This was a monster #1 chart hit for the Monkees. I’m A Believer was significant in the careers of both Neil Diamond and The Monkees. The horn section clowns around while Neil paces the stage singing his famous tune. They produce a high-octane version of I’m A Believer, to the delight of Neil’s legion of loyal fans in his native New York City. Neil is accompanied by a big band with a full horn section and backup singer/dancers. They treat it as a tasty morsel of bubble-gum pop. Neil and his band have a lot of fun with this version of his tune. This took place in 2008 at Madison Square Garden. Here is Neil Diamond in a live performance of I’m A Believer. I’m a believer, I couldn’t leave her if I tried. I thought love was only true in fairy tales The song I’m A Believer describes a man who was initially cynical about love however, he meets a woman who completely changes his mind, converting him into a believer in love at first sight. In late 1965 he wrote a hit song that Jay and the Americans released, and then “I’m A Believer” and several other hits for The Monkees. Embed from Getty ImagesĪpparently Diamond’s early years were fairly rough at one time, he says that his food budget was 35 cents per day! However, despite the fact that he was quite literally a starving artist, he managed to write a number of songs during that period.ĭiamond’s first big success was as a songwriter. Neil took the job and dropped out of college.īelow is a publicity photo of Neil Diamond from 1970. In his senior year at NYU, he was offered a 16-week job at $50/week to write songs for Sunbeam Music Publishing. However, he soon began cutting pre-med classes to hang out at the Brill Building, where he attempted to sell his pop songs. This inspired Diamond to buy a guitar and become a songwriter. While he was in high school, Neil attended a summer camp in the Catskills where he experienced a concert by legendary folksinger Pete Seeger. He attended Erasmus High School in Brooklyn, where he was a member of the school’s Chorus and Choral Club along with classmate Barbra Streisand. Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn in 1941, the son of Polish and Russian immigrants. His records have sold over 135 million copies over a 50-year career, and he has won a series of major awards for his accomplishments. Neil is a pop singer-songwriter superstar. So here we will briefly review his life and career. We recently discussed Neil Diamond in our blog post on his song Red Red Wine. We will conclude with a cover of I’m A Believer by Smash Mouth, and discuss its appearance in the computer-generated cartoon Shrek. We’ll next look at the most famous version of the song, a cover by The Monkees. We will begin with Neil Diamond’s performance of the song. This week’s entry is I’m A Believer, a great pop tune that was written by Neil Diamond. Hello there! This is another entry in our series “Tim’s Cover Story Goes to the Movies.” Here we review a pop tune that features prominently in a movie.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |