Neil Diamond was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn on Jan. 24, 1941, a descendant of Polish and Russian Jews. His father, Kieve Diamond, was in the dry goods business and kept moving his business to a succession of Brooklyn neighborhoods. The changing of schools made it difficult for the introverted Neil to make and keep friends. This loneliness is reflected in his song “Brooklyn Roads.” He attended Erasmus Hall High School, where he and Barbra Streisand sang in the same choral group, but they did not know each other at the time. He became a song writer because as a child he did not have much self-esteem and song writing relieved a lot of his frustration. Neil Diamond has become one of our most accomplished song writers and singers. His first hit was “Sunday and Me” (1965). He wrote it for Jay and The Americans, then “I’m a Believer,” and “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” which became hits of the Monkees. From 1966 through 1983, he wrote 36 hits. Among them: “Cherry, Cherry,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” (’70), “Song Sung Blue” (’72), and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” with Barbra Streisand (’78). By 1973 Neil Diamond had moved from a poor pre-med student to earning seven figure compensation for composing soundtracks such as “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.”
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 12:00:47 +0000
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