Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. In the new film Song Sung Blue, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play a couple who form a Neil Diamond tribute band.
Chapter 2: What is the new film 'Song Sung Blue' about?
You know, Neil is special, and I just want everyone to get that feeling I get when I listen to America and Forever Blue Jeans.
And Sweet Caroline.
And Sweet Caroline, yeah, but I'm never going to be the real McCoy. I mean, I don't really look like Neil. I don't even really sound like Neil. I've got to be Neil, but I've just got to be me, too.
Yeah, you don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator. You want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter.
I was looking for the right way to say it, and you just came right out and said, a Neil Diamond interpreter.
Today we're going to listen to our interview with Neil Diamond. In the 1960s, he started out writing songs for a music publishing company, hoping someone would record them. He wrote the Monkees hit, I'm a Believer. But it was Diamond himself who made most of his own songs famous. Here's a sample.
Belinda was mine till the time that I found her Holding Jim, loving him Then Sue came along, loved me strong, that's what I thought Don't know that I will But until I can find me The girls will stay Won't play games behind me And I'll be what I am A solitary man She got the way to move me, cherry She got the way to prove me She got the way to move me, cherry baby She got the way to
And I'm a believer I couldn't leave her if I tried. Hands. Touching hands. Reaching out. Touching me. Touching you. The times never seemed so good. On the boats and on the planes, they're coming to America, never looking back again. Coming to America home. Song, song, blue, everybody knows one. Song, song, blue, every garden grows.
As a lot of Neil Diamond's contemporaries fell off the charts, he moved from teen pop to adult pop. He recorded a duet with Barbra Streisand, had hits from his remake of The Jazz Singer, and dressed in spangles for his sold-out concerts. In 2022, his life in music became the subject of the hit Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise. Neil Diamond is now 84 years old.
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Chapter 3: How did Neil Diamond transition from songwriter to performer?
So we started a working relationship. We were both working for the same music publisher and, uh, I kind of got let go by that music publisher, and I asked Jeff and Ellie if they were interested in producing me.
In the first session that you did with them, you recorded Solitary Man. Did you like the idea of horns on this?
I like the idea of anything on those records. I was just thrilled to be there.
Well, let's hear Solitary Man, which I have to say, I think it's really a terrific recording. Thank you. Yeah, so, okay, let's hear it. This is your first hit, yes?
Yes, if you can call it a hit.
That you recorded yourself, yeah, okay.
Yeah.
Okay, so this is Neil Diamond, Solitary Man.
Melinda was mine till the time that I found her Holding Jim, loving him Then Sue came along, loved me strong, that's what I thought But until I can find me The girls will stay and won't play games behind me And I'll be what I am A solitary man A solitary man I've had to heal That's Neil Diamond.
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Chapter 4: What was Neil Diamond's first big hit song?
Is that right?
Yeah. Yeah. I was, you know, watching the news, but I was also getting a lot of mail that was coming from first responders. And some of it was, you know, hey, Carter, we could use you out here. Carter was the character you played on ER, right?
Outside of the birth of my kids, this is probably the best thing I ever did with my life because we inspired a generation of practitioners to go into the work that is saving lives right now. And then I went on to say that I think something's happening here. And if you ever want to make a show about what's happening here, even though... We said we'd never do it again.
I might be ready to volunteer. And a couple years later, you know, after we saw how this broke down over socioeconomic lines and racial lines and geographic lines, there was a show to be told here.
What was it like for you to put on scrubs and a lab coat and get back in a hospital setting again after all those years?
It was wonderful. I think I spent 15 years avoiding, actively avoiding walking down what I thought was either hallowed ground or traveled road. And then finally I had an opportunity to come back and was excited about it and slipped a stethoscope around my neck and just felt right at home.
But now you have a beard. I mean, you were a callow young kid when you started that show and then you were eventually an attending physician. Now you're a guy with a lot of miles on you.
Yes, yes. Ironically, I'm 20 years older than Anthony Edwards was playing The Attending 30 years ago. So that makes me sound ancient.
Right, right. You know, I should just mention, it's been widely reported that there is some litigation around this. The estate of Michael Crichton, who was the creator of ER, has sued alleging that The Pit is an unauthorized reboot of the program. I mean one of the differences between the two shows is that The Pit is the entire 15 episodes are one day in the life of this ER.
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Chapter 5: How did Neil Diamond's song 'Solitary Man' influence his career?
And day one, I got a kid, five-year-old boy, accidentally shot by his brother, playing with dad's gun, worried he was gonna get in trouble. right up until he coated and died. Then I asked myself, like, what do I do with this kid? Where do I put this feeling? And I found myself walking all night. I was walking and walking and walking. And I found myself back at the gates of Big Charity Cemetery.
And I'm looking at all those mausoleums and those crypts. And I'm thinking to myself, OK, well, that's what I need. I just need a safe place where I can put these feelings.
We got patients throwing punches in chairs.
Okay, everybody, let's get back to it. Just remember the employee assistance program is available, as are Kiara and myself, if anybody needs to talk.
What an interruption. You wrote this scene, didn't you? This was your episode, right?
Yeah, that was one of the two episodes I wrote.
Your speech about how to overcome a loss like this is interrupted. It's because they say patients are throwing chairs and fists. And it turns out to be two women who are fighting because one has – in the waiting room, I guess. One woman has asked another woman to mask her coughing child. And the other mom calls her a Fauci zombie and slugs her.
This is one of the many topical issues that you get into in this series, which weren't even around in ER. I mean, people listened to their doctors. They didn't resist vaccines and masks then.
You know, we had a bit of a mandate. Let's not be too biased. You know, the fastest way to get people to turn the channel is if they feel like we're preaching to them or we're being dogmatic. So what we wanted was accuracy and realism. We wanted to just be presentational with what emergency rooms look like. I wrote that episode and I couldn't resist.
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Chapter 6: What challenges did Neil Diamond face as a songwriter for others?
This ain't Philly. It's a hospital. I really appreciated that.
Oh, I'm glad. I've gotten some mail from Philly that didn't appreciate it. I know. I meant it as sort of a compliment because when I grew up, I grew up from L.A. And, you know, when the Lakers would play the Sixers or when I would see Rocky or the Broad Street Bullies, like, you guys were tough. They were tough. Yes.
So I just thought that's almost an homage to Philly to say it's the tougher of the two.
Well, Noah Wiley, thank you so much for speaking with us. It's been fun. Oh, this has been a pleasure. Thank you. Noah Wiley recorded last year. He's an executive producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO Max series The Pit. Season 2 premiered last night. On Monday's show, we'll speak with bestselling author Liz Moore.
The settings of her novels range from a troubled Philadelphia neighborhood to the apartment of a 450-pound shut-in to a remote children's camp where a child disappears. She'll talk about creating her characters and seeing where they take the story she's writing. I hope you can join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at NPR Fresh Air. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com slash This Is Fresh Air. We're rolling out new videos with in-studio guests, behind-the-scenes shorts, and iconic interviews from our archive. Fresh Air's executive producers are Danny Miller and Sam Brigger.
Our senior producer today is Roberta Shorrock. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support from Joyce Lieberman, Julian Hertzfeld, and Diana Martinez.
Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Anne-Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Teresa Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Yakundi, Anna Bauman, and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly C.V. Nesper. For Terry Gross and Tanya Mosley, I'm Dave Davies.
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