Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond: Solitary Man / ...at the Electric Proms
Hourlong doc & hourlong concert from the man once dubbed "the Jewish Elvis". His development in terms of songwriting craft, and stageshow performance was warmly told, and the live show dealt out all his great hits.

Neil Diamond has sadly had to announce the end of his touring career, having been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease:

http://www.neildiamond.com/news/neil-diamond-announces-retirement-concert-touring-australian-new-zealand-tour-dates-cancelled/

He still plans to keep writing and recording, though, so it's not all bad news.

The Brooklyn native turned 80 yesterday, and is overdue his own thread. As a singer and a songwriter (including time in the famous Brill Building), he has sold millions of records and topped all kinds of charts. He had to work on his stage-craft and overcome a reluctance to overdo a performance, but he did it. Here are a sample of his best works:

Forever In Blue Jeans (live)

Song Sung Blue (live)

I Am... I Said

Beautiful Noise (live)

Wish Everything Was Alright

Neil Diamond: Hot August Night - NYC
Go on, guess. A 2009 concert mixed with some chitchat and footage of Neil at old haunts, including an amusing encounter with some black youths who don't know him from Adam. The music's good, mind.

Neil Diamond - For One Night Only
An excuse to plug his new album this was mainly a gig with old material and new, but also a film with Neil in New York and Welsh comic Rob Brydon as obligatory guest fan host. He did join Neil in the gig to sing "Song Sung Blue", but Neil did his stuff well enough the rest of the time.

The Jazz Singer
Neil Diamond's 1980 film stars himself as a Jewish cantor in New York who has a chance to be a rock star in LA, despite his wife and father wanting him to accept his lot. He sings "Love on the Rocks" amongst others, so his wife leaves him, and he falls for the chick who's helping his career. He has a temporary brainstorm allowing him to sing "You Are My Sunshine" in some dive, before he finds he has a son, after which he reconciles with his dad. Paul Nicholas makes an amusing cameo as an obnoxious punk-type singer who wants to sing Love On The Rocks as uptempo, whilst Laurence Olivier plays Neil's dad.

Music Icons: Neil Diamond
How a young songwriter honed his craft at the Brill Building, saw the Monkees make gold from his work, then have his own successes. He experimented with African rhythms, and with film soundtracks, and a successful live album. He was synonymous with glittery shirts, and worked with Rick Rubin in the later stage of his career. He rocked Glastonbury in 2008.

Neil Diamond at the BBC
A new compilation for his birthday, some footage taken from previous concerts which they might as well have shown in full for all the good this was. The mix of shows told its own story too. At one stage they say his version of Morning Has Broken (in 1992) was his last UK top 40 hit, then later they say it was something else. Such is research, perhaps.

Radio 2 In Concert: Neil Diamond
From back in May 2008, around the time of the Home Before Dark album, and the Pretty Amazing Grace single, but he also did Forever In Blue Jeans and Sweet Caroline, so that's not too bad.