Neil’s ‘Hot August Nights’ is a ‘diamond’ in the rough!

The “best” is a word that everyone and their dog can understand. It means simply the “best”...no one can be better than the “best”.

With that in mind, I thought I would pick the best album ever, at least in my mind. Now I’ll be the first to admit that a “Tommy Jackson best-ever” pick doesn’t have quite the prestige or clout of say a “Billboard best-ever” pick, but let’s forge ahead anyway.

That said my choice for best ever album is Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Nights”! I realize I’m as fickle as the next guy or gal regarding musical preferences and sometimes seem to flop all over the map, but I can’t see anything knocking Diamond’s 20-song masterpiece from the top (I say with fingers securely crossed behind my back)..

Here is why I feel as I do: “Hot August Night” contains 11 of the greatest songs ever including “Sweet Caroline”, “Cracklin Rosie”, “Forever In Blue Jeans”, “Cherry Cherry”, “Song Sung Blue”, “America”, “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show”, “Thank The Lord For The Night Time”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “Back In L.A. Again”, and the incomparable “I Am I Said” which I have been known to play as many as six consecutive times with tears welling up in my eyes each time because the sadness and loneliness in the singer’s voice hits you squarely in the gut. Not surprisingly, it was a huge hit in both the U.S. and Britain. Now the fact that I listed 11 of the 20 cuts on the album means of course there are nine others I didn’t. Does that mean those are sub par songs? No way! In fact, these are nine great songs that added much to the overall success of the product.

The album was recorded August 24, 1972 at the historic Greek Theater in Los Angeles. A 35 piece string orchestra and six backup singers added much to the finished product that was No. 1 in Australia for an amazing 29 weeks. Also enhancing the album was a quadrophonic sound system Diamond brought in for the recording to create a full surround sound.

Looking at his career resume to date, Neil, who will turn 80 later this month, has sales of more than 100 million derived in part from 10 No. 1 songs and 38 that went Top 10.

A slew of his individual honors includes holding memberships in both the Rock n Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame. He received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as well as being a Kennedy Center honoree. His signature song “Sweet Caroline” (one of the greatest sing-along numbers ever) was selected by the Library of Congress for presentation in the National Recording Registry.

Finally I’d be remiss today if I failed to comment on the fact that many of the biggest artists around have jumped at the opportunity to record other songs written by Neil, perhaps none bigger than “I’m A Believer” which became the most popular song of 1964 for The Monkees. Audiences couldn’t get enough of the song which went Gold within two days of his release.

Though illness sadly has curtailed Neil’s ability to tour and perform, happily he is still writing and creating.

While I got on board the Neil Diamond train late, I’m planning on riding that baby to the finish line.