How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond

If you were growing up in the 1970s, there's a good chance that your parents would have had a few Neil Diamond eight-track tapes rattling around in their car (along with Don McLean's greatest hits and something by the Eagles or Supertramp). If you were living in the United States at this time, that possibility is almost a certainty. Depending upon your point of view, car trips would have flashed by or been made interminably longer as your parents sang along (more-or-less in tune) to 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Cracklin' Rosie'.

Even if you aren't a 'Diamondhead' (David Wild's affectionate name for those who love Neil Diamond or have no choice about whether they love him or not), you'll have listened to - and maybe even liked - some of the many, many songs he has written but which have been made famous by other artists. Think of UB40's 'Red, Red Wine' or Urge Overkill's version of 'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon' on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

The Neil Diamond story is one of perseverance and a hard-headed  determination to follow one's own path regardless of the prevailing (and fickle) trends of popular music. Diamond's first successes came at a time when groups such as the Monkees dominated the scene, but he was intent on performing his material as a solo artist.

After seven years as a struggling singer-songwriter on New York's famous Tin Pan Alley, Diamond finally got a deal with Bang Records in 1965. Between then and 1968 he released some his most-loved singles ('Solitary Man', 'Cherry, Cherry', 'Shilo'), but left the Bang hit factory to pursue other musical directions.

Divorce, remarriage, tours and live albums, a sabbatical, and several forays into film followed. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Diamond (apart from the fact that his name really is Neil Diamond) has been his ability to revivify his career - always on his own terms. This was exemplified most recently by his collaboration with producer Rick Rubin (who has worked previously with everyone from Run DMC, the Beastie Boys and Slayer to the Dixie Chicks, Donovan, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash).

The fruits of this unusual collaboration, 12 Songs, was released in 2005. Q magazine mirrored the opinion of many when it said, 'It may well be his best record ever.' Three years later, Diamond released Home Before Dark, another Rubin-produced album.

David Wild, a Rolling Stone journalist, guides us through this most American of pop stories with the verve and affection of a die-hard fan. He has interviewed Diamond on several occasions and produced a television special about him. Clearly Diamond can do (and has done) no wrong in Wild's eyes, but in spite of his over-reverent approach, Wild conveys the sense of Diamond as a thoughtful man of integrity, something of a loner who nevertheless adopts for his fans the old-fashioned role of performer.