You may have read the title of this post and then double checked to make sure you were at the right site, but never fear, you are. While the tunes of old-school crooners Diamond or Steve Winwood aren’t regular occupants of the Twangville pages, three recent releases display a common thread that I hope will appeal to the readers of this wonderfully varied forum. Neil Diamond’s Home Before Dark, Steve Winwood’s Nine Lives, and the soundtrack to the movie “I’m Not There”, featuring versions of Bob Dylan classics. Each of the offerings provides for us a new glimpse into a distinctive voice that we feel like we knew everything about already, but as it turns out, we didn’t. I am starting with Diamond and working my way through over the next few days…stay tuned!
Neil Diamond – Home Before Dark (Sony) – This, the second album in The Jazz Singer’s collaboration with Rick Rubin produces an album that is as striking as their first one together, 12 Songs. Again, with Home Before Dark, the most striking element is the stripped down tones and arrangements that allow Diamond’s warm register to shine. The first two tracks, “If I Don’t See You Again” & “Pretty Amazing Grace” both start slow and progress with a build-up in tempo, creating a satisfyingly climactic finish to each number.
Many people will want to quickly and lazily, in my opinion, compare Diamond’s relationship with Rubin to the history-altering teamwork between Rubin and Johnny Cash. Yes, there are some clear similarities with the sparse production that is employed with each artist by Rubin. There is also a parallel in that Rubin was key in restoring luster to a star that had faded in both Cash and Diamond. I do see a difference in the end results however. Cash was entering the last few years of his life when they started working together. Rubin implored Cash to explore darker and more somber terrain using his frail and vulnerable voice to remarkable effectiveness. With Diamond, we get several examples of the bouncy, rousing vocals that made “Sweet Caroline” and “Coming to America” the pop classics that they are today.
The closing, title track “Home Before Dark” does indeed bring it all home with Diamond yearning to be home before “the light escapes me”. I see this as a proclamation by Diamond to all who may think that he is anywhere near done with this phase of his career.
About the author: I likes me some wine, women and waffles, not always in that order (but usually). Chaucer is cool, but fart jokes are even better. You feel like spikin' your country with a little soul or mix in a little rock without the roll? Lemme hear from ya!!