Hot August Night

Hot August Night
Live album by
Neil Diamond
ReleasedDecember 9, 1972
RecordedAugust 24, 1972
VenueGreek Theatre, Los Angeles, California
GenreRock
Length93:05
LabelMCA
ProducerTom Catalano
Neil Diamond chronology
Moods
(1972) 		Hot August Night
(1972) 		Rainbow
(1973)
Singles from Hot August Night
  1. "Cherry, Cherry"
    Released: March 17, 1973

Hot August Night is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond.[1] The album is a recording of a Diamond concert on August 24, 1972, one of ten sold-out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This also marks the first album released by the newly formed MCA Records (a merging of the Uni, Kapp, and Decca labels).[2]

Diamond later released three live "sequel" albums, Hot August Night II (1987), Hot August Night/NYC (2009), and Hot August Night III (2018), as well as the Love at the Greek live album, issued in 1977.

Australian reception

Hot August Night is one of the biggest selling albums of all time in Australia,[3][4] where it spent 29 weeks at number 1 on the album charts during 1973 and 1974. This makes it equal 5th for the most weeks at number 1, tying with Delta Goodrem's 2003 album Innocent Eyes.

Hot August Night was the number one charting album in Australia for the 1970s, entering the Australian album charts in late 1972 and still charting in the top 20 in 1976. It was the number 1 album of 1973 and the number 3 album of 1974.[5] It re-entered the Australian top 10 in 1982, then had another chart run in 1991-92 peaking at number 19 on the February 16, March 1 and March 8, 1992 charts.[6] During the 1991-92 chart-run it was listed on the chart as 14 x Platinum.[7] Based on album accreditation levels used until 1983, it equates to a 700,000 sales milestone. When the album re-entered the albums chart in 2014, it was listed as 10× Platinum.[8][9] Based on accreditation levels since 1983, it also equates to a 700,000 sales milestone. However, because ARIA was only formed in 1983 and record companies have not reported complete record sales records to them, sales are an estimation only and in the case of 1970's albums like Hot August Night, the conservative estimates may be falling short.[3] In 1996, MCA Managing Director Paul Krige estimated that cumulative sales of Hot August Night in Australia have exceeded one million units.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
CreemD+[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[13]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Lester Bangs called Hot August Night a "fine presentation of the entire spectrum" of Diamond's work and praised its music as "great, pretentious, goofy pop" with a melodramatic, "hymn-like feeling".[14]

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Hot August Night "the ultimate Neil Diamond record ... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory."[11] Rob Sheffield, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), dubbed the album "the triumph of Neilness" and said that its music is slightly more "lax" than his studio recordings, but "festive".[13]

References in Other Media

The album's name was referenced in the Season 7 finale for Mystery Science Theater 3000. While watching the scene in Laserblast where a corrupted Billy Duncan is killed by an alien, Mike Nelson makes a riff by saying "Neil Diamond: Hot August Nights."

Track listing

1972 vinyl edition

All tracks are written by Neil Diamond, except "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" on the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition which was written by Randy Newman

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"3:07
2."Crunchy Granola Suite"4:26
3."Done Too Soon"3:22
4."Dialogue"1:22
5."Solitary Man"3:14
6."Cherry, Cherry"4:43
7."Sweet Caroline"4:06
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Porcupine Pie"1:51
2."You're So Sweet"2:17
3."Red Red Wine"3:56
4."Soggy Pretzels"3:24
5."And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"4:39
6."Shilo"3:35
7."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"2:48
Side three
No.TitleLength
1."Play Me"4:43
2."Canta Libre"5:28
3."Morningside"5:35
4."Song Sung Blue"4:53
5."Cracklin' Rosie"2:45
Side four
No.TitleLength
1."Holly Holy"6:18
2."I Am... I Said"6:09
3."Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"9:36

2000 compact disc release

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"3:07
2."Crunchy Granola Suite"4:26
3."Done Too Soon"3:22
4."Dialogue"1:22
5."Solitary Man"3:14
6."Cherry, Cherry"4:43
7."Sweet Caroline"4:06
8."Porcupine Pie"1:51
9."You're So Sweet"2:17
10."Red, Red Wine"3:56
11."Soggy Pretzels"3:24
12."And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"4:39
13."Shilo"3:35
14."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"2:48
15."Walk On Water" (bonus track)3:30
16."Kentucky Woman" (bonus track)2:01
17."Stones" (bonus track)3:59
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Play Me"4:43
2."Canta Libre"5:28
3."Morningside"5:35
4."Song Sung Blue"4:53
5."Cracklin' Rosie"2:45
6."Holly Holy"6:18
7."I Am...I Said"6:09
8."Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"9:36

2012 40th anniversary deluxe edition

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"3:07
2."Crunchy Granola Suite"4:26
3."Done Too Soon"3:22
4."Dialogue"1:22
5."Solitary Man"3:14
6."Cherry, Cherry"4:43
7."Sweet Caroline"4:06
8."Porcupine Pie"1:51
9."You're So Sweet"2:17
10."Red, Red Wine"3:56
11."Soggy Pretzels"3:24
12."Gitchy Goomy" (new bonus track)3:49
13."And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"4:39
14."I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (new bonus track)4:12
15."Shilo"3:35
16."Modern Day Version of Love" (new bonus track)3:31
17."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"2:48
18."Walk On Water"3:30
19."Kentucky Woman"2:01
20."Stones"3:59
21."Musician Intros" (new bonus track)7:25
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Play Me"4:43
2."Canta Libre"5:28
3."Morningside"5:35
4."Song Sung Blue"4:53
5."Cracklin' Rosie"2:45
6."Holly Holy"6:18
7."I Am... I Said"6:09
8."Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"9:36

Personnel

  • Neil Diamond – vocals and guitar
  • Richard Bennett – guitar
  • Emory Gordy Jr. – guitar and vibraphone
  • Lee Holdridge – orchestra conductor
  • Jefferson Kewley – percussion
  • Alan Lindgren – keyboards
  • Danny Nicholson – guitar
  • Reinie Press – Bass
  • Linda Press - Background Vocals
  • Dennis St. John – Drums
  • String section – Sidney Sharp, Philip Candreva, Paulo Alencar, Baldassare Ferlazzo, Robert Lipsett, Haim Shtrum, Ron Folsom, Henry Ferber, Hyman Goodman, William Henderson, John DeVoogdt, Wilbert Nuttycombe, Jay Rosen, Walter Wiemeyer, Shari Zippert, Ralph Schaeffer, Tibor Zelig, Walter Rower, Salvatore Crimi, Richard Kaufman, David Turner (violins), Linn Subotnick, Philip Goldberg, Sven Reher, Myron Sandler, Marilyn Baker, Samuel Boghossian (violas), Jesse Ehrlich, Jerome Kessler, Raymond Kelley, Nathan Gershman, Alice Ober, Giacinto Nardulli (violoncelli), Timothy Barr, Jess Bourgeois, Don Bagley (bass violins)

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27]
original release 		16× Platinum 800,000^
Australia (ARIA)[8]
re-release 		10× Platinum 760,000[28]
Netherlands (NVPI)[29] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[30] 2× Platinum 30,000^
South Africa (RISA)[31] Gold 50,000[31]
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[33] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Diamond, Neil (December 9, 1972). Hot August Night (album). MCA records. MCA 2-8000.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ "MCA Records Announcement". Billboard. November 25, 1972. pp. 16–17. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Dale, David (July 12, 2007). "The music Australia loved". smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  4. ^ "They love Diamond in Australia: Los Angeles - Neil Diamond's two-record set, Hot August Night, has sold in excess of $2 million in Australia, reports Lee Armstrong, MCA's international vice president. The label estimates that one in every 35 persons in Australia owns a copy in some musical form. The LP is distributed in Australia by Astor, which recently received a licence of the year award from MCA's president Mike Maitland." Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (November 16, 1974). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ^ Position 21, 138th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Albums Chart". November 24, 1991. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Position 41, 145th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Album Chart". January 12, 1992. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ a b "The ARIA Report - ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 27th October 2014" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014.
  9. ^ "Research into the Top 200 Highest Selling Albums in Australia". Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  10. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (June 29, 1996). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ a b Thomas, Stephen. "Hot August Night - Neil Diamond". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  12. ^ Christgau, Robert (March 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  13. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob; et al. (November 2, 2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 233–4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  14. ^ Bangs, Lester (March 15, 1973). "Neil Diamond: Hot August Night". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  15. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4794". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Dutchcharts.nl – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  18. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "Charts.nz – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  20. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  21. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  22. ^ "Neil Diamond Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Australiancharts.com – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  24. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  25. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1975 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  26. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1976 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  27. ^ "1982 was a Big Year" (PDF). Billboard. December 25, 1982. p. 103. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  28. ^ "The Music Australia Loved". Sydney Morning Herald. January 1, 2013. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Enter Hot August Night in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1979 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  30. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  31. ^ a b "MCA/Gallo Ltd. Garners Gold" (PDF). Cash Box. October 12, 1974. p. 40. Retrieved December 12, 2019 – via American Radio History.
  32. ^ "British album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 29, 2019.