Track Notes from Neil Diamond: 1. Forever In Blue Jeans
â€" “Forever in Blue
Jeans†was inspired by guitarist Richard
Bennett’s wonderful opening guitar lick which he
first played for me while we were out on the road. That guitar lick
was so seductive that the melody I started singing over his guitar
practically wrote itself. When we returned to L.A. we were anxious
to get into the studio and put the finished (we thought) song on
tape. After running through it with my band a few times, we all
realized that we needed to add another musical section to make the
record really work. We called a 15 minute break, right in the
middle of the recording session, while Richard and I sat down at
the piano and hashed out a brand new section with a lyric of its
own (“Maybe tonight...†). This new,
unplanned section (instantly orchestrated by arranger Tom Hensley)
would become one of my favorite parts of the record. Necessity
really did prove to be the mother of invention on this wonderful
Bob Gaudio production. 2. Beautiful Noise â€" I remember
Garth Hudson of The Band sitting at his huge self built pipe organ
and playing the solo of this record at the Beautiful Noise session.
What he played completely floored us as he filled the musical track
with an amazing sound that helped keep the record alive and
interesting. Thank you Garth. 3. Love On The Rocks â€"
“Love on the Rocks†was performed
live for the cameras on the set of The Jazz Singer movie. This is
something that’s hardly ever done in movies as
they prefer to have the singer lip-sync the vocals of a
pre-recorded track. All the songs in The Jazz Singer were done live
because I’m terrible at lip-syncing. 4. Cherry,
Cherry â€" Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Artie Butler and
I made a fun little demo of “Cherry,
Cherry†to use as a guide for an upcoming recording
session of the song. We never could top that unpretentious, good
feeling demo at the full session, so they ended up releasing the
demo. It went top five in America and marked the true beginning of
my career in music. 5. I Am…I Said
â€" “I Am...I Said†took
four months of writing day and night to complete. When the song was
finally finished, a great Lee Holdridge string and horn chart was
written and recorded. An immaculate Tom Catalano production
completed this musical journey. It was nominated for a Grammy and
still gives me chills when I perform it. 6. Sweet Caroline
â€" “Sweet Caroline†was
written in a Memphis hotel room the night before it was recorded.
The next day I walked the song over to American Sound Studio and
played it through for producer Tommy Cogbill and the studio house
band (Reggie Young on guitar, Mike Leech on bass, Bobby Emmons on
the Hammond B-3 organ, Bobby Woods on acoustic piano and Gene
Chrisman on drums). This little group created the basic track of
one of my biggest and most durable hits ever. Co-producer Tom
Catalano then brought in arranger Charlie Calello who wrote the
unforgettable string and horn charts (bah-bah-bah) which were
recorded later in New York City. This record was an unexpected gift
from the Gods of music. One that made us all look so good, so good,
so good! 7. Cracklin’ Rosie â€" While
chatting with a Canadian fan one day I was told the story of an
Indian tribe on a reservation in Canada which had a deficit in the
number of women. This meant that those unfortunate single men would
buy an inexpensive bottle of wine called Crackling
Rosé to keep them company on Saturday nights. This
wine would become their date for the evening and they called her
Cracklin’ Rosie. That was all the story I needed
to hear to write this song. It ended up being my first #1 record as
an artist. For a recording artist there is no bigger thrill. 8.
Play Me â€" We discovered during its recording session
that “Play Meâ€
didn’t feel quite right in the 4â"4 time
signature that I had written it in. Guitarist Richard Bennett came
up with the solution by playing his guitar picking lick in
3â"4 time. This new time signature made all the difference in
the world as the song settled into its own natural feel. I thanked
Richard for pointing me in the right direction by giving him my
beloved Everly Brothers acoustic guitar on the spot. He returned it
to me years later knowing how much I missed it. That guitar now
resides at the Grammy museum in Los Angeles. 9.
I’m A Believer â€" I
don’t remember too much about writing or
recording “I’m a
Believer.†At the time it was just another one of the
songs I had written for my second album on Bang Records. I do
remember though, the Monkees recording it and taking it to #1 on
the charts and it becoming the biggest selling single of the year.
It’s hard to forget stuff like that. 10. Girl,
You’ll Be A Woman Soon â€" This was
my love song to all the screaming teeny-boppers at my early shows.
11. Holly Holy â€" Tommy Cogbill produced the basic
tracks of “Holly Holy†in Memphis
with the super-hot American Sound Studio house band. When
co-producer Tom Catalano and I hand carried the boxes of recording
tape through the Memphis airport to L.A. the next day, we held them
like they were newborn babies because we both felt there was a
miracle on those tracks. When we got back to L.A., Tom brought in
arranger Lee Holdridge who was inspired enough by the tracks to
write the most magnificent string and choral parts. When engineer
Armin Steiner played it back all together, we knew we had somehow
captured lightning in a bottle. This was a once in a lifetime
recording experience for me. 12. Solitary Man â€"
“Solitary Man†was a first for me in
many ways. My first chart record as an artist, my first recorded
performance with great professional musicians, the very best
engineers, and two producers at the top of their game, Jeff Barry
and Ellie Greenwich. These elements together made my first
important musical introduction to the public one that I was
thrilled to put my name on. 13. Song Sung Blue â€" I
wish I could remember who played that electric piano riff on the
opening of this record. I still love it. Also, it was my second #1
record as an artist. 14. You Don’t Bring Me
Flowers â€" This song was written at the request of
television producer Norman Lear. He wanted it used as a theme song
for a new “male-female role
reversal†TV sitcom called All That Glitters (why else
would a guy be singing about not getting flowers?). Marilyn and
Alan Bergman and I wrote the lyric first and then I went off to set
it to music. It didn’t take long, the lyric was
written to be sung. The song itself begged to be a duet and
eventually my friend Barbra Streisand heard it and agreed. My third
#1 single was shared with my favorite girl singer. What fun! 15.
Hello Again â€" Alan Lindgren and I wrote this song at
drummer Dennis St. John’s beach pad in a smoky
haze of good fellowship. 16. Red, Red Wine â€"
“Red, Red Wine†was recorded for
Bang Records in 1967. Soon afterwards, I left the Bang Records
label. After I left, the people at Bang began to release everything
I had ever recorded while I was with them, whether it was complete
or not. They decided to throw in some violins to the very
understated track I did for “Red, Red
Wine†and then released it. I didn’t
like their version very much but I swallowed it and moved on. Years
later the group UB40 released the song in a terrific reggae
version. The fact that UB40’s record went to #1
on the charts helped soothe my hurt pride. #1 records have a way of
making all the hurt go away. 17. If You Know What I Mean
â€" This is one of my favorite songs from the
BeautifulNoise album. Robbie Robertson did a masterful job of
producing this entire album. 18. Brother Love’s
Traveling Salvation Show â€" This very unique record
(produced by Tommy Cogbill and Chips Moman) was another Memphis
creation (circa 1969). Bobby Woods on piano and Mike Leech on bass
led me and the band to the promised land with this track.
“Brother Love†was a very odd single
(you couldn’t dance to it because of all the
tempo changes) but it caught on nonetheless. Almost immediately, it
became one of my favorite songs to perform live and remains my show
closer after more than forty years. Now that’s
what I call longevity! 19. Pretty Amazing Grace â€"
“Pretty Amazing Grace†is one of the
offspring of my two Rick Rubin produced albums, 12 Songs and Home
Before Dark. I familiarized the band in the studio with it by
having us practice the instrumental guitar section that can be
heard about three quarters of the way through. Once we got that
part down, the rest of the tune just fell into place. Of course it
takes great musicians to make things just “fall
into place.†I was lucky to have them and a great
producer on those sessions. 20. Kentucky Woman â€" I
wrote “Kentucky Woman†in an old
limo that I had just purchased from a funeral home to carry me
through a touring version of Dick Clark’s Where
the Action Is T.V. show. It was my very first tour and I
didn’t know exactly what to expect so I prepared
myself to do a lot of writing in transit. My keyboard player Max
Sandler drove that ’57 Cadillac limo as I sat in
the roomy back seat cradling my guitar and writing songs throughout
that entire thirty-two city, twenty-eight day tour. This song was
started as we approached our play date in Paducah, Kentucky. 21.
Shilo â€" “Shilo†set a
higher lyrical standard for me than anything I had written before
on Bang Records because it had a little story to tell. I wanted
this record out as a single and Bang Records did not. They offered
to release it if I were willing to re-sign with them for another
two years. I refused, believing that I had earned the right to
choose my own single after all the success we’d
had. I finally left Bang and my producers Jeff Barry and Ellie
Greenwich over this song. I don’t regret it and
I guess it turned out okay in the end but I’ll
always miss the excitement of those Bang Years. 22. America
â€" For me, the song
“America†provided the heart and
soul of The Jazz Singer film. The satisfaction I felt from
popularizing that song made the reviews I got as an actor sting a
little less. 23. Hell Yeah â€" This self-revelation
poured out of me as the last of the thirty songs I had written for
contention in my 12 Songs album. “Hell
Yeah†is an affirmation of a lifetime spent devoted to
music and my attempt to find a personally satisfying life for
myself beyond the music. I have that life now but it was a much
harder job than I thought possible. Still, well worth all the years
and all the tears. I wish I could personally thank the hundreds of
musicians, arrangers, and engineers who, along with the producers,
spent long days and nights in studios around the country to make
these recordings vibrate and thrill. As a songwriter I can only
humbly bow down and thank them all from the depths of my heart for
giving wings to my dreams. â€"Neil Diamond
