October 10, 1970
Neil Diamond’s first #1 hit Cracklin’ Rosie cracked the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
His third of four platinum-selling singles was bookended by two huge Motown hits – succeeding Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross on this date and, after just a single week, being superceded on October 17th by The Jackson 5‘s first of five weeks run at #1 with I’ll Be There.
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CRACKLIN’ ROSIE
Neil Diamond
[1970]
Many Diamond fans believe the song’s title is in reference to type of wine – specifically Mateus Sparkling Rosé – and in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine with author David Wild, Neil revealed he got the idea for the song from a folk story of a Northern Canadian Indian tribe in which there were more men than women:
“On Saturday nights when they go out, the guys all get their girl; the guys without girls get a bottle of “Cracklin’ Rosie” – that’s their girl for the weekend.”
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(Photo Courtesy of Da Capo Press)
Wild also authored the 2008 Neil Diamond biography He Is…I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Neil Diamond.
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Over his remarkable recording career, Diamond, who once considered changing his professional name to Noah Kaminsky, has placed no less than 25 singles inside Billboard’s Top 20.
After a tenure as a staff song writer at New York City’s famed Brill Building, Neil recorded his own songs for Bert Berns’ Bang Records; he produced his first five for the label – Cherry, Cherry (1966 • #6), I Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No) (1966 • #16), You Got To Me (1967 • #18), Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon (1967 • #10) and Thank The Lord For The Night Time (1967 • #13).
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Diamond left Bang in 1968 to sign with UNI, short for the label’s legal name Universal City Records; in addition to ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’, he recorded another eight Top 20 hits on UNI – his first and second platinum sellers, Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good) (1969 • #4) and Holly Holy (1969 • #6) plus He Ain’t Heavy…He’s My Brother (1970 • #20), I Am…I Said (1971 • #4), Stones (1971 • #11), his second #1 and million-selling Song Sung Blue (1972), Play Me (1972 • #11) and Walk On Water (1972 • #17).
CRACKLIN’ ROSIE
Neil Diamond
(Live Version)
[1972]
Neil recorded ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’ live on August 24th, 1972 during a sold out ten-concert stay that month at L.A.’s famed Greek Theatre, and released on his live double album Hot August Night in December of ’72.
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Recording for his third and fourth labels – Columbia and Capitol respectively – Diamond scored 11 more Top 20 hits: Longfellow Serenade (1974 • #5), If You Know What I Mean (1976 • #11), Desiree (1978 • #16), his fourth platinum seller and #1 duet with Barbra Streisand, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (1978), Forever In Blue Jeans (1979 • #20), September Morn’ (1980 • #17), the trio of hits from a 1980 movie in which he starred, the remake of the 1927 classic The Jazz Singer: Love On The Rocks (1980 #2), Hello Again (1981 #6) and America (1981 #8), plus Yesterday’s Songs (1981 #11) and Heartlight (1982 #5), a song inspired by the 1982 blockbuster movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
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DEEP TRAK!
After Diamond’s early successes on Uni, Bang Records began re-issuing songs he’d written and recorded for them prior to his leaving the label – Shilo, Solitary Man, Do It, The Long Way Home and The Monkees late 1966 #1 million-selling hit I’m A Believer – none of which cracked the Billboard Top 20.
I’M A BELIEVER
Neil Diamond
(Original Version)
[1971]
Although not released as a Diamond single until 1971, his version of ‘I’m A Believer’ is the original one; it was recorded prior the The Monkees’ single, and first appeared on Neil’s 1967 Bang album Just For You.
‘Just For You’ was Diamond’s first album consisting entirely of original material, and his final album for the Bang label.
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Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
