The Untold Truth Of Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond scored hit records in the '60s, but he's not really considered a '60s act, not like, say, Bob Dylan or the Band. And yet, there's Neil Diamond on stage in The Last Waltz, the Martin Scorsese-directed concert film of the Band's star-studded (supposedly) final performance in 1976. Paying tribute to the Band were

Neil Diamond scored hit records in the '60s, but he's not really considered a '60s act, not like, say, Bob Dylan or the Band. And yet, there's Neil Diamond on stage in The Last Waltz, the Martin Scorsese-directed concert film of the Band's star-studded (supposedly) final performance in 1976. Paying tribute to the Band were acts like Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Van Morrison. Diamond is an odd addition, and one that wasn't necessarily welcomed.

"When I heard that Neil Diamond was going to play, I asked, 'What the hell does Neil Diamond have to do with us?" Band drummer Levon Helm said in This Wheel's On Fire (via Ultimate Classic Rock). Band singer Robbie Robertson, who'd just produced Diamond's album Beautiful Noise, explained. "Neil is like Tin Pan Alley," Helm says Robertson iterated. "That '50s, Brill Building scene" where Diamond once toiled as a pop songwriter.

Other supposedly cooler musicians remained unconvinced. According to rock lore, Young approached Diamond and sarcastically introduced himself as Neil Sedaka. Diamond told Rolling Stone about the icy reception Dylan gave him when he tried to relieve the tension. "He was tuning his guitar and I came over to him and I said, 'You know, Bob, those are really my people out there.' He kind of looked at me quizzically. I said it as a joke, but I think it spurred him a little bit and he gave a hell of a performance," Diamond said.

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