for the Who and Herman's Hermits on tour.  Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who worked with Neil in the Brill Building and had written "Chapel Of Love" for the Dixie Cups and "Be My Baby" for the Ronettes, mentored Neil and helped him with this song.  

"Cherry, Cherry" (at #6) gave Neil his first Top 10 hit.  The version that you hear above has no drums--it was recorded as a demo with the hand claps and when they added drums and horns, it didn't match the magic of the original, so it was the demo that was released.  Neil made his television debut performing this song on American Bandstand.

 

In 1967, Neil released the album Just For You, which contained the Top 10 hit "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon".

 

The follow-up was "Thank The Lord for the Nighttime", which peaked at #13.

Diamond felt inhibited by his label and he disagreed with their choices for single releases.  Neil wanted to release "Kentucky Woman" and "Shilo" but the label didn't feel they were strong enough.  Diamond tried to get out of his contract but that led to a series of lawsuits which kept him away from writing, and his record sales slumped.  Neil would finally win his court battles with Bang, but not until 1977, although a judge said he could sign with a new label in the meantime.

 

So in March of 1968, Diamond signed with Uni Records, which later was absorbed into the parent MCA.  Around this time, Bang Records relented and released first "Kentucky Woman", but they didn't put the power of their promotion behind it.  It is another of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  

Diamond released the album Velvet Gloves and Spit, his first release on Uni.  The album was re-released in 1970 with a new version of "Shilo", a song about a young boy creating an imaginary friend.  Neil has said it is partially about himself when he was younger.

Diamond wrote this song as a tribute to growing up in Brooklyn.  Although he went to nine different schools by the time he was 16 as the family moved often to accommodate the job demands of his father, who was a dry goods salesman, Neil's formative years were in Brooklyn.  It was there that he took up guitar lessons and began songwriting after being inspired after a songwriting session with Pete Seeger at a summer camp in Northern New York.  He references his home, family, neighborhood and early years in school in "Brooklyn Roads".

 

Neil performed "Two-Bit Manchild" on July 2 of 1968 on Showcase 68 and released it as a single that month.  

 

In 1969, Diamond released the album Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, and thanks to the great title song, he scored his first Gold album and he was on his way to superstardom.  Up to this point, Neil had been writing personal and introspective songs.  This song was about a character, which he could play on stage.  In the liner notes for the boxed set In My Lifetime, Diamond said "This recording became a hit and was to make a showman out of me."  

Although it did reach #5 in New Zealand and #9 in Canada, it's peak of #22 in the U.S. makes it another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

Diamond released what has become his signature song, "Sweet Caroline" as a single.  Diamond wrote "Sweet Carolina" in a Memphis hotel.  It reached #3 in Canada and Australia and #4 in the U.S. and has now sold over two million copies and is played in nearly every sports stadium in the world.

The song was later added to reissues of the Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show album and renamed as Sweet Caroline.  

 

We also want to feature "Dig In" from the album.

Join us for Part Two!