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Over the course of a career that kicked in with the adolescent rush of "Cherry Cherry" in 1966 and crescendoed more than three decades later with his most successful world tour ever, spanning 2001 and 2002, Neil Diamond has never failed to delight and surprise his fans with fresh approaches to the music that moves him the most deeply. His concerts are nothing less than communal events that Neil transforms into intimate encounters between himself and the millions who attend those shows from decade to decade.
The ultimate chronicle of Neil Diamond's lifetime on the road is Stages: Performances 1970-2002, a deluxe six-disc box set issued in September 2003 by Columbia/Legacy, a division of Sony Music. In keeping with Neil's stature, it is the largest single collection of previously unreleased live material ever commercially/officially issued at one time by any artist in pop music history. Stages comprises five audio CDs containing 83 tracks, all but one of which are previously unreleased. 42 of those performances include songs that Neil Diamond has never issued in live versions before, a true boon to collectors. The sixth disc, a DVD, contains highlights (12 songs) from a 2002 concert in Dublin plus a backstage video documentary of "Life On the Road."
In his opening liner notes to Stages, Neil Diamond writes: "I will never forget my excitement as I boarded a Tampa, Florida-bound flight at LaGuardia airport in New York City in 1966, and headed off for the beginnings of an unimagined future... I certainly had no thoughts of where this journey would ultimately take me." That journey underscores the happy saga of Neil Diamond, one of the most creatively bold -- and prolific -- singer-songwriters to emerge in the rock era. It is one American tale well worth repeating.
At age 16, he received a guitar as a birthday present, and soon he focused on lessons and, later, songwriting. He later attended NYU as a pre-med student on a fencing scholarship, but songwriting remained his first love. He left college six months before graduating to accept a songwriting position with a publishing company for $50 a week, and has never regretted the decision. Diamond eventually leased an office on Broadway for $35 a month where he could devote all his time to writing. After several lean years, he was approached by producers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. This meeting led to his eventual signing with Bang Records.
At his first Bang session in 1966, Neil recorded what would become his first three hit singles: "Solitary Man," "Cherry, Cherry," and "I Got The Feeling (Oh No, No)." He also scored his first #1 record as a writer with the Monkees' "I'm A Believer." Diamond's Bang Records catalog included the albums The Feel of Neil Diamond (his 1966 debut), Just For You (1967), Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits (1968) and Shilo (1970).
1969 brought him his biggest record of the early years, "Sweet Caroline," from Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show/Sweet Caroline, an album that combined gospel themes with pop formats. The following year, he released the albums Touching You Touching Me, which included the hit single "Holly Holy"; and Tap Root Manuscript (1970), which experimented with African-inspired arrangements. Other albums from this period include Velvet Gloves and Spit (1968), Stones (1971) and Moods (1972), with the hits "Cracklin' Rosie," "Song Sung Blue" (both #1), and "I Am...I Said." Hot August Night, a double-album recorded live at the Greek Theater in 1972 is another immortal Diamond album of the period.
Diamond's reputation as a charismatic performer grew steadily in the 70s. In 1972, the Schubert Organization presented him in concert for a record-setting 20 performances of a one-man show at the Winter Garden Theater, making Neil the first rock-era superstar to headline on Broadway. At the height of his touring popularity, Diamond announced a sabbatical from the stage to devote more time to his family, but in 1976, he resumed performing with record-breaking tours of Australia and New Zealand.
In 1973, Neil signed with Columbia, with which he has enjoyed his greatest successes. His first release for the label, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, became his #2 all-time best-seller and earned him Grammy and Golden Globe awards. In 1974 he released Serenade, which yielded the hit, "Longfellow Serenade." In 1976 he recorded the platinum Beautiful Noise with producer Robbie Robertson of The Band.
The late 70s found Diamond on both the radio and TV airwaves. In 1976, he returned to the Greek Theater for eight SRO shows, resulting in his first TV special and his second live LP, 1977's platinum Love At The Greek. On the singles charts, his 1978 duet ballad with Barbra Streisand, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," reached #1. I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight (1977), You Don't Bring Me Flowers (1978), and September Morn (1980) continued his streak of RIAA-certified platinum albums.
In 1980, Diamond not only starred in the remake of the movie classic "The Jazz Singer," but he composed and performed the film's multi-platinum soundtrack album, which included hits "Love On The Rocks," "America," and "Hello Again." The title track to his 1982 album Heartlight was another monster hit, and in 1986 he followed his smash 1972 live double album Hot August Night with Hot August Night II.
The 90's have served to further Diamond's standing as one of his generation's premier performers. A Christmas Album spawned "Neil Diamond's Christmas Special," which premiered on HBO in 1992 and aired on ABC-TV the following year. A second holiday set, The Christmas Album Vol. II, was issued in 1994 and duplicated the success of the first volume.
In 1993, meanwhile, Neil returned to his roots with the album Up On The Roof - Songs From The Brill Building. Featuring 16 of Diamond's favorite pop songs from the �50s and �60s, the disc showcased classics by such top songwriting teams as Goffin & King, Mann & Weill, Leiber & Stoller, Barry & Greenwich, and Bacharach & David -- all of whom were closely identified with the Brill Building, the renowned songwriters and publishers headquarters located on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan.
In 1994, Diamond released Live In America, which documented his record-breaking two-year "Love In The Round" world tour, in which he performed on a 360-degree stage built in the middle of every arena he played. The Tennessee Moon project, which Diamond recorded in Nashville with the help of such stellar country artists as Waylon Jennings and the Mavericks' Raul Malo, followed in 1996, and included a companion TV special and home video.
Also in 1996 came the extraordinary 70-song In My Lifetime boxed-set containing 37 hit singles, 16 previously unissued early demos, alternative versions of well known classics, the newly written and recorded title track, and a full-color 72-page booklet with extensive liner notes including an interview with Diamond, scores of rare photos, a complete discography, and song-by-song annotations by Diamond. It was a fitting package for the enduring artist who has sold 120 million records and set box office records at major venues all over the world.
Neil Diamond won a Grammy in 1973 as composer of the Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture ("Jonathan Livingston Seagull") and achieved one of his biggest successes with the soundtrack to the movie "The Jazz Singer," in which he starred opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1998 Neil Diamond, the interpretive vocalist, returned to the movies as the inspiration for The Movie Album -- As Time Goes By, a twodisc collection of 20 classic songs from the treasure trove of motion picture music. True to the spirit and magic of Hollywood at its best, The Movie Album -- As Time Goes By was recorded live on 20th Century Fox's Newman Scoring Stage and conducted by the legendary film composer/conductor Elmer Bernstein. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.
On June 15, 2000, the Songwriters' Hall of Fame awarded Diamond the coveted "Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award," making him one of a select few composers to be honored twice by the organization. Recently, Diamond appeared in a cameo role in the motion picture "Saving Silverman" (released February 2001).
Neil Diamond's most recent studio album, Three Chord Opera (released July 2001) is one of his most personal records, a song collection which meditates on love and loss while celebrating life's joy and glories through music. Interestingly, considering Diamond's formidable reputation as the quintessential singersongwriter, Three Chord Opera marks the first time since 1974's Serenade in which all the words and music were written by Neil. Produced by Peter Asher and Alan Lindgren, the record is a revealing look at the inner life of Neil Diamond, an artist who continues to communicate the essential, universal experience.
Unchallenged as one of the rock era's greatest live solo performers, Diamond's last world tour began in September, 2001 (just weeks after the release of Three Chord Opera). On December 4th, The Essential Neil Diamond was released by Columbia/Legacy, the most comprehensive double-CD of his career. The 38-track anthology gathered original monaural mixes (for the first time in decades) from the Bang Records archives, where his recording career began in 1966; a selection of Uni Records hits (1969-72, making their historic first appearances on any Columbia collection); a trilogy of hits from The Jazz Singer motion picture soundtrack on Capitol Records; and a lion's share of Columbia tracks covering the '70s, '80s, '90s and beyond. Among the 38 tracks were six previously unreleased live performances, recorded in the Midwest during the first weeks of the 2001-2002 tour.
The tour went on to become one of the top 5 earning tours for the period September 2001 to December 2002, drawing nearly 2 million attendees over the course of 117 SRO shows in 89 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Prior to this, according to Amusement Business Boxscore, Neil Diamond was the #1 top-earning solo artist for the entire decade of the '90s, drawing 4.4 million attendees over the course of 461 shows (including 373 sell-outs), and grossing nearly $183 million for the 10 year period.
Neil Diamond's liner note essay that opens Stages, entitled "An Unexpected Journey," goes right back to his early days as he reflects upon his career. "This is all a long way from 1966," he writes, "when I played that high school gym in Tampa and stayed in a Motel 6. But there's one thing that hasn't changed, and that is the excitement I feel about performing live. Taking the stage is as palpable and seductive for me today as it was back then. The thrill of the unknown, the new, and the unpredictable is still as inspiring and welcome to me after all these years as it was when I first took the stage and made that fool's leap of faith."
In March 2005, Neil started a new world tour, beginning in Australia and New Zealand (where he again broke box office records). The tour continued in May/June in the UK and Ireland and opened in the U.S. in mid-summer. An album of all new, original material, produced by Rick Rubin, will be released in early November.
