Early live performance of 'Cherry Cherry' (1966) in stereo!
Live performance of 'Holly Holy,' a song Diamond admitted that he wrote, trying to capture the Roy orbison big ballad sound. The song hit #8 in 1969, one of seven top 10
singles.
Diamond does a pretty fair cover of the Drifter's 'Save the Last Dance for Me' on his Brill building covers
album
A rare treat, Neil Diamond's first-ever recording, 'Million Miles Away' 1958
NEIL DIAMOND'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Weekend - Five Decades of Hits!
Neil Diamond was recording music as early as 1958, yet his career didn't get on track until the mid-60s with 'Solitary Man' his breakout hit in 1966*, quickly followed up with guitar-based rockers 'Cherry Cherry' and 'Thank the Lord for the Nighttime.' Diamond hit in country with 'Kentucky Woman' and his first ballad 'Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon' all in the 60s before changing his tune, somewhat, with the times in later decades. Yet, he always included rock and roll including his album of Brill Building covers in the 1990s. In fact, Diamond was a Brill Building song writer, himself, writing hits for the Monkees (I'm A Believer') and others but it wasn't until the late 60s until anything stuck.
* 'Solitary man' really didn't become the big hit until 1970 when it re-emerged on the charts at #21, up from #55 in 1966 - a rare feat for a song to not only chart twice but reach higher position the second time around!
Neil Diamond is one of those rare artists who, despite changing times and sounds has, consistently, maintained his fan base for decades. His concerts have always and continue to sell out to this day. Even when his records didn't well, Diamond was one of the top acts and Diamond returned to the charts in a big way in recent years, garnering his first No 1 album in decades under the direction of Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash and others). Modern music critics, led by Rolling Stone, has feasted on crticising Diamond him as a lightweight , a sequined nostalgia act - much as they did Roy Orbison before his comeback, yet Diamond has been covered often by contemporary artists and his 'Sweet Caroline' has become the 'Seventh inning stretch' song for Boston Red Sox and several other Sports teams (see below). In his 'comeback' album, Brian Wilson duetted with Diamond on 'Delirious Love,' a top 40 hit in 2006.
- He attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he sang in the All City Choir with Barbra Streisand. The pair went on to record heartache ballad You Don't Bring Me Flowers.
- A longtime back pain sufferer, he had a tumor surgically removed from his spine just before he started shooting "The Jazz Singer" in 1979.
- He won a fencing scholarship to New York University and was a member of the 1960 NCAA men's championship team.
- Artists who have recorded Neil Diamond songs include Elvis Presley, Deep Purple, Lulu, Cliff Richard, The Monkees, UB40, Johnny Cash and Smash Mouth.
- John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline was the inspiration for his hit "Sweet Caroline". Diamond revealed he wrote the anthem after seeing her on the cover of Life Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit.
- "Sweet Caroline" is played during the 8th inning at every Boston Red Sox home game - even though Diamond is a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The song is also played during the 8th inning of every New York Mets home game and at Washington Nationals home games. Ice hockey team the New York Rangers have also adapted it as their own, and play it when they are winning at the end of the 3rd period.
- Diamond became the first-ever winner of a Worst Actor Golden Raspberry Award in 1980 for "The Jazz Singer". He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the same role.
- Famous for wearing colorful, sequin-adorned shirts in concert, Diamond claims he first came up with the idea so everyone in the audience could see him without the aid of binoculars. The Bill Whitten-designed and made shirts cost approximately US$5,000 each. Whitten designed and made the shirts for Diamond from the 1970s until 2007.
- Among his many accolades, the Grammy Award winner and 12-time nominee is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. He was the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2009.
- Diamond has sold more than 128 million records worldwide.
NEIL DIAMOND'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Weekend - Five Decades of Hits!
NEIL DIAMOND COLLECTABLES
Neil Diamond sings 'Sweet Caroline'
live for Boston Red Sox fans
Neil Diamond's latest effort, 'Freedom Song'
sung for the Boston Bombing July 2013
Note Diamond's progress in this 1962 effort, AT NIGHT
Diamond's symphonic performance of 'America'
from his movie, 'The Jazz Singer' one of his stronger rockers of later years
Live on Johnny Cash.. after Neil and Johnny play a few bits Neil does 'Brother Loves Travelin Show', a gospel-style fan favorite from Diamond's early, late 60s period
NEIL DIAMOND, always a big Everly Brothers fan, recorded this on one of his later albums.
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