Walking With Neil Diamond

I had a modified walk today, on account of the threatening weather. As it turned out, it didn't rain at all while I was out there pounding the pavement. Instead of my usual course of walking from home to the park, doing 4 laps and then heading up the hill, I drove to the park, did 5 laps, and then went up the hill and back down again, and then drove back home.

I'm still fixed on my first goal, which is to go up the hill twice in a row. I may try that in the next few weeks.

So, onto my music selection for today: Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings, by Neil Diamond.

This is a 3 CD set, which covers 6 complete Uni studio recorded albums, dating from 1968 to 1972, plus a few tracks from the live album "Gold", and a few tracks from the legendary live album "Hot August Night", which was released on the MCA record label back in 1972.

To say that is absolutely thrilling would be an understatement. The late sixties/early seventies were Neil Diamond's golden period, and here we have that entire period in one magic collection.

I've been a Neil Diamond fan longer than I can remember. The first album I bought with my own money was Neil Diamond's "Diamonds and Gold", on a cassette tape. A few years ago I was able to finally transfer the contents of that tape into a digital form, so I was able to fix up a lot of the deterioration that inevitably occurs with old tapes. I find it disappointing that as yet, I haven't found a collection like "Play Me" that covers the period up to 1968, because that was the period that covered the contents of "Diamonds and Gold", and I'm desperate to get my hands on that material.

Here are the albums that make up the "Play Me" collection:

These albums were part of the build up to the pinnacle that was "Hot August Night". When I was about 11 or 12, I bought a greatest hits album called "20 Superhits". I've got a feeling that this album was released only in Australia, but for many many years afterwards, it defined Neil Diamonds music for me personally. It was a great pleasure to find that the entire contents of "20 Superhits" is completely covered by "Play Me". I can now retire my scratchy old vinyl copy of that album.

There are some amazing songs in the "Play Me" collection, a couple of which are quite baffling to me. There's a song called "The Pot Smoker's Song", which is a jaunty, happy little tune, played underneath a bunch of young people talking about their drug problems, potential suicide, and overdoses. I still haven't worked out how I'm supposed to react to a song like that. I don't get it yet. There's another song called "Knackelflerg", which appears to be about nothing. That one I can handle much better than the drug song.

But I just cannot fault anything else on here. This is the collection of the supreme pop writer at his very best, and it's fitting that it all culminated in the event that was the release of the "Hot August Night" album (I bought that album on CD a few years ago, and it still sounds fantastic. They even managed to find a few extra tracks to make it even better).

I remember when I was around 12 years old, Neil Diamond did a concert in Australia that was broadcast on TV all around the country to hug success. Well guess what, it was released a few years back on DVD and I grabbed a copy. What a nostalgia trip that was.