Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! [Box]

Performer: Neil Diamond
Engineer: Armin Steiner
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Includes every track from the albums VELVET GLOVES AND SPIT, BROTHER LOVE'S TRAVELING SALVATION SHOW, TOUCHING YOU TOUCHING ME, TAPROOT MANUSCRIPT, STONES AND MOODS. Personnel includes: Neil Diamond (vocals, guitar); Richard Bennett, Emory Gordy, Jr., Danny Nicholson (guitar); Reine Press (bass); Dennis St. Johns (drums). Producers: Tom Catalano, Neil Diamond. Compilation producer: Mike Ragogna. Recorded between 1968 and 1972. Includes liner notes by Robyn Flans. Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Erik Labson (Universal Mastering Studios West, North Hollywood, California. Personnel: Neil Diamond (guitar); Emory Gordy (guitar, vibraphone); Dan Nicholson, Richard Bennett (guitar); Nathan Gershman, John DeVoogdt, Wilbert Nuttycombe, Shari Zippert, Ronald Folsom, Don Bagley, Hyman Goodman, Walter Wiemeyer, Jerome Kessler, Myron Sandler, Paulo Alencar, Sven Reher, Walter Rower, Baldassare Ferlazzo, Henry Ferber, Tibor Zelig, Alice Ober, Jess Bourgeois, Philip Candreva, David D. Turner , Giacinto Nardulli, Robert Lipsett, Timothy Barr, Jay Rosen, Philip Goldberg, Sidney Sharp, William Henderson , Marilyn Baker, Richard Kaufman, Ralph Schaeffer, Jesse Ehrlich, Samuel Boghossian, Haim Shtrum (strings); Alan Lindgren (keyboards); Dennis St. John (drums); Jefferson Kewley (percussion). Liner Note Author: Robyn Flans. Photographers: Ed Caraeff; Frank Bez. Unknown Contributor Role: Frank Bez. This sweeping collection covers singer-songwriter Neil Diamond's output for MCA's Uni imprint, for which he recorded from 1968 to 1972, and charts his artistic development from the ambitious pop writer of "Two Bit Manchild" to the existential wizard of "I Am...I Said." PLAY ME also incorporates many lesser-known Diamond gems, like the country-flavored "You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hanging Round Your Face," which carries more than a hint of the influence of his erstwhile producer Chip Taylor, and his elaborate "African Suite," from 1970's TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT album. In addition, seven live tracks, featuring songs Diamond recorded for his previous label, Bang, are included. Neil Diamond was a Uni artist in the late '60s and early '70s, the period that coincided with his greatest commercial success and most consistently popular singles. This three-CD, 74-track set is just what it says it is: every last song from all six of his 1968-1972 Uni studio albums, plus seven cuts from his live Gold and Hot August Night records (also originally released on Uni). It shouldn't be taken as the total summary of Diamond's early career, as it's missing all of the hits for Bang Records that were recorded before he joined Uni (though the seven live songs do include versions of most of those big Bang hits). For all his talents as a major pop singer/songwriter, Diamond was really not a good album artist, and hearing six albums at once is going to test the limits of all but his devoted fans. If you do take the plunge, though, it's rather interesting to hear that Diamond was certainly a more eclectic stylist than he's usually given credit for, even if some of his odder ventures were rather lousy. There's some country, some near-gospel, and quite a few covers of other major singer/songwriters. Still, there's no getting around it: Only the hit singles (of which there are quite a few, to be fair) really reach out and grab you. Much of the rest sounds like the AM pop of the hit singles, but not nearly as good. There are some obscure above-average songs to be heard here, like the small 1968 hit "Two-Bit Manchild," the Dion-like bluesy "Dig In," and "Coldwater Morning." But these are balanced by some real turkey goofball experimentation, like the raps on "The Pot Smoker's Song," the country satire "You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hangin' Round Your Face," the kiddie tune "I Am the Lion" (where it almost sounds like he's trying to dilute Arthur Brown's "I am the god of hellfire!" shtick for the little ones when he sings the title!), "Crunchy Granola Suite," and the weird art-cum-mainstream pop of "African Suite." In addition, as an interpreter of other people's songs, Diamond is not too interesting, though you'll hear plenty of that on this set, including covers of "Chelsea Morning," "Both Sides Now," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today," "Until It's Time for You to Go," "Mr. Bojangles," and "Everybody's Talkin'." Not to harp too much on the absence of Bang material, but it should also be noted that the version of "Shilo" (from his 1968 album Velvet Gloves & Spit) is not the same as the one on the hit Bang 45. ~ Richie Unterberger

Q (6/02, p.132) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Diamond has created a curious canon of robustly mature, youth-bypassing pop songs...worthy of investigation." Mojo (Publisher) (6/02, pp.126-7) - "...Here was rich madness, the soundtrack to millions of housewife crack-ups in '70s America..."

With a career as a hitmaker stretching across the decades, Neil Diamond has purveyed catchy, three-chord pop/rock, progressive singer/songwriter material, middle-of-the-road balladry, and even traditional country. He started out as a Brill Building hitmaker; a songwriter for hire, he worked alongside the likes of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and penned hits for the Monkees and Jay & the Americans. His solo career took off in the mid 1960s and made him one of America's most successful recording artists and concert attractions for a long time to come. Even decades down the road, younger groups such as UB40 in the '80s, Urge Overkill in the '90s, and Smash Mouth in the 2000's were still scoring hits with Diamond's evergreen compositions.

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