0:00:03 > 0:00:08# Ah, I love the way that you do me
0:00:08 > 0:00:14# Cherry, baby You really get to me. #
0:00:17 > 0:00:21Neil Diamond has sold nearly 130 million albums
0:00:21 > 0:00:23and touched audiences all over the world
0:00:23 > 0:00:25for five decades now.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28We don't start out as great performers,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31that's something that comes with experience.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33He's the shy boy from Brooklyn
0:00:33 > 0:00:36who transformed himself into a superstar.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40The frog who turned into a king on stage.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44It took him from being this very popular singer-songwriter
0:00:44 > 0:00:47to being the Jewish Elvis.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49A magnetic performer,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51with a special understanding with the ladies.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Everybody knows he's a really good at what he does
0:00:56 > 0:01:01and pulls everybody into it in a very special way.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04He has that rich, deep, dark, chocolatey voice
0:01:04 > 0:01:06that is very sensual.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Diamond's a songwriter, a singer,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13and performer who went on to star in a Hollywood movie
0:01:13 > 0:01:18- and has blossomed again in the noughties. - He gives you everything he's got.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I love that about him.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25# ..Touching you
0:01:25 > 0:01:30# Sweet Caroline
0:01:30 > 0:01:31# Good times... #
0:01:31 > 0:01:33He's a superstar, yet he's always solo,
0:01:33 > 0:01:34out on his own.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42I'd been writing, which is a very solitary kind of thing.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Suddenly I had to...
0:01:45 > 0:01:47become an extrovert.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I had to become a performer.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52If you are going to perform on stage in front of people,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54you have to know first and foremost,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56who you are,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58and I had no idea who I was.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00But whoever that was,
0:02:00 > 0:02:01that's what I had to be.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08This is the story of Neil Diamond -
0:02:08 > 0:02:09Solitary Man.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I have home movies of my mom coming out of the hospital.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34It was the end of January so it must have been very cold
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and they got into a taxi, which was...
0:02:37 > 0:02:39"Oh, my God, take a taxi!"
0:02:39 > 0:02:44It was very unusual to take a taxi anywhere in those days.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49They took me right back to my dad's little shop.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51We had a room in the back and that's where we lived
0:02:51 > 0:02:56and that's where I started my life.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02Neil Leslie Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04the first child of Rose and Kieve Diamond,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08who were second-generation Jewish immigrants.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Brooklyn was a patchwork of communities struggling to make good
0:03:12 > 0:03:16in the cheap neighbourhoods just over the bridge from Manhattan.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18America was the land of opportunity,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21where they were determined to realise their dreams.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27My dad had a little haberdashery shop
0:03:27 > 0:03:31which is ladies' garments,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34stockings, girdles.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37And men's and boys' basic clothing.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I knew this wasn't what I wanted to do.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43My mind was somewhere else,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45and it was always on the radio.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49The radio was always on, there was always some kind of music playing.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54My parents loved music -
0:03:54 > 0:03:57they were ballroom dancers, they adored it.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02Any chance they got, they would dance.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05They had a little phonograph, they'd put on a record
0:04:05 > 0:04:08and they would dance in the living room in Brooklyn.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16I remember once or twice, they even crashed weddings...
0:04:16 > 0:04:20people they didn't know, just to be able to dance to the band.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24I knew Neil's parents
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and I think he is a little bit of both.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30He has that outgoing personality
0:04:30 > 0:04:35and he also has the introvert personality.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37He's a complex person.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41I think we are a reflection of both our parents.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45The Brooklyn Jewish community
0:04:45 > 0:04:47was a nursery for the young pop talent
0:04:47 > 0:04:50that would soundtrack America in the late '50s and '60s.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and music mogul Clive Davies,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57were all raised in the city suburbs of Brooklyn,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59and were desperate to escape
0:04:59 > 0:05:03the conventional lives their parents had built for them and make their own way.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09I started writing songs at about 17.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12I do remember the first song.
0:05:12 > 0:05:18I was working in a hotel as a bus boy in the summer
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and I met a girl that I was very taken with.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I had just learned
0:05:24 > 0:05:26my first chord progression.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30And because I was a little shy and a little embarrassed,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35I wrote a song called Hear Them Bells,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39which was about a guy asking a girl to marry him.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I wasn't hoping for marriage,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I was hoping for a date.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48# Hear them bells
0:05:48 > 0:05:51# The story of our love
0:05:51 > 0:05:56# Hear them Bells... #
0:05:56 > 0:05:57It was a terrible little song
0:05:57 > 0:06:03but it seemed to do some kind of little special thing.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05# ..I'd be content, dear
0:06:05 > 0:06:08# If only you would say... #
0:06:08 > 0:06:12It's a fun song, it's obviously a beginner's song.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15She evidently liked it,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18we started to see each other...
0:06:18 > 0:06:20we got married,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24we had two children.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26And it was a very striking warning to me
0:06:26 > 0:06:29to be careful about what I write in these songs
0:06:29 > 0:06:31and to who I give them.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35# ..Hear them bells... #
0:06:35 > 0:06:37I remember his father, very proud, saying,
0:06:37 > 0:06:42"My son is also a singer-songwriter."
0:06:42 > 0:06:44He had his picture on the wall
0:06:44 > 0:06:46just behind the cash register.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I did music at school,
0:06:48 > 0:06:53I sang in the chorus when I was in high school.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57I remember we went around to hospitals...
0:06:57 > 0:06:58and went from bed to bed
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and sang to the patients.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03I think some of the patients even survived that.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06It was fun and it just grew.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Despite Diamond's early flair for pop music, he headed to NYU
0:07:11 > 0:07:14to train as a doctor and make his parents proud.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17He was on a fencing scholarship.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22For reasons of esteem, and my family,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27I thought that maybe I could someday be a doctor,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30but I was way over my head.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Song-writing was definitely a distraction,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34as was fencing,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37but song-writing was a passion.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41And so, I would go to New York University and I would take a class
0:07:41 > 0:07:44and then I would get on the subway train
0:07:44 > 0:07:49and I started to bring songs to publishing companies
0:07:49 > 0:07:54in an area of New York called Tin Pan Alley.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Soon he became a staff songwriter
0:07:56 > 0:08:01for a publishing company in the legendary Brill Building on Broadway, for 50 a week,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04quitting university before graduating.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11'My parents just assumed that I was still going to school
0:08:11 > 0:08:13'when I wasn't going to school.'
0:08:13 > 0:08:16- How are you doing?- Good. Nice to meet you.- All right.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Pleasure. Thank you.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Whoa. The Brill Building.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29'The Brill Building was THE main focus
0:08:29 > 0:08:31'of the music business in New York.'
0:08:31 > 0:08:32Wow!
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'Pretty much all of it happened here.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37'The greatest writers and the worst writers,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40'the greatest artists and the most terrible artists
0:08:40 > 0:08:43'came here to make their names.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:47The young writing teams in the Brill Building at the dawn of the '60s,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49were updating the Broadway tradition,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53crafting innocent pop songs for the new young-American teens.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56# Going to the chapel and we're... #
0:08:56 > 0:08:59It's quiet and peaceful now but it was...
0:08:59 > 0:09:02a long way from quiet and peaceful when I was here.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06There was a lot of action, a lot of excitement.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08It's nice to be back.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12The Brill Building was a dream factory chasing pop hits,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15with writers like Carole King, Burt Bacharach and Neil Sedaka
0:09:15 > 0:09:17all in hot competition.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21# I love, I love, I love My little calendar girl
0:09:21 > 0:09:22# Every day
0:09:22 > 0:09:23# Every day
0:09:23 > 0:09:24# Every day
0:09:24 > 0:09:25# Every day
0:09:25 > 0:09:27# Of the year... #
0:09:29 > 0:09:33We got in in the morning, 10 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Everyone had their little cubicle
0:09:35 > 0:09:38with a desk and a piano.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40And if you got a hit,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42you got a room with a window -
0:09:42 > 0:09:44that was a big deal.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47The walls were very thin.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48After a while,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Carole and Gerry's songs sounded like Neil and Howie's,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54like Barry Mann and Cynthia,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Jeff and Ellie.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00The transoms were always open.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01You could drop in your record
0:10:01 > 0:10:03if the place was closed.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05You'd drop your record in there
0:10:05 > 0:10:08with your phone number -
0:10:08 > 0:10:09"Please listen to this."
0:10:09 > 0:10:14'I had a rough time getting people to record my songs.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17'First of all, they were a beginner's songs,
0:10:17 > 0:10:18'they were pretty basic.'
0:10:18 > 0:10:23But there is a big difference between what's technically a song,
0:10:23 > 0:10:28and what is a song that can uplift somebody and the heart.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30That connection did not come
0:10:30 > 0:10:36until I was forced to make that connection.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39I had been struggling for a couple of years
0:10:39 > 0:10:45and my wife became pregnant with child.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49And that baby does not want to know
0:10:49 > 0:10:52that you are making 50 a week
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and she can't eat.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59He would have been concerned about money at that period of time,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03but that drive to succeed
0:11:03 > 0:11:05was really always there.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13# One day my dad said Find someone new... #
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Then husband-and-wife team, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19were hot songwriters and producers,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23responsible for girl group smashes like the Shangri-Las' Leader of the Pack.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27They saw something in Diamond
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and felt he could be a star as well as a songwriter.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32What Ellie and I found interesting
0:11:32 > 0:11:34was him singing his songs
0:11:34 > 0:11:36and playing the guitar.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40That's still the basis of every record he's ever made.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42I knew I liked them,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I knew they were special,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46I was very excited about them.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48And I knew this was an opportunity
0:11:48 > 0:11:50that I had to take advantage of
0:11:50 > 0:11:56and I had to make happen.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Yet meanwhile, beyond the Brill Building, in Greenwich Village,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04the American folk revival was taking off,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07spearheaded by passionate first-person songs
0:12:07 > 0:12:10written by another young Jewish-American, Bob Dylan.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12The times they were a-changing...
0:12:14 > 0:12:17At the time we found Neil,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20singer-songwriter was a pretty new thing.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24All the artists that I had produced prior
0:12:24 > 0:12:26I wrote with or for.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30It was through that period
0:12:30 > 0:12:33that I finally came into my own,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and came to understand
0:12:35 > 0:12:40that writing was to be passionate.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45And I wrote for myself,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47about myself.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50And things started to connect...
0:12:50 > 0:12:55and, thank God, it happened.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57# Don't know that I will
0:12:57 > 0:13:00# But until I can find me
0:13:00 > 0:13:03# A girl who'll stay
0:13:03 > 0:13:07# And won't play games behind me
0:13:07 > 0:13:10# I'll be what I am
0:13:10 > 0:13:14# A solitary man... #
0:13:14 > 0:13:17My best friend at the time owned Bang Records.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Burt got it...
0:13:19 > 0:13:23so Neil ended up on Bang Records.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27It was my first Neil Diamond song.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Written for Neil Diamond, by Neil Diamond,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34about Neil Diamond.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37'And it was one of the best songs I had written
0:13:37 > 0:13:38'up until that point.'
0:13:38 > 0:13:41# ..Solitary man
0:13:41 > 0:13:44# Solitary man... #
0:13:47 > 0:13:51'I did interviews and they asked, "Are you a solitary man?"'
0:13:51 > 0:13:54and I had not the slightest idea
0:13:54 > 0:13:56what they were talking about.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I had no idea that it related to me,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03but, of course, it did.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Solitary Man just made the charts,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08but Diamond was still searching for the proper smash
0:14:08 > 0:14:10that would truly make him a player.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12# Baby loves me
0:14:12 > 0:14:14# Yes, yes she does... #
0:14:14 > 0:14:18We were sitting around Bang Records' little tiny office
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and I played them a rhythm thing on guitar.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Jeff immediately was attracted to it and said,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"You should write around that rhythm figure,"
0:14:28 > 0:14:29and I did.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34And we came up with a record called Cherry Cherry,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36which was really my first big national hit.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41# Cherry baby
0:14:41 > 0:14:43# All right... #
0:14:47 > 0:14:51I do recall that I think it was originally called Money Money.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And we suggested that...
0:14:58 > 0:15:03..monetary is not as commercial as love.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06# Can't stand still
0:15:06 > 0:15:08# While the music is playing... #
0:15:10 > 0:15:13'It was very, very exciting.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17'I went from knocking around on the streets of New York,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21'trying to get in to get my music heard,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25'to being an artist on the charts
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'with a Top Five record.'
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I had my foot,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34both feet, my arms, my head,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36my body, in the door,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and nobody was going to get me out.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41'I was...flying
0:15:41 > 0:15:44'and the world was mine.'
0:15:44 > 0:15:46All I had to do was...
0:15:46 > 0:15:47keep doing it.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49They were big hits.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56In Billboard Magazine at the end of the second year he was the number one male artist in the world.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59So we were doing something right.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04The Beatles and the British invasion had transformed the American charts overnight.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10If Diamond was to stay on top he had to compete and establish himself as a performer.
0:16:10 > 0:16:16# Paperback writer Paperback writer... #
0:16:16 > 0:16:20He only wore black - anything to hide himself!
0:16:20 > 0:16:24If he had a green screen he would have been it.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28He just wanted to hide away.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29The guitar came up high.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31You hardly saw his face.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36Then I met with him... He was shy, but he was smart.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42He was very street-smart. He knew.
0:16:42 > 0:16:49With records, you had to wait six months or a year to be paid for any record sales.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00But doing shows was instant payment.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04I could pay bills, I could feed my daughter, I could pay my rent,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08I could do all of the things that working people do.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13And so I took every job that was offered to me, no matter where it was - I took it.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18My name is Fred Weintraub and I'm the owner of the Bitter End Cafe in Greenwich Village.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22We put him on in the club, they said to me, "This is a folk club!
0:17:22 > 0:17:24"What are you putting that on for?"
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Some kind of anger, and I liked that.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33# Melinda was mine Till the time that I found her
0:17:35 > 0:17:40# Holding Jim and loving him... #
0:17:40 > 0:17:43He was a fish out of water.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47We started to tell him to talk a little between numbers, but it was awful.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52Thank you very much, I would dig to do a song now.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56It's not so much a song as it is a very personal reminiscence.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59We said, stop talking between numbers.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It was a process. But Neil,
0:18:02 > 0:18:08he took instruction and he was very smart and really cared.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10And he started to get better.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12# Young child with dreams
0:18:14 > 0:18:18# Dream every dream on your own... #
0:18:20 > 0:18:26I'd been writing, which is a very solitary kind of thing,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and suddenly I had to become an extrovert.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33I had to become a performer.
0:18:33 > 0:18:40If you are going to perform on stage in front of people you have to know, first and foremost, who you are.
0:18:40 > 0:18:47Who is that person that is standing in the spotlight and singing and talking?
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Who are you?
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Once you get an inkling of that,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58then you can express that person that you believe you are.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02# And if you let her go
0:19:02 > 0:19:05# You'll always know you blew it
0:19:07 > 0:19:10# Go to it and do it
0:19:10 > 0:19:14# Yeah, do it, yeah... #
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It can be terribly endearing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:24I have seen Neil at times when he was warm and sensitive, and that part of him is really great.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28But to show it to the public was never his great strength.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35It took a couple of years of performing to find out who I was.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And I tried to be everybody!
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I tried to be Elvis, I tried to be
0:19:41 > 0:19:46whoever was happening out there and was doing that.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49# You've got control
0:19:49 > 0:19:52# You got to be You've got to be mine... #
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Fortunately, I am not a very good mimic.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03And I realised I couldn't copy any of these people, because I was terrible at it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I had to be who I was.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12And I had no idea who I was, but whoever that was, that's what I had to be!
0:20:13 > 0:20:17# Here we come Walkin' down the street... #
0:20:17 > 0:20:20As Diamond struggled to become a performer, American TV's
0:20:20 > 0:20:24own response to The Beatles was a manufactured boy band, The Monkees.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Don Kirschner, their producer, was looking for material, and Diamond had just the thing.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32He loved Cherry, Cherry, and he asked,
0:20:32 > 0:20:38"What else has Neil Diamond got that maybe The Monkees can record?"
0:20:38 > 0:20:41We were about to come out with an album,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45and so Jeff, very wisely, played the album
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and Don picked out two or three songs.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53# I thought love was only true in fairytales... #
0:20:54 > 0:20:56That one was a little light for him.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02I don't know if he was looking forward to recording it at that time.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06But I thought it was a hit song in general.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10We, as the four Monkees of the show,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13we had little or no control over what was going to be recorded,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17how it was going to be recorded, what would be released and when.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Absolutely no control at all.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24I was coming to Los Angeles to meet with them.
0:21:24 > 0:21:30At that meeting was when Mike Nesbitt said, "That ain't no hit!"
0:21:30 > 0:21:31We'll see!
0:21:31 > 0:21:34It wasn't his kind of music.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39It did not even register with him at all.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44It was something he couldn't get his head around.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48# I thought love was only true in fairytales... #
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Quite simply, it is because he wanted his songs to be recorded and sung.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57And for whatever reason, the powers that were at the time did not feel
0:21:57 > 0:22:01that was going to be commercial to the... Which was our fan-base...
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Essentially 10 and 12-year-old little girls. They wanted pop songs.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10# Then I saw her face Now I'm a believer... #
0:22:12 > 0:22:18The thing I remember about I'm A Believer was that I left the studio humming the song.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19# I'm in love
0:22:20 > 0:22:23# I'm a believer
0:22:23 > 0:22:26# I couldn't leave her if I tried... #
0:22:30 > 0:22:35# I thought love was more or less a given thing... #
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I am looking for money now!
0:22:38 > 0:22:42# Seemed the more I gave... # Have you got anything, a little change?
0:22:44 > 0:22:48I loved the Monkees' version.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Not so much for artistic reasons,
0:22:52 > 0:22:58but because, in a period of three weeks, it went to number one.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Come on sing with me. # Then I saw her face
0:23:03 > 0:23:05# Now I'm a believer... #
0:23:07 > 0:23:11You have a number one record, there is nothing like that.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15It is not like a Top Five, or a Top 10.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19It's your number one!
0:23:19 > 0:23:21I was flying.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28While I'm A Believer went to number one and sold millions,
0:23:28 > 0:23:33Diamond's own solo release - I've Got The Feelin', Oh, No, No, No - was going nowhere fast.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35# I'm hearin' goodbye
0:23:35 > 0:23:40# Don't have to say it It's there in your eyes
0:23:40 > 0:23:44# Oh, why, oh, why
0:23:44 > 0:23:46# Oh, no, no, no... #
0:23:46 > 0:23:54It barely made the Top 20, and it was almost enough to put me out of the business.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Because you had to have a continual string of hits.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00If you missed one,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02the magic touch was gone.
0:24:02 > 0:24:09You were mortal. And it kept my reputation for infallibility going through that period.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11And it saved me as an artist.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Diamond didn't want to rely on The Monkees for his success and was
0:24:16 > 0:24:19desperate to craft his own identity as a songwriter and performer.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23He now knew enough to want to control his own music,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26but Burt Burns and Bang Records had different ideas.
0:24:26 > 0:24:34Really, they wanted me to keep writing and rewriting Cherry, Cherry...
0:24:34 > 0:24:36because they had had such a success with it.
0:24:36 > 0:24:43And I wasn't able to, I didn't know how to begin to rewrite Cherry, Cherry.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47I needed to write something else. I was...
0:24:47 > 0:24:53a songwriter, and it was my job to imagine some other wonderful song.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57# Young child with dreams
0:24:59 > 0:25:04# Dream every dream on your own... #
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Burns and Diamond began to argue about single releases.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Diamond wanted the more introspective Shilo,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Burns wanted the uplifting Kentucky Woman.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Diamond was arguing for his soul and identity as an artist.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23# God knows she loves me
0:25:23 > 0:25:25# Kentucky woman... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:33We began to have what is called creative differences, and they literally were creative differences.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38I don't remember creative differences, really.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I think it was...
0:25:40 > 0:25:44an opportunity to move to a bigger label.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49The record deal was interesting...
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It was very scary.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Neil had been working with Burt Burns, and Neil came to me and said to me,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59"I want to break away from this manager, break away from Bang."
0:25:59 > 0:26:02We went uptown to Bang Records.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Burt says, "Listen,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08"my business is owned by some people, you're not leaving."
0:26:08 > 0:26:14And he started to scream and yell and get scary and threatening - both of us.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20As we were talking to him, we saw three men sitting on the couch,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22who I didn't know.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25But they all were fedora types, like this,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29and we get in the car, and the two of us were a little shaky.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33Then I picked up that day Life Magazine,
0:26:33 > 0:26:40and there's a picture of one of the guys who were sitting there, as the head Mafia guy in New York.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43And Neil and I looked at that...
0:26:43 > 0:26:48Neil started carrying a gun at that time.
0:26:49 > 0:26:55We went head-to-head at Bang, and I realised that I was
0:26:55 > 0:27:00not going to get my chance to develop as an artist,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02and so I left them.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I don't know what Neil tells you about that time,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08but I know he was very frightened.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12I ran, but nothing was going to stop me
0:27:12 > 0:27:16from achieving what I wanted to achieve.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19The unbelievable part that happened
0:27:19 > 0:27:23was within a few days, Burt Burns died.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29With Burns' sudden death from heart failure, Diamond took personal control of his music and career.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35Also parting ways with the production team of Barry in Greenwich.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Never worked with him again.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Never worked with Neil after he left Bang Records.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Neil was Neil.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Control!
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I knew how to handle it and that's the best I can say.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Diamond decided to head to California, which was
0:27:53 > 0:27:56fast becoming the new centre for folk-rock and singer-songwriters.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01His marriage to his teen sweetheart Jaye was also heading for divorce. They were separating.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04And he made the difficult decision to pursue his career
0:28:04 > 0:28:08in California, away from her and their two children.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12He began a relationship with his soon-to-be second wife,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14television production associate Marcia Murphy.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19A relationship that would last 25 years and produce two sons.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25California offered a better place in my mind to continue my life.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30They did have palm trees, they did have lemon trees, fruit trees,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34the sun always shone in California.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43Diamond was looking for a fresh start, and a new phase in his career, with himself in control.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48In 1968, he struck a deal with Uni Records, based in Hollywood.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Never had a doubt.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53I believed in Neil Diamond, I really did.
0:28:53 > 0:28:59We made an incredible deal for him, because Neil had never had an album hit.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04At that time, he had had maybe three singles that were hits.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09We did a 15-album deal for five years - three albums a year -
0:29:09 > 0:29:13which was unheard of, but that's what he wanted.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18I wanted more, I wanted to grow as an artist, and I had the chance
0:29:18 > 0:29:23here in California, so it was a very exciting time for me.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28The one thing I learned from Berry Gordy is,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32sign commercial artists, not esoteric artists.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34The word is "commercial".
0:29:34 > 0:29:36And Neil was a commercial artist.
0:29:36 > 0:29:43The other great thing I have learned about artists is, sign artists that appeal to women!
0:29:43 > 0:29:45And he appealed to women.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49It's not hard to figure out!
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Uni Records gave Diamond the freedom to record the less popular,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58more introspective songs that Neil was now writing.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Like Brooklyn Roads.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05It started a process of redefining him, in the style of Solitary Man, to a new audience.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12# Brooklyn roads
0:30:15 > 0:30:17# I can still recall
0:30:18 > 0:30:22# It smells of cooking in the hallways
0:30:22 > 0:30:27# Rubbers drying in the doorways
0:30:27 > 0:30:31# Report cards I was always afraid to show... #
0:30:33 > 0:30:37His first album, called Velvet Gloves and Spit,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41with Brooklyn Roads in it, did not do well. Everybody thought,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43"He has really screwed up here.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46"It's not going to make it." I was getting letters,
0:30:46 > 0:30:50from someone in the Monkees, I won't mention his name, but writing,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54"You made the biggest mistake of your record career!"
0:30:54 > 0:30:56In signing Neil Diamond.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Once again Neil Diamond rose to the challenge under pressure
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and came up with a song that would become his signature tune.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09I was in Memphis, preparing myself for recording the next day.
0:31:09 > 0:31:17And I sat down out of necessity and began to write a simple song,
0:31:17 > 0:31:23and it was to become the biggest record and song of my career.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25# Where it began
0:31:27 > 0:31:30# I can't begin to know
0:31:30 > 0:31:35# But then I know it's growing strong... #
0:31:39 > 0:31:42It has lasted for 40 years.
0:31:42 > 0:31:48It took me less than one hour to write, and it became Sweet Caroline,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52and it was a life-changing little moment for me.
0:31:52 > 0:32:00# Hands...touching hands
0:32:01 > 0:32:04# Reaching out
0:32:04 > 0:32:12# Touching me, touching you...
0:32:12 > 0:32:15# Sweet Caroline
0:32:16 > 0:32:21# Good times never seemed so good... #
0:32:21 > 0:32:25SINATRA VERSION OF SWEET CAROLINE PLAYS # Hands...
0:32:25 > 0:32:27# Touching hands...
0:32:27 > 0:32:29# Reaching out...
0:32:30 > 0:32:33# Touching you...
0:32:33 > 0:32:34# Touching me... #
0:32:34 > 0:32:36Sing it!
0:32:38 > 0:32:41'Lots of people have recorded Sweet Caroline.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46'My favourite version was done by Frank Sinatra.'
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Talk to my wife, she won't believe you!
0:32:54 > 0:32:56- Hi! What's her name?- Paulette.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Hi, Paulette.
0:32:58 > 0:32:59How you doing?
0:33:02 > 0:33:10I am just listening to Frank Sinatra singing here. Nice to talk to you.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15'When Sweet Caroline hit, it took him all the way up to the stratosphere,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17'and then Cracklin' Rosie of course,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20and he just never stopped.
0:33:20 > 0:33:26Diamond was on a roll. The career-defining hits were coming thick and fast.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Cracklin' Rosie topped the US charts and he started touring Britain.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32# Get on board
0:33:32 > 0:33:36# We're gonna ride till there ain't no more to go
0:33:36 > 0:33:39# Taking it slow
0:33:39 > 0:33:42# And Lord, don't you know?
0:33:43 > 0:33:47# We'll have me a time with a poor man's lady... #
0:33:47 > 0:33:51The hits wowed the audience and Diamond began to enjoy the moment.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52There is the romantic side
0:33:52 > 0:33:54that women in particular love.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57But even though he is a good-looking guy
0:33:57 > 0:34:02and he always has been, I don't think he was selling sex.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05I think he was selling sensitivity,
0:34:05 > 0:34:10male sensitivity in some raw form that is not allowed any more.
0:34:12 > 0:34:13# Where I am
0:34:15 > 0:34:17# What I am
0:34:17 > 0:34:19# What I believe in... #
0:34:19 > 0:34:21He has just got it.
0:34:21 > 0:34:28When he stands up there, and when he sings, people melt, and women melt especially.
0:34:28 > 0:34:34# Holly holy dream
0:34:39 > 0:34:45# Holly holy you... #
0:34:45 > 0:34:51As hit followed hit, in his personal life he was coming to terms with separation from his children.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57After a year, his divorce from Jaye was finalised and he was able to marry Marcia.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02As far as his career was concerned he was walking on water.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07But beneath the surface, he was feeling insecure and he distrusted his new-found success.
0:35:07 > 0:35:13This inner turmoil led him to write what he still considers the song of which he is most proud.
0:35:13 > 0:35:19I Am...I Said was written really in a moment of crisis.
0:35:19 > 0:35:25I did a screen test when I first went with Uni Records, it was part of my agreement with them.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28And I thought I did very poorly.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33The audition was for the part of Lenny Bruce in a biographical film of the comedian.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36When a guy is horny, man, he will shtup anything.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40LAUGHTER Anything.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43A fish, mud, a barrel, a banana, a rotten avocado.
0:35:45 > 0:35:52It made me question what I was doing, and was I any good?
0:35:52 > 0:35:55It made me question my whole life.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59And during a lunch break of that screen test...
0:36:01 > 0:36:05..I so got into myself that I sat down in my little camper
0:36:05 > 0:36:08with a guitar and I started to write,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and it was the beginnings of I Am...I said.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15And it all seemed to focus in on that song.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22It took four months to write.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Every day.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26For morning until night.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33# I am, I cried... #
0:36:33 > 0:36:36It was an extremely difficult rhyming pattern.
0:36:37 > 0:36:44But it was one of the most satisfying songs that I have ever written because I was able to,
0:36:44 > 0:36:51just bare my soul and I was better able to understand better who I was,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55in the writing process of that song.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06# Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king?
0:37:08 > 0:37:09# And then became one
0:37:12 > 0:37:15# Well except for the names and a few other changes
0:37:15 > 0:37:18# Talk about me
0:37:18 > 0:37:20# It's always the same one
0:37:23 > 0:37:26# But I've got an emptiness deep inside now
0:37:26 > 0:37:30# I've tried but it won't let me go
0:37:33 > 0:37:36# And I'm not a man who likes to swear
0:37:36 > 0:37:42# But I never can put aside the sound of being alone
0:37:43 > 0:37:45# I am, I said
0:37:47 > 0:37:51# To no-one there
0:37:53 > 0:37:59# And no-one there on that beautiful chair... #
0:37:59 > 0:38:04My feeling was that song-writing and performing did not come easy for Neil.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07He would spend a lot of time working on songs.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11He was quite nervous and shy about performing in public
0:38:11 > 0:38:14but as the songs became hits
0:38:14 > 0:38:19there was more clamour for him to come out on the road.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21It was tough for him.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25He was not totally comfortable in that situation.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Despite his continuing self-doubt, Diamond chose to stage a series
0:38:28 > 0:38:34of concerts at the outdoor Greek theatre in LA in 1971.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Playing the Greek Theatre was a step in the right direction for me.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42It is an extraordinarily beautiful theatre. It's kind of classy.
0:38:42 > 0:38:48It had a theatricality to it that I liked a lot.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51And we played six or seven shows there.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The reaction was absolutely wonderful.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56The audiences were wonderful.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59The reviews were wonderful.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04There was something special happening at the Greek theatre. You could tell.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08The success of these shows led him to repeat them in 1972
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and captured a special atmosphere on a live album.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Right before Hot August Night, the first night performance,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20there was some talk about Neil being sick and maybe having to cancel,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24but I don't know. I looked down and said, "I think he's nervous, I think it's nerves."
0:39:28 > 0:39:33It was too far gone to postpone, and he went out there and he knocked 'em dead.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37It is one of the greatest albums ever made.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42A lot of planning went into Hot August Night.
0:39:42 > 0:39:47It builds with those strings and it finally reaches a crescendo and then the band comes in.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50And they had these metal curtains that opened up
0:39:50 > 0:39:55and there was a cloud of smoke, and Neil through the cloud of smoke.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58The audience just exploded.
0:40:00 > 0:40:06Thank you, people in the audience, tree people out there, God bless you, I'm singing for you, too.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12It was the first time I saw him confident on stage.
0:40:12 > 0:40:18That was chemistry. That was a moment when you say, that's it, right there.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22I think Hot August Night was probably the big turning point.
0:40:22 > 0:40:28That magnetism that people think of with Neil Diamond I think was born on that night.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Diamond had finally crystallised everything he'd learned as a performer and entertainer
0:40:36 > 0:40:38and found his inner connection with the audience.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41He made them feel loved, especially the women.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Hot August Night was a massively important record in his career.
0:40:47 > 0:40:53It took him from being this very popular singer-songwriter
0:40:53 > 0:40:56to being the Jewish Elvis.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03I saw Neil as another Frank Sinatra.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Sinatra was a great entertainer.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Nobody would imagine that until you saw him on stage.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Hot August Night made him a superstar.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18His contract with Uni was up and he signed with Columbia Records, with whom he's remained ever since.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Almost immediately Diamond announced a sabbatical from touring.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25He'd been working continuously for over six years,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29and needed time out for himself, for his new family and for his daughters in New York.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32It was going out with a bang.
0:41:33 > 0:41:39I felt that I could take some time away, and even if it was a year or two, or more,
0:41:39 > 0:41:46I would always have the chance to come back and play the Greek Theatre, at least one more time,
0:41:46 > 0:41:53and I always had that in the back of my mind, so I was very secure in stepping away from the stage,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57and leaving the Hot August Night album to do my talking for me.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03I would imagine there were a few heart attacks in the boardroom at Columbia Records.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06It frustrated a lot of people.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09He was now a big star. They wanted him to appear in all these places.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14I never was seen in public.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17I did no television.
0:42:17 > 0:42:18No performances.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20But I didn't miss it at all.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23I went through therapy.
0:42:23 > 0:42:31Which I considered to be a luxury for myself, another way of understanding myself,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33and becoming a better person.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36I got to spend time with my kids.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38I made friends.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40So many good things happened.
0:42:40 > 0:42:47But even as Diamond began a process of self-discovery, he still continued to write.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55As he brooded, like he can brood, I think, about all sorts of film projects over the years,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58and yet he picks a couple of the craziest things you could ever pick.
0:42:58 > 0:43:04First I'll become a seagull and do Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Which, again, an insane idea.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13I know that Neil was very drawn to the self-help idea and the spiritual idea,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and he did a lot of reading around the time of that.
0:43:16 > 0:43:22The film did not do very well commercially, but people liked the music and the songs.
0:43:25 > 0:43:31A couple of years later, I met a fellow who I liked very much
0:43:31 > 0:43:35and we were on the same wavelength, his name was Robbie Robertson.
0:43:35 > 0:43:40Diamond had become a show man, but wasn't exactly rock'n'roll,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44while Robertson was the chief writer and guitarist for the group, The Band.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48They often played with Dylan and their albums had made them the doyennes of the rock press.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51This was Broadway meets Woodstock.
0:43:51 > 0:43:58Robbie and I became friends and I asked if he would be interested in producing my next record.
0:43:58 > 0:44:03When there was talk of me possibly working with him,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07a lot of people said, "Well, what's up with that?
0:44:07 > 0:44:11"That's not right, that's not going to work."
0:44:11 > 0:44:17It was this snarky, like, "What would Robbie Robertson have to do with Neil Diamond?"
0:44:17 > 0:44:23We started talking about, should we do something together, could we do something together?
0:44:23 > 0:44:31I knew that he was in the mood to do something really good and really special,
0:44:31 > 0:44:36but so much of it depended on his song writing.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40After bringing up the subject, I went off to see my kids in New York
0:44:40 > 0:44:45and came back with a song inspired by the Puerto Rican Day parade
0:44:45 > 0:44:47right in front of our window in the hotel.
0:44:49 > 0:44:56My daughter Marjorie, she was drawing in her colouring book and she perked her head up and she said,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59"Daddy, what a beautiful noise!"
0:45:01 > 0:45:07And I'd never heard that expression before and I immediately knew that it was a song.
0:45:07 > 0:45:12And I told her it was going to be a song, and that we would write it, and we did.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17This is the key of D and the singers are...
0:45:17 > 0:45:19The lead singer is Daddy Diamond,
0:45:19 > 0:45:27and the two backgrounds singers, the groupies, are Marjorie and Ellie Diamond.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30And moral support is Rosie and Pepe.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35- And Neil Diamond!- OK, here we go.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39# What a beautiful noise
0:45:39 > 0:45:41# Coming up from the street
0:45:43 > 0:45:46# It's the sound of the cars
0:45:46 > 0:45:49# Makin' a beautiful beat
0:45:51 > 0:45:54# What a beautiful noise
0:45:54 > 0:45:58# It's the sound that I love
0:45:58 > 0:46:01# And it fits me real good
0:46:01 > 0:46:04# Like a hand in a glove
0:46:04 > 0:46:06# In a glove
0:46:06 > 0:46:09# In a glove
0:46:11 > 0:46:13# What a beautiful noise
0:46:14 > 0:46:17# Coming into my room
0:46:17 > 0:46:20# And it's begging for me
0:46:24 > 0:46:28# Just to give it a tune. #
0:46:31 > 0:46:35Beautiful Noise rekindled Diamond's desire to go out there and perform.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39The magic he'd created at the Greek Theatre hadn't left him.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44As it neared completion, I realised that I wanted to get back and perform again,
0:46:44 > 0:46:50and to be what I had been for those first six years, and to experience that again.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52And so we started again.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56We booked Australia and played there for the first time,
0:46:56 > 0:47:01only because I knew that Hot August Night had been so successful in Australia.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03# Whoa
0:47:03 > 0:47:06# Just me and you, babe
0:47:09 > 0:47:14# You and me, you and me, you and me, babe... #
0:47:16 > 0:47:21Diamond's performances no longer suffered from any shadow of self-consciousness.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24They were carefully orchestrated events,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28full of peaks of emotion that reached out to caress his adoring audience.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Neil is a very honest performer, there's nothing phoney about him out there.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37What you see, you get with Neil.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41It's just real, and it's honest.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47He gives it all he's got. He sings from his heart.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50He gives you everything he's got.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52I love that about him.
0:47:52 > 0:47:57# You are the sun, I am the moon
0:47:57 > 0:48:02# You are the words, I am the tune. #
0:48:02 > 0:48:07It isn't like he just goes and does his thing, and maybe you'll like it, maybe you don't.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10He's really generous.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15He puts the songs across and pulls everybody into it in a very special way.
0:48:15 > 0:48:16# Hallelujah
0:48:16 > 0:48:19# Hallelujah
0:48:21 > 0:48:23# Halle, hallelujah... #
0:48:27 > 0:48:32He's established this very intimate, very direct emotional connection with his fans.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38There are no fans that are more dedicated than his fans.
0:48:42 > 0:48:48# And I've sung my song before
0:48:48 > 0:48:52# And I'm sure to sing... #
0:48:52 > 0:48:59He has that rich, deep, dark, chocolatey voice, that is very sensual.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02And I think he knows it.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04And I think he works it!
0:49:04 > 0:49:09# For I've been released... #
0:49:13 > 0:49:19It's a good feeling, especially when they are leaning in your direction and pulling for you.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23I would not like to face a hostile audience!
0:49:28 > 0:49:31Now Diamond could sell out the biggest arenas in the world,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34but he wanted to reach an even broader audience.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35Hollywood beckoned.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Film producer Jerry Leider
0:49:40 > 0:49:44was about to remake Al Jolson's 1920s hit, The Jazz Singer.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48It was the rewritten as the story of a singer born of pious Jewish immigrants
0:49:48 > 0:49:52who breaks away from his family to make a career in America.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56Diamond starred alongside Laurence Olivier and composed the soundtrack.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Something about it sounded right.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06First of all, it was about a singer.
0:50:06 > 0:50:12Well, I haven't done and movie before, but I know something about singing.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15# Gave me your heart
0:50:15 > 0:50:17# You gave me your soul
0:50:20 > 0:50:22# Then you left me alone here
0:50:22 > 0:50:25# With nothing to hold... #
0:50:25 > 0:50:29I began writing songs to the story,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31and the ride began.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33And it was a ride I'll never forget
0:50:33 > 0:50:37because it was the scariest thing I've ever done,
0:50:37 > 0:50:43because don't forget the entire success or failure of the project rested on my shoulders.
0:50:47 > 0:50:54There was a lot of apprehension about building a film around a guy who has never acted.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58Everybody was scared to death about it.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01They asked me a hundred times, "Do you think he can act?"
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I said, "I don't know! How would I know? He hasn't done it!"
0:51:07 > 0:51:13Why are you doing this? Your only son, Bob!
0:51:13 > 0:51:15There were 69 days of shooting.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19I worked every one of those days but one.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Because I was the star of the show.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25I didn't ever want to do it again.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27It was too hard.
0:51:28 > 0:51:35Still, the most memorable songs for me from that film were... Certainly America.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40It tells somewhat the story of my grandparents, coming to a country
0:51:40 > 0:51:46to find freedom of expression and thought, and protection by the law,
0:51:46 > 0:51:50and my family blossomed under that system.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52# Free
0:51:52 > 0:51:56# Only want to be free!
0:51:56 > 0:51:58# We huddle close
0:51:59 > 0:52:02# Hang on to a dream... #
0:52:02 > 0:52:08The film was a disappointment at the box office, but Diamond's soundtrack was a smash.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11# They're coming to America... #
0:52:11 > 0:52:14The '80s had arrived with a vengeance,
0:52:14 > 0:52:19and even older artists like Diamond had to decide how to face the new media.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21The video age had arrived.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25MTV music television, we are here all day and all night.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27I resisted it.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29I didn't want to make videos.
0:52:29 > 0:52:37I felt that the song was either wonderful or not,
0:52:37 > 0:52:39and let the chips fall where they may.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41So I made very few videos.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45And I had very few hits!
0:52:45 > 0:52:51Diamond was writing less and less, and putting much of his energy into his huge tours.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54# I'm gonna lean on you
0:52:54 > 0:52:58We're heading for the future and the future... #
0:52:58 > 0:53:02You know, touring takes up a lot of time.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Especially if you're a guy that calls all the shots.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10He doesn't just walk on stage.
0:53:10 > 0:53:16He knows where the lights are, where the cameras are, and that takes a lot of rehearsal and a lot of time.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21He's very professional about it, and he knows what's good for Neil Diamond up there.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25The shows got glitzier.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27The shirts got louder.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31There were more covers albums and fewer and fewer new songs.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35Diamond seemed to have less and less to say, and the hits were drying up.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40On one of my relatively early days at Rolling Stone, I was sitting in the office and Jann Wenner,
0:53:40 > 0:53:44the legendary publisher-founder, walked down the hall and said,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47"Who likes Neil Diamond? Anyone like Neil Diamond?"
0:53:47 > 0:53:51And I was the only guy, frankly, who raised his hand.
0:53:51 > 0:53:57# You don't bring me flowers any more... #
0:53:59 > 0:54:05As far as critics are concerned, and judging the value of your work,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09there's not a lot that you have to say about it.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14They will reach their own conclusions, as will your audience.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18So I've found that the best I can do
0:54:18 > 0:54:23is to do the best work that I possibly can do, and just put it out there,
0:54:23 > 0:54:29and hope that it reaches somebody, that it touches somebody in some way.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42However, Diamond managed to turn his career around when he found a new producer.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51Rick Rubin made his name working with rap bands like Run DMC, and was now working with Johnny Cash.
0:54:51 > 0:54:52# Everyone I know
0:54:52 > 0:54:58# Goes away in the end... #
0:54:58 > 0:55:00He suggested to Diamond they collaborate,
0:55:00 > 0:55:05offering him the chance to reconnect with his music and his muse.
0:55:05 > 0:55:12I realised it was an opportunity for me to be heard again, as a serious artist and writer.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I had a bed put in the studio,
0:55:15 > 0:55:20and I came to the studio every day, 5.30am,
0:55:20 > 0:55:22and began the process of writing.
0:55:22 > 0:55:27And then we went in and recorded 25 or 30 songs.
0:55:27 > 0:55:33So the experience of working with Rick was very positive and very satisfying.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40Diamond recorded two albums of original songs with Rubin - 12 Songs, and then Home Before Dark.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44They took Diamond back to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47Diamond was looking deep into himself again.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50The Solitary Man was reborn.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53# Pretty amazing grace is what you showed me
0:55:56 > 0:56:00# Pretty amazing grace is who you are
0:56:03 > 0:56:06# I was an empty vessel
0:56:06 > 0:56:09# You filled me up inside
0:56:09 > 0:56:15# And with amazing grace restored my pride... #
0:56:17 > 0:56:21I think he's gotten back to the essence of who he is,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24which is a guy with a guitar trying to tell you his story,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28and doing it with this great voice and with a great writer's eye.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34# Love in the midst of chaos
0:56:34 > 0:56:37# Calm in the heat of war
0:56:37 > 0:56:40# Showed with amazing grace
0:56:40 > 0:56:41# What love was for. #
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Yet another new audience awaited Diamond.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52In 2008, he was invited to perform on a farm in Somerset.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55CHEERING
0:56:55 > 0:56:58Well, of course I'd heard of Glastonbury.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02But it didn't seem to be the kind of venue that I would really want to play.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06But I'd never played any festival like that before, so I said, let's try it.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11We did try it, and it turned out to be
0:57:11 > 0:57:15one of the most memorable performing experiences I've ever had.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Let's do it, guys!
0:57:17 > 0:57:21In fact, I had the best seat in the house.
0:57:21 > 0:57:27I was up there, facing hundreds of thousands of people.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32And hundreds of thousands of smiling faces.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34And I just lit up.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36# Hands
0:57:38 > 0:57:40# Touching hands
0:57:42 > 0:57:44# Reaching out
0:57:46 > 0:57:49# Touching me
0:57:49 > 0:57:52# Touching you
0:57:54 > 0:57:57# Sweet Caroline
0:57:59 > 0:58:03# Good times never seemed so good... #
0:58:03 > 0:58:08It's one of those experiences that you don't ever forget.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15# To believe they never would
0:58:15 > 0:58:18# But now I'm... #
0:58:19 > 0:58:24What the future holds, I don't know, but I'm excited about it.
0:58:24 > 0:58:30And hopefully, it will include more music.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34More music that's satisfying to the listener, and to me.
0:58:34 > 0:58:39And that will be remembered after I'm gone.
0:58:39 > 0:58:46# I thought love was only true in fairytales
0:58:49 > 0:58:54# Meant for someone else but not for me
0:58:59 > 0:59:02# Love was out to get me
0:59:03 > 0:59:06# That's the way it seemed
0:59:09 > 0:59:14# Disappointment haunted all of my dreams... #