frank sinatra v neil diamond

[Ken Gargett]

no, have not lost my senses.

many, many years ago, a bunch of mates and myself all went along to a dodgy cinema on the coast to watch 'the last waltz' during uni holidays. for those who have sadly missed some of the greatest music of all time, this was the farewell concert for the band. it was so good, we went back a few nights later - i remember a mate who was later to become a catholic priest/missionary standing on one of the cinema seats singing his heart out, swigging away from a rum bottle.

so many greats joined them on stage, most notably dylan, of course.

in the middle of it all, out came a bloke in a tacky blue jacket that even i knew was a fashion disaster (says something). neil diamond. he seemed so out of place - not his music or crowd. and he played a song no one had ever heard but which many of us remember from then. 'dry your eyes'. indeed, no one i know had ever heard him do elsewhere and as far as i am aware, he never recorded it (he wrote it - i like a lot of the neil diamond stuff and clearly he had some talent as a songwriter - and for youngsters, he was the superstar of his day for quite a while - it seemed more houses in australia had a copy of 'hot august night' than had running water). but it stuck with us and, strange as it might seem, almost stole the show.

i discovered the other day that sinatra once sang it.

anyway, as surprised as i am, i actually prefer neil diamond's version. they are both here if you want to listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RurccWvJiS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXcNXlZcIu8

[Jeremy Festa]

Nice one! Cheers

Sent from my iPhone

[ralphie48]

the last waltz was great.

just watched it with the wife again a few weeks ago

[leftimatic]

Well Neil did have one of the greatest studio bands in the world backing him up. Truly one of the best concert movies and soundtracks I have ever watched/listened to over and over again.

The Frank versions a little over produced for me. I wonder who the song is about. Time to google.

[Ken Gargett]

Well Neil did have one of the greatest studio bands in the world backing him up. Truly one of the best concert movies and soundtracks I have ever watched/listened to over and over again.

The Frank versions a little over produced for me. I wonder who the song is about. Time to google.

if you find out, let me know.

i'd also suggest that they were not just a studio band. saw robbie robertson backing dylan once but not the full band.

[wabashcr]

The Last Waltz is still the best concert film ever made as far as I'm concerned. I love The Band to begin with, and then all the legends that performed that night made that one of the most incredible collections of musical talent, maybe ever.

And Neil Diamond is a great songwriter and a brilliant performer. His style isn't for everyone. He's admittedly a bit cheesy with the sequins and tight pants. But he's made some great music. He puts on a really fun live show, too. Great entertainer. I don't think it's a stretch to say he's as good at what he does as Sinatra was at what he did.

[Sophistic]

Not a good song for Sinatra, who was also way past his prime at this point.

[leftimatic]

if you find out, let me know.

i'd also suggest that they were not just a studio band. saw robbie robertson backing dylan once but not the full band.

It would appear that the performance may have been a shameless plug for Robbie Robertson and Neil Diamond. The song was a collaboration from the two of them and Robertson had just finished producing Diamonds latest album at the time Beautiful Noise. Levon Helm was the first to question his appearance as well as the rest of the musicians playing. I guess the song was about America and healing itself after the turbulent sixties. As for Frank doing a cover well I would of rather have Johnny Cash do it, that man can take anybody's music and make it his own.

And I do stand corrected about the studio band I meant to say back up band. They had played with Ronnie Hawkins through out the late 50's and early 60's and then Bob Dylan up into the mid 60's before going off and doing their own thing.

[Ken Gargett]

It would appear that the performance may have been a shameless plug for Robbie Robertson and Neil Diamond. The song was a collaboration from the two of them and Robertson had just finished producing Diamonds latest album at the time Beautiful Noise. Levon Helm was the first to question his appearance as well as the rest of the musicians playing. I guess the song was about America and healing itself after the turbulent sixties. As for Frank doing a cover well I would of rather have Johnny Cash do it, that man can take anybody's music and make it his own.

And I do stand corrected about the studio band I meant to say back up band. They had played with Ronnie Hawkins through out the late 50's and early 60's and then Bob Dylan up into the mid 60's before going off and doing their own thing.

agree re cash. that song would have suited him as well.

no argument about how good neil diamond was (not sure that he'll be seen at quite the level of frank by history). many great songs.

[TheLiquidGator]

I met Robbie Robertson in a bar in New Orleans. I had been fishing in the gulf for a few days and had "raccoon eyes" from wearing sunglasses on the water.

He asked me about my eyes and i told him it was from fishing. His face just lit up. We had a few drinks and told a bunch of tall fishing tales.

I never let him know i knew who he was. I remember hearing stories about him being a real pain in the ass as a band mate.

When i was about to leave he asked when i was going fishing again. I told he in a few days.

He asked if there was room on the boat for one more and i said sure.

We had a great time. Caught some huge redfish. I finally told him I knew he was Robbie Robertson and he just smiled. He was a nice guy in my book.

[Ken Gargett]

I met Robbie Robertson in a bar in New Orleans. I had been fishing in the gulf for a few days and had "raccoon eyes" from wearing sunglasses on the water.

He asked me about my eyes and i told him it was from fishing. His face just lit up. We had a few drinks and told a bunch of tall fishing tales.

I never let him know i knew who he was. I remember hearing stories about him being a real pain in the ass as a band mate.

When i was about to leave he asked when i was going fishing again. I told he in a few days.

He asked if there was room on the boat for one more and i said sure.

We had a great time. Caught some huge redfish. I finally told him I knew he was Robbie Robertson and he just smiled. He was a nice guy in my book.

great story.

heard one a bit similar (in reverse?) about wolf blass once (wolf has done an extraordinary amount for aussie wine but he is peerless in self promotion). wolf is a terrific bloke but could talk the leg off the proverbial chair, still with heavily accented english (he came out from germany decades ago).

he was at the formula 1 in a box in adelaide. sat next to some bloke and chewed his year off all day (the subject would largely be wolf's importance to the world). finally, late in the day, he turns to the bloke and says what do you do?

the guy just shrugs and says he used to work in a band.

so off goes wolf again.

he was asked the next day what it was like to spend a day with george harrison.

[Warren]

I just realized that I have that song on vinyl.

[joeypots]

Kind of off topic but I have to chime in. Neil Diamond is a hugely successful song writer and performer. I'm not talking about musical taste, just success. The Monkeys would never have had any success, insipid or not, with out his songs. "I'm a Believer"? Not for nothing, the guy sold 125 million records.

Take a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Diamond

Anyway. In 1978 I was in Huntington Beech California with my college buddies being surf bums for the summer. The Rolling Stones were touring behind "Some Girls" , a wildly popular album. We wanted to see the Stones at Anaheim Stadium and I got the job of getting the tickets because there was a ticket office close to where I was working. So I get to the ticket place and there are two windows open and I get in line. They are selling tickets for more than one show. So I get in the longest line, figuring that this is the line for the Stones. Silly me. After a few minutes I figure out that all of these middle age ladies are waiting in line to get tickets for Neil Diamond and the short line to the right is for the Stones. I couldn't believe it, Neil Diamond?

[IPORTER]

Love Neil Diamond........

[Ken Gargett]

Sinatra. Who even started this thread? There is no contest.

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i'm only talking about this one song. love them both.

agree re the monkees. and much more.

[JackFNQ]

I like Bing better than Frank. Ever hear Bing's duet with David Bowie, on youtube.

Maybe Frank has the better voice cf Neil, but I prefer Neil's songs.