To my friend Berry Schiltmans (perhaps the biggest Neil Diamond fan), I recently asked what he drinks with Neil Diamond: "I'm not often with Neil, he usually comes to me and then we drink a Red Red Wine with some Soggy Pretzels on the side. Sometimes supplemented with some Crunchy Granola (Suite) and then we go on until the (September) Morn. He never brings Flowers, If You Know What I Mean? We always listen to the Beautiful Noise of his songs. Sometimes there's also a Kentucky Woman. I believe her name is Caroline or something? It always puts us in good Moods!"
I saw Neil Diamond perform twice in his later years. Despite the fact that Neil was already a bit older, you wouldn't hear it. Two great performances and an honorary place in De Platenbar.
On 5 April 2020, "The Jazz Singer" was played on our Sunday Morning Classics.
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (New York, 24 January 1941) is an American singer and songwriter. His best-known hit is Sweet Caroline from 1969. He also acted in a film, The Jazz Singer from 1980, which gave him the hit Love on the Rocks.
Diamond started in 1958 with songs like Blue Destiny and A Million Miles Away, about which he said "The first song I ever wrote on a piano. I played all the instruments on this demo... because I worked cheap". He became especially popular in the seventies. He wrote not only for himself but also, for example, for The Monkees (A little bit me, a little bit you). His live album Hot August Night (1972) was the definitive breakthrough and sold very well everywhere, especially in Australia. After this album came the soundtrack Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and Serenade.
The album Beautiful Noise from 1976 was produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band. Other band members also played on the album. In the film of The Band's farewell concert, The Last Waltz, Diamond sang "Dry Your Eyes" from the album. After the live album Love at the Greek, Diamond worked for several years with producer Bob Gaudio, who gave Diamond's albums from the late seventies a disco-tinged sound such as "I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "September Morn" and The Jazz Singer.
Record sales stagnated a bit in the eighties, although his concerts were still well attended. Many songs, especially those from his early days (Red Red Wine, Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon and I'm a Believer), were sung by others and also used in films (including Pulp Fiction and Shrek).
In 1980, Diamond starred in the film The Jazz Singer by Richard Fleischer. In this film, he plays the role of the son of a Jewish cantor who pursues his dream of becoming a pop star.
On 21 October 2014, the studio album Melody Road, produced by Don Was, was released. In 2015, Diamond went on a world tour, during which he performed two evenings at the Amsterdam Ziggo Dome.
On 23 January 2018, the singer announced that he was stopping performing because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Source: NPO and Wikipedia Photo: Ger1 AXG and Eva Rinaldi
