I think just about everybody has a favorite Neil Diamond song, don't they?
I'd probably have to narrow mine down to two. I just can't decide between that first song I ever heard that I knew was his — the mid-sixties pop-rock chestnut, "Cherry, Cherry" — and "Holly Holy," his uplifting anthem from a little later that same decade.
But that's just the kind of legendary songwriter (and of course, performer) that Neil Diamond is. Like Dylan, Lennon and McCartney, and maybe Paul Simon — Neil Diamond falls into that unique category where you can pick just about any one of the dozens of great songs he has written over the past — what? five decades now? — and remember exactly where you were the first time you heard it.
Although Neil Diamond lost some of his luster with the hipster crowd in the seventies and eighties when he headed straight for the middle of the road with songs like "September Morn," he began to regain that about ten years ago when Urge Overkill covered his "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
That transition was completed when he began making records with producer Rick Rubin, who revived Johnny Cash's career in much the same way in his final years just before he passed away.
Home Before Dark is Neil Diamond's second collaboration with Rubin, and it heads up this week's new releases. The sound is stripped down to a minimum core where Diamond's voice, guitar, and mostly his songs — which are among his most vital-sounding in years — take center stage. He is joined occasionally here by Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, and noted session musicians Smokey Hormel (Tom Waits, Joe Henry), and Matt Sweeney (Chavez).
Although somewhat overshadowed by the Neil Diamond release, the arrival this week of Elvis Costello & The Imposters' Momofuku is also a pretty big deal. An album which, if reports are to be believed, came together almost by accident, this is Costello's first record of pop-driven songs in some time. As such, it is sure to make fans happy who have long been waiting for exactly that. Momofuku also arrives just in time for a string of dates with the Police this summer.
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Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Pico reviewed Marcin Wasilewski Trio - January. I am sure he could have filled in for one "bastard".
2 - Glen Boyd
Yeah, I agree Bicho. Maybe from now on, when I have weeks where I know my favorite two bastards are sitting on their...well, you know...I'll extend the invitation to others (like Pico).
Take heed Mark and Tom...(LOL...)
-Glen
3 - Pico
Brian Blade Fellowship
Seasons of Changes
"He hadn’t released another record since then and someone who is that capable has no business going seven years and counting without another release. We can only hope that Blade and his Fellowship will remedy that soon."
--Me, June 20, 2007
Hot damn, the remedy is here!
4 - Glen Boyd
And just think, it could've been "Pico's Picko"...
-Glen
5 - Pico
You betcha, especially if I could have scored an advance CD ;&)
6 - Glen Boyd
Your on your own there Pico.
-Glen
7 - Mark Saleski
favorite Neil Diamond song: Red Red Wine. of course, i've only heard UB40 do it.
8 - Glen Boyd
Yeah, thats a good one too. And of course there's "I'm A Believer." But I've only heard the Monkees and Anne Murray do that one.
-Glen
9 - Donald Gibson
Neil has released a studio version of of "I'm a Believer" on the excellent box set, In My Lifetime and live versions on the 2-disc Live In America and the also-excellent box set, Stages.
And since we're mentioning favorites, mine is "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind"...
- Donald
10 - Mat Brewster
My mom is an enormous Neil Diamond fan and so of course I grew up listening to him. I don't think I could pick a favorite. "Cherry Cherry" "Kentucky Woman" "Sweet Caroline" and "Cracklin Rosie" are all great songs. I'm still kind of infantuated with "delirious love" off the last one with Rubin.
11 - Pico
Your on your own there Pico.
Well dang, I'da figured the Rockologist could hook me up with some free goodies ;&)
12 - Josh Hathaway
It looks like it should be a cheap week for me this week. I need it, too.
13 - Tom Johnson
That last Neil Diamond album was a surprisingly great thing. Never, ever expected I would own something by this guy but my parents got it, hated it, and gave it to me. I loved it, which boggled their minds. I think about the only early ND I would consider picking up is the live album Hot August Night. The studio albums just sound a bit too dated but the stuff I've heard off that sounds pretty great. And it would drive my wife crazy - she HATES Neil Diamond. She abides by the mantra "Neil Diamond sounds like someone taking a dump." That's just part of his appeal.
I might have to go pick up that new one of his. TODAY.
14 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Was never a huge ND fan, but some of those early songs ("Cracklin' Rosie,") were pretty good, and how can you resist:
"...And when you'd almost bet you could hear yourself sweat..."
..."Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies..."
...Wha? Did someone say Costello?