He got to me
Michele explains the appeal of Neil Diamond:
I love him in the same way I like Abba and Air Supply and Death Cab for Cutie. Sometimes four chords or shouting at the devil is not what the day calls for.
I’m a sucker for nostalgia. And nothing makes me more nostalgic than music.
Similarly motivated, I put together a single-disc Diamond compilation this past summer, and described it thusly:
Neil Diamond’s recording career, like Gaul, was divided into three parts: the Big Bang (on Bang Records, natch), the West Coast Incubation (on Decca/MCA’s less-unhip Uni label), and the OMGWTF Period (on Columbia, mostly). The man had dozens of hits, and a fair compilation wouldn’t attempt to squeeze him down to a single CD, but I never said I was being fair. And give Diamond credit: even some of the latter-day stuff has held up pretty well, and the ones that didn’t, well, they didn’t make it onto this disc.
I must point out here that I am sufficiently removed from Red Sox Nation not to have learned to hate “Sweet Caroline.”
And if you ever stumble across the original 45 of “Two-Bit Manchild” (Uni 55075), flip it over and give a listen to “Broad Old Woman,” subtitled “6 A.M. Insanity,” a non-LP B-side full of false starts, retakes, and “If you think I’m putting my name on this you’re out of your mind.” It’s the perfect antidote to the deadly-serious stuff like “Play Me.”
xarcadia »
11 December 2008 · 7:47 pm
ACTUALLY, let me tell you something. When I used to work as a bouncer this band used to come by twice a year. Superdiamond. A Neil Diamond cover band. Let me tell you, I was never a huge ND fan, but hearing them, I became a believer. I think I’ve seen them about 7 or 8 times. Theres something hypnotic and strangely seductive about ND. I have NO idea why. Its like Tom Jones. I have this weird thing about him and only the lord knows why!
CGHill »
11 December 2008 · 8:28 pm
“I became a believer.”
And of course “I’m a Believer,” one of the sharpest tools in the Monkees’ shed, was written by, yes, Neil Diamond. I tell you, the man’s influence is incalculable.
ms7168 »
12 December 2008 · 9:10 am
I had to check and my two Neil Diamond mp3s are “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “September Morn” :)
xarcadia »
12 December 2008 · 7:16 pm
You LIE! He did not!