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

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Solitary Man"Neil Diamond2:32
2."Cherry, Cherry"Neil Diamond2:42
3."I Got the Feelin' (Oh No, No)"Neil Diamond2:13
4."Kentucky Woman"Neil Diamond2:26
5."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"Neil Diamond2:55
6."You Got to Me"Neil Diamond2:48
7."Red Red Wine"Neil Diamond2:41
8."Thank the Lord for the Night Time"Neil Diamond3:00
9."I'm a Believer"Neil Diamond2:43
10."Sweet Caroline"Neil Diamond3:21
11."Song Sung Blue"Neil Diamond3:13
12."Holly Holy"Neil Diamond4:30
13."I Am... I Said"Neil Diamond3:33
14."Cracklin' Rosie"[Neil Diamond]2:59
15."Play Me" (live recording)Neil Diamond4:21
16."Morningside" (live recording)Neil Diamond5:25
17."Crunchy Granola Suite" (live recording)Neil Diamond4:05
18."Brooklyn Roads" (live recording)Neil Diamond5:29
19."Soolaimon" (live recording)Neil Diamond5:06
Total length:1:06:02
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."America"Neil Diamond4:19
2."Hello Again"Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren3:39
3."Love on the Rocks"Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond3:40
4."Captain Sunshine" (live recording)Neil Diamond3:20
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)Neil Diamond7:01
7."Shilo" (live recording)Neil Diamond3:57
8."Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" (live recording)Neil Diamond5:02
9."If You Know What I Mean"Neil Diamond3:43
10."Beautiful Noise"Neil Diamond3:26
11."You Don't Bring Me Flowers"Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Neil Diamond3:16
12."Desiree"Neil Diamond3:17
13."Forever in Blue Jeans"Richard Bennett, Neil Diamond3:39
14."September Morn"Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond3:52
15."I've Been This Way Before"Neil Diamond3:48
16."Yesterday's Songs"Neil Diamond2:51
17."Heartlight"Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager4:26
18."Headed for the Future"Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren4:06
19."You Are the Best Part of Me"Neil Diamond3:59
Total length:1:15:07
Disc three (Limited edition 3.0)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Boat That I Row"Neil Diamond2:41
2."Do It"Neil Diamond1:53
3."Longfellow Serenade"Neil Diamond3:51
4."And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind" (live recording)Neil Diamond4:10
5."Done Too Soon" (live recording)Neil Diamond2:53
6."Glory Road" (live recording)Neil Diamond3:37
7."Pretty Amazing Grace" (live recording)Neil Diamond3:29
8."Hell Yeah"Neil Diamond4:33
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 26 November 2021.
  9. ^ "British album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Essential Neil Diamond". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 March 2019.Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type The Essential Neil Diamond in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  10. ^ "American album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Essential Neil Diamond". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
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