“Where it began / I can’t begin to know when,” go the first two lines of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” The where and when of the song’s subject may not matter to Neil, but the where and when of “Sweet Caroline,” matter quite a bit.
When was 1969. Where was Memphis, Tenn., and yes, Elvis will make an appearance.
Elvis Presley and Neil Diamond were in town to make hits at red-hot American Sound Studio. The studio produced 120 hits in its five-years of operation. At one point one-fourth of Billboard’s Hot 100 had been recorded at American.
Elvis’ sessions produced cuts such as “Suspicious Minds” that re-established him on the charts.
Neil got “Sweet Caroline,” which reached No. 4 and kicked off almost a decade and a half of hits. The song frequently turned up in Elvis’ live sets. Elvis also recorded another Neil composition, “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind,” at American, which canceled a Neil Diamond recording session to accommodate the King.
The two didn’t cross paths in Memphis. In fact, their only known meeting was at an Elvis show in Las Vegas when the singer spotted Neil in the crowd and introduced him from the stage.
Elvis enjoyed a string of hits before his drug-fueled decline took him off the charts and ultimately off this mortal coil. Neil, on the other hand, not only continued his run of hit singles, he earned a reputation for powerful live performances.
And when Elvis passed in 1977, Neil seemed to quietly and effortlessly fill a bit of the gap. Like Elvis, Neil’s audience skewed older, listeners who grew up with early rock ‘n’ roll and found the music less and less to their taste as it grew louder and more outrageous. Neil’s crowds still wanted the excitement and memorable experience of a live concert, and Neil delivered, time after time.
“Sweet Caroline” was always a live highlight. The song has taken on a life of its own, becoming a staple in sports arenas the world over. When audiences began singing “So good! So good! So good!” on the chorus – it’s not on the hit recording – Neil happily acquiesced. It’s great when an audience sings your song, but it’s something else again when they claim it for their own.
Neil retired from performing in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, which will be presented in Morsani Hall from Feb. 11-16, tells Neil’s story through his songs and gives the crowd a taste of his live appeal.
Judy Lisi, former president and CEO of the Straz, was at the Broadway premiere of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, as was Neil. Neil surprised and delighted the crowd with an impromptu performance of – what else? – “Sweet Caroline.”
“It was quite emotional to have Neil there, and a real surprise because of his health challenges,” Judy said. As soon as he started singing, she said, the audience immediately took over, serenading Neil with his own song. Good times never seemed so good.