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 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Neil Diamond
In the past fifteen or twenty years, the horrible trend of ‘tribute’ CD’s has robbed me of hundreds of dollars in precious cash. There is hardly a musical act that hasn’t been given this questionable accolade. Johnny Cash, Van Morrison, Elvis Presley, Richard Thompson, the Who, Captain Beefheart, the Carpenters…this is just a small sampling of musicians who have had their songs covered by other acts who never really capture the essence of their subject, and sometimes inadvertently destroy that which they allegedly emulate. I’ve purchased tribute disks for all of the above, and I never listen to any of them, because (surprise, surprise) I’ve discovered that I’d much rather hear the original version than some awful interpretation.
“Forever Neil Diamond” is a ‘tribute’ CD, but don’t let that put you off, because it is a different type of tribute CD. Rather than consisting of nasty, wrongheaded reinventions of songs you already know, this disk contains versions of songs that ought to be familiar. It celebrates Neil Diamond as a songwriter, not as a performer, and it gathers together a baker’s dozen of Diamond’s songs, many of them as originally recorded by the likes of the Monkees (“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”), Deep Purple (“Kentucky Woman”) and yes, even Elvis Presley (“And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”). Closing the disk is the definitive version of “Dry Your Eyes,” as performed by Neil Diamond and the Band for “The Last Waltz,” an odd presence that casts Neil’s own performance as a cover version of sorts.
As could be expected, the least successful tracks are those that attempt to reinvent Neil’s hit versions of his own compositions. “Solitary Man,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Holly Holy” are underwhelming in the versions presented here, while the Four Tops’ version of “I’m a Believer” may add diversity, but ultimately makes me realize that they could have made a great album by simply collecting an album’s worth of Monkees interpretations. On the other hand, Diamond’s recording of “Red Red Wine” was nothing special, while the UB40 version that appears here is universally accepted as definitive. There’s also a surprise or two. Arthur Alexander’s version of “Glory Road” is sadly beautiful, and Lulu’s interpretation of “The Boat That I Row” makes me wonder why this wasn’t a hit for her. All in all, ‘Forever…Diamond” may be a bit spotty, but it is quite excellent if compared to other ‘tribute’ collections.
Grade: 
 
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