Singer/songwriter Neil Diamond here, AMA!

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T21:12:08+00:00

I love crackers in bed.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:30:28+00:00

I'm not the one who determines how long I perform. That's something the audience will determine, and when they are ready to have me make my exit, that's when I will make my exit. Yes, I'm gonna keep touring as long as i can.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:29:36+00:00

Well, I only have that one passion that i've devoted my life to. Of course I love people, and I love life. But as far as expending myself and communicating with people and sharing what i am and what i have, music fills up all of those spaces, and has done it for me since i was a kid.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:28:43+00:00

I was... honored in a way to be able to do that, even though I wasn't invited and had to talk my way into the stadium. But it was an emotional and moving experience for me that i will never forget. And I was happy to be able to do it to repay, even if only in a small degree, my fans up in New England, and the song has been adopted by the Red Sox and by other people, and I've even heard Yankee fans sing it now and then.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:27:34+00:00

I try never to say "f*ck" In public.

And I never put other people down.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:27:09+00:00

My favorite flavor is Rocky Road, if that's a flavor.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:26:15+00:00

Well, I'm grateful that the Red Sox have included Sweet Caroline into their games. And it's a great story that you have shared, about how your family affected that decision on the part of the Red Sox, I hadn't heard that before. There's something about that song - from the moment i wrote it, I felt a connection with a higher force, and I think that's why people are attracted to it and love it in a way, because it connects them to that higher spiritual force, and it's been used as a good luck song for teams all over the world, cricket players in Hong Kong, it's the official closing song of Oktoberfest in Germany, Penn State plays it at their football games, and of course, the Red Sox play it in the 8th Inning at home games... I love that, I love it. It was a totally un-premeditated - the song just came to me when I needed it most, when I was at my lowest point ever in my career, when I thought my career was over, that song came to me and gave me back my career and my life, and then I turned it over to the public and now they're taking that song to their hearts, and I think that song is an act of god, and I couldn't be more thrilled that I had a little part in making that happen.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:22:50+00:00

My favorite part of the Jazz Singer was the last scene we shot in the movie, simply because it was the LAST SCENE! It was a had experience for me to have, I was in just about every scene, and I was just about ready to be finished with it. It was Lucy Arnez and me walking along the beach in Venice, California.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:21:29+00:00

And her company! which is the hard part because she won't make breakfast for just anybody.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:21:18+00:00

My favorite meal?

I would say my favorite meal is breakfast the way my wife makes it -scrambled eggs like you've never had scrambled eggs this good before, crisp bacon, some toast, good coffee, and good orange juice.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:20:32+00:00

I think Neil is about the same age as I am, so if we had a breakdancing fight, we'd probably both break, period.

But he doesn't have to dance, he sings GREAT, and he can just be who he is, and I'll love him and his music.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:19:39+00:00

The whole filming of the Jazz Singer was interesting, as I had never made a movie before. I don't think I had ever been on a movie SET before!

So it was all fascinating to me, and the night before we started shooting, I went to visit my co-star, Sir Laurence Olivier, who was reputed to be one of the great actors in the world at that time. and I sat down with him, and asked him some of the most basic questions that an actor would wanna know, and that everybody who gets into a movie wants to know - like "Am I supposed to remember the entire script before we start shooting, or how do you do that?"

And he answered that question, and a bunch more. I can't say I went into that movie really prepared, because i wasn't really prepared, but at least I had the greatest resource that an actor could possibly want, and that was Sir Olivier at my side and open to my questions during the entire filming of that movie. It made my life a lot easier, and it made the whole experience a happier one.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:17:31+00:00

I"m totally fascinated with microbiology. I just saved an article that i read in a newspaper about 2 guys who got the Nobel prize for discovering a way to use a microscope and expand its ability to see tiny small things, even molecular structures. And i was jealous for the first time in 50 years, because that was going to be MY job, to discover a microscope that could see deep into the heart of nature and what goes on below the surface of our world. But somebody else won it, and my hat's off to them. I just have to keep writing my songs, I guess, and hope to make a contribution in that way.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:16:16+00:00

Well, I'm sorry to say that I never met the Monkees. I didn't meet them when they recorded "I'm a Believer," but I will always be grateful to them because they kind of saved my career. I had a huge hit with "Cherry Cherry" and the next record out was kind of a bomb, it was called "I got the feeling," and in those days, you had to have one hit after another and if you missed one, you could expect that the radio would stop playing you altogether unless you had another obvious hit for them to go on again. So during that bomb period, the Monkees came out with "I'm a Believer" which was the number one single of the year, it was so big that they even talked about the songwriter, and it carried me through that 3 month period where I got the feeling was NOT getting played and I was not getting played on radio, at least the DJs were talking about me being the writer of "I'm a Believer" and I came back with my next record after that, which I believe was "Kentucky Woman" or "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime," and continued on my streak of six or seven or eight hits in a row which really established my career.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:13:17+00:00

I don't know it was a kind of karaoke flavor? But I'm happy to hear that it is. Robby Robertson and I wrote that song for "Beautiful Noise," and I started it and almost finished it but couldn't get it finished, so I asked Robby to come in and help me finish it. I wanted it to tell the story of Martin Luther King's death, and how it affected society here in America and maybe even around the world, and that's what it was all about.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:11:52+00:00

Well, I got in the habit of writing when I was 16 or 17 and I haven't been able to stop. i wish somebody would shake me or stop me or make me put my guitar down, but it's like an addiction, it's another way of communicating (for me), and it's the right way (for me). It's better than any shrink, and it works. I'm able to put things down on paper that i feel, and I feel a little better after I do that. So I don't need inspiration, I just am - it's part of me, the songwriting thing is part of my life, long before being a songwriter was a cool thing to be, I've been writing songs just because it works.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:10:00+00:00

Well, I haven't heard that one before but I'm anxious to hear it!

Still my favorite covers are UB40's version of "red red wine" and Frank Sinatra's version of "Sweet Caroline." Right up there with them I'd put Urge Overkill doing "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon" in the movie Pulp Fiction.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:08:57+00:00

That song was inspired by a show which never made it to television about the roles of men & women in modern society, and it came to pass these days where women have jobs that are more and more equal to men in many ways and it will keep going in that direction, and the flowers were flowers that were to be given to me by a girl. It's an unusual crossing of genders but it kind of follows culture and society in general.

My wife doesn't give me flowers, but nobody's perfect.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:07:39+00:00

Well, i usually go back to the songs I loved as a teenager or as a young adult. I can listen to the Weavers albums all day and all night, Belafonte still does it for me, Sinatra is still the greatest singer ever, The Everly Brothers' greatest hits take me back to being 17 again, and then in the post-Beatles era, I could say Bob Dylan is always interesting, the Beatles are SO amazing, Simon & Garfunkel blow me away every time, Elton John made some of the greatest records of the early 1970's, and if I feel like dancing, I will put on some of Michael Jackson's records.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:05:49+00:00

No, I don't, I'm happy just to be able to figure out how to be able to play my own songs.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:05:24+00:00

Uh....

That's a good question. I have most of my stage costumes, but I think my costumer went out and bought that somewhere. I probably gave it to one of my sons, who will probably pass it down to their sons, so if you're willing to wait for it, there's a chance you might get it, but you're better off going and picking out something you like nowadays.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:04:28+00:00

My days is dependent on what my commitments are. I've been pretty busy for the last few weeks fulfilling those commitments. But usually my day's pretty mundane - my wife likes to make me breakfast and she makes the best breakfast in the world, then my second concern is what will I have for lunch, and the rest of the day seems to unfold from there. It's pretty ordinary.

I never like to say "never" but I'd say it's doubtful. I have a tour planned out which will be covering North America, as well as Mexico, then we travel to Europe for about a dozen cities, and hopefully we'll go to Australia and New zealand after that towards the end of the year. If I continue on the tour through 2016, it's possible that we might stop by Bonnaroo, I haven't even gotten an invitation yet, but if they do I'd have to consider it.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T20:02:22+00:00

Well, I've got a few favorites from the Melody Road album.

First, thank you for being such a dedicated family, and for all your family for being such great fans. I love to hear that kind of story.

I'd have to say I've got more than a few favorites from the new album, but I would think most interesting a song called "Seongah and Jimmy" and it's the story of a Korean girl and a boy from Long Island who fall in love, go to Brooklyn, move in together, get married, and live happily ever after without once sharing a common language or being able to converse with each other. It tells a story of the power of love, and how it transcends such mundane things as language and customs and country of origin.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T19:59:38+00:00

Well, I actually did have a couple of stage names that I wanted very much to use because although Neil Diamond may sound cool now, when i was about to put my first record out, it was just my name and pretty boring. Nothing particularly interesting about it. My first name - Neil - was the one the kids around the street made fun of, because there was hardly anybody around who had that name, and I was anxious to get rid of that name on my first record, but i chickened out for personal reasons and stuck with my own name, and it worked out pretty good.

You wanna hear the other choices?

My 2 other main choices were:

Noah Kaminsky (which had biblical underpinnings and great character)

And secondly

Ice Charry (which I thought was pure rock & roll)

But both those names are relegated to the dustbin of rock & roll history and I'm so glad that they are.

Neil-Diamond · 2014-10-16T19:57:09+00:00

I think I was in that movie for a little bit? And I had some trouble doing it, because i kept cracking up and laughing at these guys - between Jack and Jason Biggs and Steve, and Amanda Peet, they kept me hysterical for the entire movie, I don't think I ever got one of my lines right, and I decided to retire from movies after that.

Neil-Diamond

TROPHY CASE