::shudder::
Flashback - Scout summer trip '95. A week in a half houseboating in Northern California. Two boats, sixteen kids, 5 parents, one tape player, and one tape: Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits.
And they thought we were all sitting on the roof because we liked the sun.
My aunt is a really huge Neil Diamond fan.
He really doesn’t bother me. I mean, you always hear “Sweet Caroline” on the oldies stations, sooo…
All right, then.
And as long as we’re making confessions…
…I don’t hate Barry Manilow.
No one likes elitist snob rock fans, which is an oxymoron if there ever was one.
But if the shoe fits…
D’s & R’s
I like Neil’s stuff a lot. “Solitary Man” is a terrific song, and it’s really hard to beat “Sweet Caroline” for that building section before the crescendo. Wouldn’t bother with seeing an impersonator–I mean, “tribute artist”–though.
FWIW, I have a friend who is such a crazy Barry Manilow fan that he once followed Barry on tour for a summer, like a deadhead.
I really like Neil Diamond, for one. I can listen to “Cracklin’ Rose” about a million times in a row.
I think I need help.
Neil Diamond is in The Last Waltz because he and Robbie Robertson are/were friends (I believe Robertson produced some of Diamond’s albums). Still, he’s just damn ernest for me. I fast forward through him and get to the part where Rick Dando talks about “getting pussy.” Class guy.
Hey, man. I do like Neil Diamond, and I’ve always thought that he was considered to be pretty cool. He even gets due props in snobby indie circles (at least the ones I hang out in.) Now Barry Manilow, that’s different…
He’s penned some classic pop tunes…
I don’t have anything by him personally, but the fact that there’s a tribute act speaks for itself.
Neil Diamond is one of the best singer/songwriters of all-time!!
And yes, he has tons of fans. 
My sister is really excited about seeing Mr. Diamond in a few weeks. He is second only to Mr. Manilow in her heart.
I don’t get it either.
When I was just a wee lad of five, I received two albums for Christmas containing my two favorite songs. The first was Glen Campbell’s Greatest Hits because of the song “Rhinestone Cowboy.” The second was You Don’t Bring Me Flowers by the incomparable Mr. Diamond. And just what was that second favorite song of the aforementioned five-year-old you ask? “Forever in Blue Jeans” baby.
There are people out there who don’t like Neil Diamond? 
In Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend, by Robert James “Bridges of Madison County” Walker, the hero is demonstrated to be a rebel and free spirit when he blasts Neil Diamond on the radio of his motorcycle. (That’s right, he had a motorcycle, too.)
[sub]Okay, okay, I actually have this weird soft spot for “Heartlight.” Don’t tell anyone.[/sub]
“I wrote this song after killing a hitch-hiker to achieve an erection… FORVER IN BLUE JEANS BABE!” Will Farrel is the man…
But I’m a pretty big Neil fan as well, and people have trouble believing it (I’m a 20 year old college student that listens mostly to country and rap). My mom and sister got tickets to one of his concerts and I told them I would have liked to go, but get me a shirt if possible. They came back and I asked if they got me one, and they thought I was joking about the whole thing. 
He packs Croke Park for a few nights every time he plays here. He is very popular with the mid to old range.
What a coincidence: just last night, my girlfriend went to a Neil Diamond concert. She called me up after midnight, when she got back, all hoarse and excited. Oh, such a time she had. She said she nearly cried when he walked out on stage, she was so thrilled.
I’m pretty sure we can work through this somehow.
Another Neil Diamond fan checking in here, although I think life would have been just fine if he’d not cut a single record in the past 30 years, when he’s mostly done “Heartlight”-style tripe.
But up until about 1972, he was something. I want to second the plaudits for “Solitary Man,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” and “I’m a Believer,” and add “Holly Holy,” a Pentecostal faith-healing turned into a rock song, to the list. Also “Brooklyn Roads,” where Neil’s childhood recollections overlap with my own:
Teacher’d say “He’s just not trying
got a good head if he’d apply it
but you know yourself
he’s always somewhere else…”
That was me, alright. Hell, it still is. But fortunately, I have my bosses fooled. 
I’m partial to “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” myself. “Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies.”
One summer, I was haunted by the dulcet notes of “America,” following me wherever I went. For a good solid week, I heard Neil sing of liberty and that flag unfurled in movie theaters, elevators, and on the radio.
Shane MacGowan’s cover of “Cracklin’ Rosie” is pretty catchy, too.