The Essential Neil Diamond

The Essential Neil Diamond
Head shot of a man whose dark hair blends into the black background
Compilation album by
Neil Diamond
ReleasedDecember 4, 2001 (2001-12-04)
RecordedFebruary, 1966 – October 28, 2001
GenrePop rock
Length141:09
LabelColumbia
CompilerNeil Diamond, Al Quaglieri
Neil Diamond chronology
Three Chord Opera
(2001) 		The Essential Neil Diamond
(2001) 		Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

The Essential Neil Diamond is a two-disc compilation album by Neil Diamond. It was released by Sony Music in 2001.

Diamond and his collaborator Al Quaglieri personally chose the 38 tracks that appeared in the collection. Nine selections were from Diamond's early period with Bang Records (1966–68) while 14 were from his Columbia years, which began in 1973. The Bang recordings are now owned by Sony, Columbia's parent company. For the five top ten hits that Diamond record for Uni Records (1968–73) Columbia leased the right for their appearance on this collection. Ten recordings that were used for the album were not the original studio recordings but live renditions from concerts.[2] "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", Diamond's 1978 duet with Streisand is included in The Essential Barbra Streisand as well as this compilation.[3] The Essential Neil Diamond reached number 90 on the Billboard 200 chart and was awarded double platinum status by the RIAA on March 3, 2016.[4][5]

In 2009, Columbia issued an expanded version of the album entitled The Essential Neil Diamond 3.0 which featured the original two discs and a bonus third disc containing eight more selections.[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Diamond, except where noted.

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Solitary Man"2:32
2."Cherry, Cherry"2:42
3."I Got the Feelin' (Oh No, No)"2:13
4."Kentucky Woman"2:26
5."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"2:55
6."You Got to Me"2:48
7."Red Red Wine"2:41
8."Thank the Lord for the Night Time"3:00
9."I'm a Believer"2:43
10."Sweet Caroline"3:21
11."Song Sung Blue"3:13
12."Holly Holy"4:30
13."I Am... I Said"3:33
14."Cracklin' Rosie"2:59
15."Play Me" (live recording)4:21
16."Morningside" (live recording)5:25
17."Crunchy Granola Suite" (live recording)4:05
18."Brooklyn Roads" (live recording)5:29
19."Soolaimon" (live recording)5:06
Total length:1:06:02
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."America" 4:19
2."Hello Again"Diamond, Alan Lindgren3:39
3."Love on the Rocks"Gilbert Bécaud, Diamond3:40
4."Captain Sunshine" (live recording) 3:20
5."He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (live recording)Bob Russell, Bobby Scott3:46
6."Yes I Will " / "Lady Magdalene" (live recording; medley) 7:01
7."Shilo" (live recording) 3:57
8."Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" (live recording) 5:02
9."If You Know What I Mean" 3:43
10."Beautiful Noise" 3:26
11."You Don't Bring Me Flowers"Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Diamond3:16
12."Desiree" 3:17
13."Forever in Blue Jeans"Richard Bennett, Diamond3:39
14."September Morn"Bécaud, Neil Diamond3:52
15."I've Been This Way Before" 3:48
16."Yesterday's Songs" 2:51
17."Heartlight"Burt Bacharach, Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager4:26
18."Headed for the Future"Diamond, Lindgren, Tom Hensley4:06
19."You Are the Best Part of Me" 3:59
Total length:1:15:07
Disc three (Limited edition 3.0)
No.TitleLength
1."The Boat That I Row"2:41
2."Do It"1:53
3."Longfellow Serenade"3:51
4."And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind" (live recording)4:10
5."Done Too Soon" (live recording)2:53
6."Glory Road" (live recording)3:37
7."Pretty Amazing Grace" (live recording)3:29
8."Hell Yeah"4:33
Total length:27:07

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[7] Platinum 70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[8] 3× Platinum 45,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[9] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[10] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ The Essential Neil Diamond at AllMusic
  2. ^ Ruhlmann, William. The Essential Neil Diamond at AllMusic. Retrieved March 9, 2014..
  3. ^ Ruhlmann, William. The Essential Barbra Streisand at AllMusic. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  4. ^ Diamond, Neil. "Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  5. ^ Diamond, Neil. "RIAA Neil Diamond". RIAA. Retrieved 19 November 2016. Note: Enter advanced album search for "The Essential Neil Diamond"
  6. ^ The Essential Neil Diamond 3.0 at AllMusic
  7. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  8. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Essential Neil Diamond". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  9. ^ "British album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Essential Neil Diamond". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  10. ^ "American album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Essential Neil Diamond". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 March 2019.