You are the sun, I am the moon, you are the words, I am the tune, play me. Your songs sung blue have taken us on Jonathan Livingston Seagull flights, made us drive on melody road over red, red wine in the company of an imaginary Kentucky woman.
Dear Neil Diamond, now we hear you are retiring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Just a few weeks after Eric Clapton announced he was going deaf, when he was already suffering from a nerve disorder called ‘peripathal neuropathy’, which had affected his hand movement and sensation. The last thing one would want for you and Clapton, one of the world’s most admired guitarists.
It's strange, rather sad, to hear of artistes suffering from syndromes that affect their creativity after years of putting in so much. The great 19th century composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was known to have turned deaf at a point. More recently, country singer Glen Campbell succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. Rock star Malcolm Young of AC/DC and pop sensation David Cassidy had dementia. As I write this, I read that South African jazz legend Hugh Masakela has passed away at 78 after suffering from prostrate cancer – a huge loss.
With Diamond and Clapton, one wishes they can go on and on. After all, both have contributed so much to our musical upbringing. An earlier column, published in this newspaper in June 2016, focused totally on Clapton. Let me now talk of the Diamond influence.
Like most folks from my 1960s generation, I first heard Diamond on the radio during my teenage days. The first song that hit me was ‘Cracklin Rosie’. I never got the entire lyrics, I still don’t. But lines like ‘Oh I love my Rosie child, she got the way to make me happy’ and ‘Play it now, play it now, my baby’ gave me an instant high. To me this song gave me as much of a kick as any Abba or Bee Gees song, or even the Eagles hit ‘Hotel California’. It rocked me and rolled me.
We had a record player then, but no vinyls of Diamond. A school friend had the double live album Hot August Night , and with a group of others, I heard it properly. ‘Holly Holly’, ‘Red Red Wine’, ‘Soolaimon’, ‘Play Me’, ‘Song Sung Blue’. Wow! I just loved Diamond’s voice. There was something unique about it. Maybe it was his style of delivery, maybe it was its raspiness. Years later, I discovered the word ‘timbre’.
As Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj once told me, the voice timbre can be compared to a handwritten signature. It reflects musical personality. Yet, some had unique and very personal styles which were difficult to copy.
Among western male singers, Diamond is definitely one that comes to mind. Others would be Louis Armstrong, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Demis Roussos, Cliff Richard, Mark Knopfler, Thom Yorke, Eddie Vedder, Richard Hawley, Chris Cornell, Jeff Buckley, and several more. Many singers have tried to copy their styles but very few get it perfectly right.
Of the Indian vocalists, Gary Lawyer is one person who is bang on in his rendition of Diamond. Close your eyes and hear his rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ or ‘Play Me’. I've done so, and never noticed a note of difference.
Diamond has always been a gem, a pot of gold. Given a choice of carrying one person’s music on a beach where I am a ‘Solitary Man’, I will put a lot of his music on a pen-drive and gaze at the silver stars. ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’, ‘I Am.. I Said’, ‘Desiree’, ‘We’, ‘Be’, ‘Carmelita's Eyes’, ‘Shilo’, ‘Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon’. Neil Diamond, play it now, play it now. You are the words, I am the tune, play for meeee...
