Neil Diamond - Solitary Man

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Neil Diamond
Solitary Man / Do It
London HLZ 10049 (1966)

Released in 1966 on Bang Records in the US and London here in the UK, this was his first 45 release in the UK (his 4th 45 Stateside).  

Two versions of the song were recorded, one version had his harmonic vocal track on the refrain of the song, along with accompaniment by a wordless female chorus. The other version was him singing the song alone, without his pre-recorded harmony or the female chorus.  The latter version appears on many reissues of this song.

In a 2005 article for Rolling Stone magazine Dan Epstein wrote; Solitary Man' remains the most brilliantly efficient song in the Diamond collection. There's not a wasted word or chord in this two-and-a-half minute anthem of heartbreak and self-affirmation, which introduced the melancholy loner persona that he repeatedly returned to throughout his career.





*****




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