July 11, 2019
Volume 49 - No. 28
by Kent Ballard
There are many who say that the American Dream is over, that our ongoing recession and the vicelike grip of megacorporations no longer allows poor commoners like us to rise above our circumstances to better ourselves, let alone become beloved world icons. They couldn't be more wrong. The Dream lives on—and this is the story of a man who did it.
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Akeeba Diamond, was a merchant and the family was descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. Neil lived in various houses in Brooklyn while growing up, eventually graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School. Brooklyn life was to leave a lasting impression on the young Jewish boy, with many bittersweet memories.
Although a bright student, young Neil would often find himself simply staring out the windows during classes. He had an undefined yearning, a feeling that he belonged somewhere else. This led to several parent-teacher conferences where his instructors told his mother and father that he simply wasn't applying himself. His parents had no choice but to agree, as they had seen the growing boy drift into his own world periodically too.
He did find one activity that he took seriously—fencing. His grades improved in high school and he entered New York University on a fencing scholarship. In fact, he became a member of 1960 men's NCAA Championship Team. It was a sport he'd never let go. He kept his skills as a swordsman all through his adult life, and was even known to “warm up” before a concert with a round or two of fencing to loosen himself up, a far cry from other artists who'd down a bottle of booze or take a handful of pills. Diamond, as you will see, is a different kind of The Paper - 760.747.7119
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man from most superstars.
At NYU, he studied pre-med. But in his senior year he took an offer to write songs for the princely sum of $50 per week, not bad wages for a young man at the time. While writing, he began a singing duet team with an old high school buddy. Both of their records were flops, and Diamond got a contract as a solo performer with Columbia. Although his song “At Night” got excellent
reviews from Billboard Magazine, the sales just weren't there and Columbia dropped him.
Diamond's early career as a songwriter was at the famed “Brill Building” in New York, just uptown from the famous Tin Pan Alley. It had been songwriter territory since the Big Band era. Hits for Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller had been written there. Over the decades song-
Neil Diamond - See Page 2
writers working at the Brill Building were a galaxy of stars, Diamond, Carol King, Paul Simon, and many others. Diamond's first hit as a songwriter came after he penned a tune for “Jay and the Americans,” which led to a few of his songs being recorded by the band “constructed” by NBC for a half-hour teen rock show. “The Monkees” recorded Diamond's “I'm A Believer” and