50 Years On Stage: The Evolution Of Neil Diamond. Part 1 - The 1960s and 1970s 

50 Years On Stage: The Evolution Of Neil Diamond. Part 1 - The 1960s and 1970s
Neil Diamond, started his 5 decade spanning career back in the 60s first as "Neil and Jack" with high school friend Jack Packer.
His first success however came in November 1965 with "Sunday and Me", a Top 20 hit for Jay and the Americans.
In 1966, he released "Solitary Man", which was his first true hit as a solo artist, followed by"Cherry, Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman"
In 1969, his sound mellowed with such songs as "Sweet Caroline" (1969), "Holly Holy" (1969), "Cracklin' Rosie" (1970) and "Song Sung Blue" (1972), the last two reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100.
1973, Neil recorded the sound track for the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973), which earned him a Grammy Award. He continued to release a string of successful albums during the 1970s, including Serenade (1974), Beautiful Noise (1976) - his 10th album overall and is considered his ‘finest all around alum, Love at the Greek (1977), You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (1978; featuring a duet with Barbra Streisand on the title track), and September Morn (1979).
In total, Neil Diamond has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight".
The 1970s where also the decade, where Diamond truly shined, also proving his showman skills in a series of concerts.
In August 1972, he played again at the Greek, this time doing 10 shows. When the show was first announced, tickets at the 5000-seat theater sold out rapidly.[11]:93 He added a quadraphonic sound system for his performance to create full surround-sound. The performance of August 24, 1972, was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night.
Diamond recalled: "Hot August Night captures a very special show for me. We went all out to really knock 'em dead in L.A."[93 Many consider it his best work; critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Hot August Night "the ultimate Neil Diamond record... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory.
Diamond returned to live shows in 1976 with an Australian tour, "The 'Thank You Australia' Concert", which was broadcast to 36 television outlets nationwide. He also again appeared at the Greek Theater in a 1976 concert, Love at the Greek.
„I have a love-hate relationship with songwriting. I love it because it's so satisfying...when it works. I hate it because it forces you to dig inside yourself. It is without question the most difficult thing I do.
Performing, on the other hand, is the most joyful and happiest thing I do. The bigger the audience the more anticipation, the more excitement.“
Neil Diamond, 1977