Track Notes from Neil Diamond: 1. Forever In Blue Jeans —
“Forever in Blue Jeans” was inspired by guitarist Richard
Bennett’s wonderful opening guitar lick which he first played for
me while we were out on the road. That guitar lick was so
seductive that the melody I started singing over his guitar
practically wrote itself. When we returned to L.A. we were
anxious to get into the studio and put the finished (we thought)
song on tape. After running through it with my band a few times,
we all realized that we needed to add another musical section to
make the record really work. We called a 15 minute break, right
in the middle of the session, while Richard and I sat
down at the piano and hashed out a brand new section with a lyric
of its own (“Maybe tonight...” ). This new, unplanned section
(instantly orchestrated by arranger Tom Hensley) would become one
of my favorite parts of the record. Necessity really did prove to
be the mother of invention on this wonderful Bob Gaudio
production. 2. Beautiful Noise — I remember Garth Hudson of The
Band sitting at his huge self built pipe organ and playing the
solo of this record at the Beautiful Noise session. What he
played completely floored us as he filled the musical track with
an amazing sound that helped keep the record alive and
interesting. Thank you Garth. 3. Love On The Rocks — “Love on
the Rocks” was performed live for the cameras on the set of The
Jazz Singer movie. This is something that’s hardly ever done in
movies as they prefer to have the singer lip-sync the vocals of a
pre-recorded track. All the songs in The Jazz Singer were done
live because I’m terrible at lip-syncing. 4. Cherry, Cherry —
Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Artie Butler and I made a fun little
demo of “Cherry, Cherry” to use as a guide for an upcoming
session of the song. We never could top that
unpretentious, good feeling demo at the full session, so they
ended up releasing the demo. It went top five in America and
marked the true beginning of my career in music. 5. I Am…I Said
— “I Am...I Said” took four months of writing day and night to
complete. When the song was finally finished, a great Lee
Holdridge string and horn chart was written and recorded. An
immaculate Tom Catalano production completed this musical
journey. It was nominated for a Grammy and still gives me chills
when I perform it. 6. Sweet Caroline — “Sweet Caroline” was
written in a Memphis hotel room the night before it was recorded.
The next day I walked the song over to American Sound Studio and
played it through for producer Tommy Cogbill and the studio house
band (Reggie Young on guitar, Mike Leech on bass, Bobby Emmons on
the Hammond B-3 organ, Bobby Woods on acoustic piano and Gene
Chrisman on drums). This little group created the basic track of
one of my biggest and most durable hits ever. Co-producer Tom
Catalano then brought in arranger Charlie Calello who wrote the
unforgettable string and horn charts (bah-bah-bah) which were
recorded later in New York City. This record was an unexpected
gift from the Gods of music. One that made us all look so good,
so good, so good! 7. Cracklin’ Rosie — While chatting with a
Canadian fan one day I was told the story of an Indian tribe on a
reservation in Canada which had a deficit in the number of women.
This meant that those unfortunate single men would buy an
inexpensive bottle of wine called Crackling Rosé to keep them
company on Saturday nights. This wine would become their date for
the evening and they called her Cracklin’ Rosie. That was all the
story I needed to hear to write this song. It ended up being my
first #1 record as an artist. For a artist there is no
bigger thrill. 8. Play Me — We discovered during its
session that “Play Me” didn’t feel quite right in the 4⁄4 time
signature that I had written it in. Guitarist Richard Bennett
came up with the solution by playing his guitar picking lick in
3⁄4 time. This new time signature made all the difference in the
world as the song settled into its own natural feel. I thanked
Richard for pointing me in the right direction by giving him my
beloved Everly Brothers acoustic guitar on the spot. He returned
it to me years later knowing how much I missed it. That guitar
now resides at the Grammy museum in Los Angeles. 9. I’m A
Believer — I don’t remember too much about writing or
“I’m a Believer.” At the time it was just another one of the
songs I had written for my second album on Bang Records. I do
remember though, the Monkees it and taking it to #1 on
the charts and it becoming the biggest selling single of the
year. It’s hard to forget stuff like that. 10. Girl, You’ll Be A
Woman Soon — This was my love song to all the screaming
teeny-boppers at my early shows. 11. Holly Holy — Tommy Cogbill
produced the basic tracks of “Holly Holy” in Memphis with the
super-hot American Sound Studio house band. When co-producer Tom
Catalano and I hand carried the boxes of tape through
the Memphis airport to L.A. the next day, we held them like they
were newborn babies because we both felt there was a miracle on
those tracks. When we got back to L.A., Tom brought in arranger
Lee Holdridge who was inspired enough by the tracks to write the
most magnificent string and choral parts. When engineer Armin
Steiner played it back all together, we knew we had somehow
captured lightning in a bottle. This was a once in a lifetime
experience for me. 12. Solitary Man — “Solitary Man”
was a first for me in many ways. My first chart record as an
artist, my first recorded performance with great professional
musicians, the very best engineers, and two producers at the top
of their game, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. These elements
together made my first important musical introduction to the
public one that I was thrilled to put my name on. 13. Song Sung
Blue — I wish I could remember who played that electric piano
riff on the opening of this record. I still love it. Also, it was
my second #1 record as an artist. 14. You Don’t Bring Me
Flowers — This song was written at the request of television
producer Norman Lear. He wanted it used as a theme song for a new
“male-female role reversal” TV sitcom called All That Glitters
(why else would a guy be singing about not getting flowers?).
Marilyn and Alan Bergman and I wrote the lyric first and then I
went off to set it to music. It didn’t take long, the lyric was
written to be sung. The song itself begged to be a duet and
eventually my friend Barbra Streisand heard it and agreed. My
third #1 single was shared with my favorite girl singer. What
fun! 15. Hello Again — Alan Lindgren and I wrote this song at
drummer Dennis St. John’s beach pad in a smoky haze of good
fellowship. 16. Red, Red Wine — “Red, Red Wine” was recorded for
Bang Records in 1967. Soon afterwards, I left the Bang Records
label. After I left, the people at Bang began to release
everything I had ever recorded while I was with them, whether it
was complete or not. They decided to throw in some violins to the
very understated track I did for “Red, Red Wine” and then
released it. I didn’t like their version very much but I
swallowed it and moved on. Years later the group UB40 released
the song in a terrific reggae version. The fact that UB40’s
record went to #1 on the charts helped soothe my hurt pride. #1
records have a way of making all the hurt go away. 17. If You
Know What I Mean — This is one of my favorite songs from the
BeautifulNoise album. Robbie Robertson did a masterful job of
producing this entire album. 18. Brother Love’s Traveling
Salvation Show — This very unique record (produced by Tommy
Cogbill and Chips Moman) was another Memphis creation (circa
1969). Bobby Woods on piano and Mike Leech on bass led me and the
band to the promised land with this track. “Brother Love” was a
very odd single (you couldn’t dance to it because of all the
tempo changes) but it caught on nonetheless. Almost immediately,
it became one of my favorite songs to perform live and remains my
show closer after more than forty years. Now that’s what I call
longevity! 19. Pretty Amazing Grace — “Pretty Amazing Grace” is
one of the offspring of my two Rick Rubin produced albums, 12
Songs and Home Before Dark. I familiarized the band in the studio
with it by having us practice the instrumental guitar section
that can be heard about three quarters of the way through. Once
we got that part down, the rest of the tune just fell into place.
Of course it takes great musicians to make things just “fall into
place.” I was lucky to have them and a great producer on those
sessions. 20. Kentucky Woman — I wrote “Kentucky Woman” in an
old limo that I had just purchased from a funeral home to carry
me through a touring version of Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is
T.V. show. It was my very first tour and I didn’t know exactly
what to expect so I prepared myself to do a lot of writing in
transit. My keyboard player Max Sandler drove that ’57 Cadillac
limo as I sat in the roomy back seat cradling my guitar and
writing songs throughout that entire thirty-two city,
twenty-eight day tour. This song was started as we approached our
play date in Paducah, Kentucky. 21. Shilo — “Shilo” set a higher
lyrical standard for me than anything I had written before on
Bang Records because it had a little story to tell. I wanted this
record out as a single and Bang Records did not. They offered to
release it if I were willing to re-sign with them for another two
years. I refused, believing that I had earned the right to choose
my own single after all the success we’d had. I finally left Bang
and my producers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich over this song. I
don’t regret it and I guess it turned out okay in the end but
I’ll always miss the excitement of those Bang Years. 22. America
— For me, the song “America” provided the heart and soul of The
Jazz Singer film. The satisfaction I felt from popularizing that
song made the reviews I got as an actor sting a little less.
23. Hell Yeah — This self-revelation poured out of me as the last
of the thirty songs I had written for contention in my 12 Songs
album. “Hell Yeah” is an affirmation of a lifetime spent devoted
to music and my attempt to find a personally satisfying life for
myself beyond the music. I have that life now but it was a much
harder job than I thought possible. Still, well worth all the
years and all the tears. I wish I could personally thank the
hundreds of musicians, arrangers, and engineers who, along with
the producers, spent long days and nights in studios around the
country to make these s vibrate and thrill. As a
songwriter I can only humbly bow down and thank them all from the
depths of my heart for giving wings to my dreams. —Neil Diamond
- DIAMOND NEIL THE VERY BEST OF NEIL DIAMOND.