In The 1970s Neil Diamond

UPDATE
BBCNEWS
JAN 2018

Singer Neil Diamond has announced he will retire from touring, after a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Diamond, who turns 77 on Wednesday, cancelled his March tour dates for Australia and New Zealand on medical advice.

The Solitary Man singer was midway through his 50th anniversary tour.

In a statement he said he took the decision "with great reluctance and disappointment".

"I have been so honoured to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years," he said.

"My sincerest apologies to everyone who purchased tickets and were planning to come to the upcoming shows."

Parkinson's is a progressive condition in which the brain becomes damaged. It can lead to tremors, difficulty moving, speech changes and eventually memory problems.

Forty eight million records sold in the U.S. makes Neil Diamond the third most successful Billboard adult contemporary artist. Worldwide he has sold over 120 million. Not bad for a guy from New York and who was born in 1941. By the time he had got to the 1960s he had been in bands and was writing great songs like I’m A Believer, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You, The Boat I Rowed Ashore and of course his own Sweet Caroline.

In 1970 Neil signed up with MCA and had five top twenty hits with Shilo, Until It’s Time For You To Go, Soolaimon, Solitary Man and He Ain't Heavy He’s My Brother. But one record was a hit in the UK and the USA that year, which was Cracklin’ Rose from the album Tap Root Manuscript. The song is about a sparkling wine from Canada. The single was mono, but the sound was great.

More singles in 1971, and the biggest being I Am..I Said for which Neil got a Grammy nomination. The song was in fact about Neil being torn in many directions, including where he wanted to live. LA or New York?

1972 several U.S. hits including Play Me and Walk On Water. But the big hit in UK and U.S. was  Song Sung Blue and gave Neil two more Grammy nominations, although he did not win. This was inspired by Mozart's "Piano Concerto no. 21."

1973 several singles, but none made the top thirty, and in 1974 only one did and that was Longfellow Serenade that got to No. 5 in the U.S. and No.29 in the UK. The title of the song is a reference to the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

1975 no UK, but 1976 he came back with If You Know What I Mean from the album Beautiful Noise which became a single hit itself later in the same year. The title came from the fact that Neil’s daughter was listening to a parade outside the window and turned to her dad and said "What a beautiful noise daddy”. And it was truly a beautiful noise.

1977 and Desiree was the biggest single hit for Neal.

It was the third of June

On that summer's day

When I became a man

At the hands of a girl

Almost twice my age

1978 he had a worldwide hit with a duet with Barbra Streisand and You Don’t Bring Me Flowers a Platinum selling single. The song was in fact supposed to be a theme for a TV show called All That Glitter, but the show failed. Neil had the song on a 1977 album and the next year Barbra had it on one of her albums. The reason the song was made was because of a divorce by a radio jock. He spliced the two songs together to make one recording and gave it to his wife. The song got airplay, and an official single was made. The power of the people!

1979 and still the singles followed on. Forever In Blue Jeans. The song came out of a radio commercial for jeans by a man pretending to be Neil Young. He was so good at it, that Neil did it himself and had a worldwide hit.

The very last single of the 70s for Neil was September Morn from the album I’m A Believer. The song was out about the same time Neil collapsed on stage and had to have an emergency operation on his back. It was a tumor, but they managed to remove it.

Neil Diamond TV Interview from 1971