Columbia/Legacy Recordings Proud to Release The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Recordings Available Everywhere Tuesday, December 6

Long-Awaited Single Disc Career-Spanning Overview Assembles Five Decades of Essential Tracks Culled from Artist's Bang, Uni/MCA, Capitol, and Columbia Records Catalogs

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Columbia/Legacy Recordings

Nov 07, 2011, 01:30 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings proudly announce the release of The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Recordings on Tuesday, December 6.

The new long-awaited definitive single disc compilation of 23 best-loved hits and signature tracks from America's quintessential singer-songwriter is the first Neil Diamond collection to draw from the artist's complete studio discography.

The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Records includes his first pop chartings as a writer/performer for Bang Records in the mid-1960s; his spectacular career-defining hits for Uni/MCA (1968-1972); music from 1980's The Jazz Singer (his 5x platinum-selling soundtrack album on Capitol Records) and studio essentials from a long-running association with Columbia Records that began in 1973 with the Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack album and runs through a pair of Rick Rubin-produced albums: 12 Songs (2005) and Home Before Dark (which became Neil's first Number 1 album on the Billboard 200 in 2008).

The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Recordings
track listing

1. Forever In Blue Jeans
recorded November 1978
arranged and conducted by Tom Hensley
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Columbia single #3-10897, rel. 1/16/79
charted 1/27/79; weeks: 11; peak: #20
from the Columbia album You Don't Bring Me Flowers (FC 35625), rel. 12/78

2. Beautiful Noise
recorded 11/5/75
strings and horns arranged by Nick DeCaro
Produced by Robbie Robertson
Columbia single #3-10452, rel. 11/16/76
from the Columbia album Beautiful Noise (PC 33965), rel. 6/10/76

3. Love On The Rocks
recorded October 1980
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Capitol single #4939
charted 11/1/80; weeks: 20; peak; #2(3)
from the Capitol album The Jazz Singer (SWAV-12120), rel. 11/10/80

4. Cherry, Cherry
recorded 1966
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #528
charted 8/20/66; weeks: 12; peak: #6
from the Bang album The Feel Of Neil Diamond (BLP-214), rel. 10/66

5. I Am…I Said
Produced by Tom Catalano
UNI single #55278
charted 3/27/71; weeks: 10; peak: #4
from the UNI album Stones (93106), rel. 10/71
Originally released in 1971

6. Sweet Caroline
Produced by Tommy Cogbill, Tom Catalano & Neil Diamond
UNI single #55136
charted 6/28/69; weeks: 14; peak: #4
from the UNI album reissue Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show (73047), rel. 7/69
Originally released in 1969

7. Cracklin' Rosie
Produced by Tom Catalano & Neil Diamond
UNI single #55250
charted 8/22/70; weeks: 15; peak: #1
from the UNI album Tap Root Manuscript (73092), rel. 10/70
Originally released in 1970

8. Play Me
Produced by Tom Catalano & Neil Diamond
UNI single #55346
charted 8/12/72; weeks: 11; peak: #11
from the UNI album Moods (93136), rel. 6/72

9. I'm A Believer
recorded 1967
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #586
charted 6/26/71; weeks: 8; peak: #51
from the Bang album Just For You (BLP-217), rel. 9/67

10. Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
recorded 1967
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #542
charted 4/8/67; weeks: 11; peak: #10
from the Bang album Just For You (BLP-217), rel. 9/67

11. Holly Holy
Produced by Tom Catalano & Tommy Cogbill
UNI single #55175
charted 11/1/69; weeks: 14; peak: #6
from the UNI album Touching You, Touching Me (73071), rel. 10/69
Originally released in 1969

12. Solitary Man
recorded 1966
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #519
charted 5/21/66; weeks: 10; peak: #55
from the Bang album The Feel Of Neil Diamond (BLP-214), rel. 10/66

13. Song Sung Blue
Produced by Tom Catalano & Neil Diamond
UNI single #55326
charted 5/6/72; weeks: 13; peak: #1
from the UNI album Moods (93136), rel. 6/72

14. You Don't Bring Me Flowers
duet with Barbra Streisand
arranged by Alan Lindgren
recorded November 1978
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Columbia single #3-10840, rel. 10/17/78
charted 10/28/78; weeks: 17; peak: #1(2)
from the Columbia album You Don't Bring Me Flowers (FC 35625), rel. 12/78

15. Hello Again
recorded October 1980
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Capitol single #4960
charted 1/31/81; weeks: 16; peak; #6
from the Capitol album The Jazz Singer (SWAV-12120), rel. 11/10/80

16. Red, Red Wine
recorded 1967
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
from the Bang album Just for You (BLP-2170), rel. 9/67

17. If You Know What I Mean
recorded 11/5/75
strings and horns arranged by Nick DeCaro
Produced by Robbie Robertson
Columbia single #3-10366, rel. 6/4/76
charted 6/19/76; weeks: 12; peak: #11
from the Columbia album Beautiful Noise (PC 33965), rel. 6/10/76

18. Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show
Produced by Tommy Cogbill & Chips Moman
UNI single #55109
charted 2/22/69; weeks: 13; peak: #22
from the UNI album Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show (73047), rel. 3/69
Originally released in 1969

19. Pretty Amazing Grace
Produced by Rick Rubin
from the Columbia album Home Before Dark (88697 15465 2), rel. 5/6/08

20. Kentucky Woman
recorded 1967
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #551
charted 10/14/67; weeks: 8; peak: #22
from the Bang album Just For You (BLP-217), rel. 9/67

21. Shilo
Produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Bang single #575
charted 2/7/70; weeks: 14; peak: #24
from the Bang album Just For You (BLP-217), rel. 9/67
Originally Recorded 1967.

22. America
recorded October 1980
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Capitol single #4960
charted 4/25/81; weeks: 17; peak; #8
from the Capitol album The Jazz Singer (SWAV-12120), rel. 11/10/80

23. Hell Yeah
Produced by Rick Rubin
from the Columbia album 12 Songs (88697 03958 2), rel. 11/8/05

The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Recordings includes "Recollections," a revelatory set of liner notes penned by Neil especially for this collection, providing anecdotal detail and behind-the-scenes point-of-view insight into each of the songs.

In his reflections on "Hell Yeah," the track that closes the album, he writes, "'Hell Yeah' is an affirmation of a lifetime spent devoted to music and my attempt to find a personally satisfying life for myself beyond the music. I have that life now but it was a much harder job than I thought possible. Still, well worth all the years and all the tears."

In closing his "Recollections" for The Very Best of Neil Diamond - The Original Studio Recordings, Neil says, "I wish I could personally thank the hundreds of musicians, arrangers, and engineers who, along with the producers, spent long days and nights in studios around the country to make these recordings vibrate and thrill. As a songwriter I can only humbly bow down and thank them all from the depths of my heart for giving wings to my dreams."

Across a musical career spanning nearly five decades, Neil Diamond has sold more than 125 million albums worldwide, with a remarkable track record of 16 Top Ten albums, and 37 Top Ten singles. A Grammy Award-winning artist, Neil Diamond has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award. Among Diamond's many other honors, he has received a Golden Globe Award, 12 Grammy nominations and was named the 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year.

Neil Diamond, a 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, was recently announced as a 2011 Kennedy Center Honoree and will be part of the 85th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

www.neildiamond.com

www.columbiarecords.com

www.legacyrecordings.com

SOURCE Columbia/Legacy Recordings