Today, I wanted to pay tribute to a phenomenal musician, songwriter, and actor named Neil Diamond. I don’t expect anybody under the age of 30 playing his music, yet alone remembering who he is. Neil Diamond produces mostly what I call folk-pop; however, when you listen to his unique and distinctive voice, you’d think you’re listening to full on country. Diamond, literally has an almost classic Texan sound to his voice. I would compare his music to be somewhat a long the lines of Jim Croce, but with a little more of a modern twist of that time. Mr. Diamond has been around for a long, long time. He’s been writing and performing his songs since the early 60s.
Diamond Has Sold Over 100 Million Records
Neil Diamond has sold over a whopping 100 million records. However, interesting enough, his success may not have happened had he not been smart enough to change music labels. As with many artists, Diamond felt chocked by his music label, who wanted to control every aspect of his creative art. Unfortunately, this was a very common complaint among even the biggest talents. He eventually switched labels by c. 1970, changed his sound, and then hit big with songs like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” which hit #1, and my favorite “Sweet Caroline,” which hit #4 on the Top 100 Charts.
Neil has now found his voice. Now that Diamond has creative control over his music under his new label, he then continued to enjoy further future success. To date, out of 53 songs that actually made it on the charts, he has 13 top tens, and 3 number ones. I think that’s pretty impressive, especially since his music requires a certain musical taste, and considering his music only played on certain music stations.
Love On The Rocks, From The 1980s Movie, The Jazz Singer
My most favorite song (sad, but still my favorite) from Diamond is called “Love On The Rocks,” from the 1980 movie called “The Jazz Singer.” The song reached #2, however, the movie did not do well. I did not see the movie, but from IMDB’s description, it sounds like this is his docudrama. My opinion is that Diamond is most remembered for a duet he did with Barbra Streisand, called “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” The song hit number one on the Top 100 Charts, and stayed #1 for over two weeks.
Unfortunately, in 2018, Diamond was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. The long awaited massive tour fans been waiting for, had to be cancelled. It was no doubt a crushing blow to die-hard Diamond fans. This made huge headlines, as you could imagine a star with his level of success. I’ve put together a playlists of not only all my favorite Diamond hits, but some instrumentals and original demos right on Spotify!!