NEIL DIAMOND CENTRAL WEBSITE - http://www.neildiamondcentral.com/

"I’ve always regretted not filming the Hot August Night concert in ‘72, an album so pivotal in my
career." - ND (2018)

NDC HOT AUGUST NIGHT Dedicated Page - https://www.neildiamondcentral.com/ho...

NEIL DIAMOND'S SIGNATURE SONG

Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story's the same one

"'I Am... I Said', took four months to complete. I knew it had great potential and I was unwilling to accept anything but the raw truth in the lyric. It was a daily battle to put this song and those sentiments on paper, but when it was done, it turned out the be one of the most satisfying songs I had ever written. It was nominated for a Grammy and still gives me chills when I perform it." - ND

THE CHAIR: The chair is a reference to the psychiatrist's chair. Diamond battled with this song for 4 months following a near-breakdown after divorce and a move from New York to Los Angeles.

His failure to land the part of Lenny Bruce in the movie ‘Lenny’, left him close to breaking point and Diamond was depressed. Diamond eventually took a 4-year sabbatical from performing after his landmark appearance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1972.

'I Am... I Said' has a far deeper meaning than most casual listeners imagine. The song is a masterpiece by a great songwriter. By his own admission, Diamond spent months in psychotherapy and this song explains wonderfully his thoughts and feelings at the time. In Gestalt therapy, a patient projects his thoughts into an empty chair while a counsellor looks on making notes. This may well explain the meaning of the word chair. It is too easy to dismiss the 'chair' as a trite attempt to make a rhyme, but Diamond is nothing but meticulous in his lyric writing and he has said that 'I Am... I Said' underwent countless rewrites until it said exactly what he wanted it to say. Diamond no doubt felt so alone and alienated that he must have felt that no-one was listening to his tortured cries... not even the (psychoanalyst's) chair.

"Electric ... his audience falls like plums at his feet." - Tone - Daily Variety.

"The lean, sensual performer was A TRIUMPH." - Michael Carmack - Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.

" ... he moved the audience through many moods from joy to sorrow." - Sue Cameron - The Hollywood Reporter.

"More of a triumph, in every measurable way, than his stunning show last summer at the Greek .... Most of all, Diamond gave of himself." - Robert Hilburn - Los Angeles Times.

"I enjoyed the outstanding theatrical experience of my life, due to the unsurpassed and almost hypnotic talents of Neil Diamond." - James A Doolittle - General Director, Greek Theatre Association.

Hot August Night 1972 -
"He knocked them dead. One of the greatest albums ever made. Neil came through a cloud of smoke and the audience just exploded. It was the first time I saw him confident on stage. That was chemistry. Hot August Night was the big turning point. That magnetism that people think of with Neil Diamond was born on that night." - Lee Holdridge - Composer and conductor collaborated with Neil Diamond on the film score for Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Website: http://www.leeholdridge.com/biography/

I AM... I SAID (Stones - 1971 - Age: 30)
NEIL DIAMOND
This Live Version: Hot August Night (1972)

L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is "lay back"
Palm trees grow and rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin' about
Making my way back

Well I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays,
I'm lost between two shores
L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home
New York's home,
But it ain't mine no more

I am... I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair
I am... I cried, I am... said I
And I am lost and I can't
Even say why
Leavin' me lonely still

Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story's the same one

But I got an emptiness deep inside
And I've tried
But it won't let me go
And I'm not a man who likes to swear
But I never cared
For the sound of being alone

I am... I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair
I am... I cried
I am... said I
And I am lost and I can't
Even say why
Leavin' me lonely still
No, no, no, no, no...