
Neil Leslie Diamond was born on January 24, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. He received his high school diploma from Abraham Lincoln High School and later attended New York University on a fencing scholarship.
He had aspirations of pursuing a life in medicine, specifically as a laboratory biologist. However, during his senior year at NYU a music publishing company offered to pay him $50 per week to write songs. That was his beginning.
Neil Diamond and his high school friend, Jack Parker, signed a contract and were billed as “Neil and Jack”. They recorded two songs: “You Are My Love At Last” b/w “What Will I Do” and “I’m Afraid” b/w “Till You’ve Tried Love”.They were released in 1962 without much success.
Later in 1962 , he signed a solo contract with Columbia Records. After one unsuccessful release in 1963, Columbia dropped him from the label.
Diamond returned to songwriting and finally had his first success in November of 1965, with “Sunday and Me”. It was a Top 20 hit for Jay and The Americans.
He achieved greater recognition as a songwriter with “I’m a Believer”, “A little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)”, and “Love to Love”, all performed by The Monkees. Diamond had written and recorded them for himself, but the cover versions were released before his own. This was a real stroke of luck for Neil, as he realized notoriety as a songwriter in addition to a singer and performer.
“I’m a Believer” was the Popular Song of the Year in 1966.
Diamond released “Solitary Man” in 1966 on Atlantic Records, his first on that label. He later recorded “Cherry, Cherry”, “Kentucky Woman”, “Thank The Lord for the Night Time”, and others on the same label.
Neil became unhappy in his situation. He wanted to produce more aspiring, reflective music, such as “Brooklyn Roads”, which he recorded in 1968. He found a loophole in his contract, but it took until 1977 and a great deal of litigation to secure the masters of his recordings under this label.
“Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show” was released in February of 1969, under a new label, which would become MCA Records. His music became more melodious with songs like “Sweet Caroline” (1969), “Holly Holy” (1969), “Cracklin’ Rosie” (1970) and “Song Sung Blue” (1972). “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue” reached #1 on the Hot 100.
In 1971, Neil released “I am…I Said”. It was a Top 5 hit in the United States and in the United Kingdom. It was the most difficult song he had written to that date, taking over four months to finish.
On August 24, 1972 Diamond played to a sold out crowd at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This concert was recorded and released as a live double album. Hot August Night has become a classic. Many consider it to be Neil Diamond’s best work.
In 1973, Neil released a solo album, which was the soundtrack to the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The critics bombed the film and the public didn’t care too much for it either. Actually, the album grossed more than the movie. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Album Charts. He received a “Golden Globe Award” for “Best Original Score” and a “Grammy Award” for “Best Score for a Motion Picture”.
“You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” a Diamond/Streisand duet was recorded and hit #1 in 1978.
The Jazz Singer (a 1980 movie) soundtrack produced three Top 10 singles for Diamond: “Love on the Rocks”, “Hello Again” and “America”. Neil Diamond became the first ever winner of a “Worst Actor Razzie Award”, even though he was nominated for a “Golden Globe Award” for the same role.
“Heartlight” was another Top 10 from Neil Diamond. Universal Pictures briefly threatened legal action for the inference to E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The litigation was withdrawn however, since the title character was never named in the lyrics to the song.
Through the 1980′s , Diamond’s record sales declined, but his concert tours were very successful.
During the 1990′s, he produced six studio albums, including two Christmas albums. The first Christmas album peaked at #8 on the Billboard Album Charts.
Neil Diamond has had over twenty albums on the Billboard Top 40 Album Charts, and ten #1 singles on the Billboard Top Pop Singles Charts. He continues with his songwriting, recording, and releasing new material. He also maintains a widespread touring schedule.
I believe this is some significant information for me. And I am glad studying your article. The site taste is great, the articles are really excellent. Excellent task, cheers!!
Thank You for the kind comments!!
Outstanding post, I conceive weblog owners need to acquire a whole lot from this weblog its really user pleasant.
Hi. Thank You for the generous comments!!
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Hi. There is a problem when using Internet Explorer. Try Google Chrome or Firefox. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi. The website has trouble with Internet Explorer. You can try Google Chrome or Firefox. Either one seems to load fast and with little difficulty.
Hello admin of this website, do you allow guest posting ?
Please let me know, i am interested .
Hi. Yes, I welcome guest posting. Under the logo, there is a link “Guest Posting”.
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my blog so i came to “return the favor”.I’m trying to
find things to enhance my site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your
ideas!!
Hi! All of my blogs come from varied public sources. Sometimes the themes come out of my head. Anyway, please feel free to use any of my ideas!!
Hi mates, how is all, and what you wish for to say about
this piece of writing, in my view its genuinely amazing designed for me.
Hi! Thank You for the kind comment!!
Wow, this paragraph is fastidious, my sister is analyzing these things, so I am going to convey her.
Thank You!!
I every time spent my half an hour to read this website’s posts everyday along with
a cup of coffee.
Hi! Thank You for spending some time on my site. I’ve been very sick for the last few months and haven’t produced many articles. Hopefully, I’m on the road to recovery. Thanks, Again!!
I am in fact thankful to the holder of this web page who has
shared this impressive paragraph at here.
Hi! Thank You!!
Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and
personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this web site.
Hi! Thank You for the gracious comments and the recommendation!!
Wonderful beat ! I wish to apprentice even as you amend your site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a appropriate deal. I were tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright transparent idea
Hi! I’m still a novice, as my website has only been online for a few months. I’m still learning.
Thanks for the marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will remember to bookmark your
blog and will come back in the future. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great posts, have a nice holiday
weekend!
Hi! Thank You for the kind comments!!
We’re a group of volunteers and opening a
new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with
valuable information to work on. You have done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.
Hi! I’m glad I was of some help!!
Good article! We will be linking to this great content on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
Hi! Thank You for the gracious comments!!
I think the admin of this site is genuinely
working hard for his web site, as here every information is quality based information.
Hi! Thank You for noticing!! I try to present articles that are interesting and informative. Sometimes I’m successful, and sometimes…
I do not even understand how I finished up right here, however I believed this post was good.
I do not recognise who you might be but definitely you’re going
to a well-known blogger if you happen to aren’t already. Cheers!
Hi! Thank You for the gracious comments!!
With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has a lot of completely
unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems a
lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my
agreement. Do you know any techniques to help stop content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.
For most up-to-date information you have to
pay a quick visit web and on world-wide-web I found this web site as
a finest web site for most recent updates.
Thank You!!