Most of us think of Neil Diamond as the man behind “Sweet Caroline” and “Cracklin’ Rosie.” Over a 60-year career, he sold more than 130 million records and earned 13 Grammy nominations, plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
But here is something you might not know. Diamond always thought of himself as a songwriter first. He started writing songs at 16 after seeing a Pete Seeger concert at summer camp in the Catskills. He only started performing his own material because nobody else would record his songs early on.
Once the hits started flowing, other artists came calling. And some of those songs became classics you have known for decades, you just never knew Diamond wrote them.
1. “I’m a Believer” — The Monkees
In 1966, Diamond scored his first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with “Cherry, Cherry.” That same year, he handed the Monkees a song that became one of the decade’s best-selling singles.
“I’m a Believer” went to number one and made Diamond’s record label furious. They felt he had given away a massive hit. Diamond saw it differently.
“The head of my record company was very angry — I’d given away a number one hit — but I was thrilled. See, I was a songwriter, first and foremost. So having the Monkees get the number one was as good as if I had recorded it, honestly.”
Diamond had originally imagined the song as a country tune, possibly for artist Eddy Arnold. It ended up as a pop-rock smash instead. Smash Mouth later covered it for the Shrek soundtrack.
2. “Red Red Wine” — UB40
Diamond released this gentle ballad on his 1967 album Just For You. His version did only modestly well on the charts. But other artists loved the song and kept covering it.
The most famous cover came from the pop-reggae group UB40 in 1983. The song became a sensation, and then exploded after the band performed it at a 1988 Wembley Stadium concert honoring Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday. It went all the way to number one in the U.S.
Here is the funny part: UB40 had no idea that Diamond had written it. Singer Ali Campbell said they only knew it as a reggae song. When they saw the writing credit (“N. Diamond”), band member Astro Wilson thought it might be a Jamaican artist named Negus Diamond. Diamond later cited UB40’s version as one of his two favorite covers of his own songs, alongside Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Sweet Caroline.”
3. “The Boat That I Row” — Lulu
This song first appeared as the B-side of Diamond’s 1966 single “I Got the Feelin’ (Oh No No)” and later on his Just For You album. Scottish singer Lulu released her version in 1967, and it climbed to No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
Decades later, Diamond and Lulu reunited to perform a duet of the song together in 2010.
4. “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” — Elvis Presley
Diamond and Elvis actually lived next door to each other in Los Angeles for a time, both with young children. Diamond once recalled how their kids would talk to each other through the fence between their homes.
Elvis recorded Diamond’s “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” in 1969 at American Sound Studios, reportedly bumping Diamond himself out of his scheduled recording slot to fit the session in. Elvis also performed a famous live cover of “Sweet Caroline.”
The two men seemed to genuinely admire each other. When Diamond attended one of Presley’s Las Vegas shows, Elvis asked him to stand up and praised him in front of the whole audience. When the crowd started demanding a duet, Elvis noticed Diamond looked uncomfortable and told the audience to leave him alone and let him enjoy the show.
5. “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” — Urge Overkill
Diamond wrote this song in 1967 specifically with his teenage female fans in mind. It got a second life when Urge Overkill’s cover appeared in a pivotal scene in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
Diamond was initially reluctant to allow it. He had made a personal promise never to use his songs in connection with drug references or smoking. But after a friend convinced him that Tarantino was a serious talent, Diamond agreed.
6. “Sunday and Me” — Jay & the Americans
This was Diamond’s very first songwriting hit. Jay & the Americans released it in 1965, and it reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The success came after a rocky start. In 1960, Diamond had dropped out of NYU (where he was a pre-med senior) to take a $50-per-week songwriting job at Sunbeam Music Publishing. He was not rehired after 16 weeks. He spent years after that writing in New York’s Brill Building, alongside other songwriters including Carole King and Gerry Goffin, before “Sunday and Me” finally broke through for him.
7. “Kentucky Woman” — Deep Purple
Diamond wrote this one while touring the American South. It was released in 1968 and peaked at No. 22 in the U.S. But the song also sparked a turning point in Diamond’s career.
Diamond wanted to release “Shilo” as his next single, a more personal song. His label boss Bert Berns, who had signed Diamond to Bang Records, pushed for “Kentucky Woman” instead. Diamond left Bang Records shortly after the song came out.
Deep Purple released their own high-energy cover of “Kentucky Woman” in 1968. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore later recalled that the band was living in a haunted chateau in St Albans at the time, and that it was keyboardist Jon Lord who suggested the song and the driving beat. Blackmore remembered it performing well in America as the band’s second single. The song was later featured in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Seven massive songs. One songwriter behind all of them. Not bad for a kid who started writing after a Pete Seeger concert in the Catskills.