Neil Diamond speaks ahead of Birmingham gig

The star is celebrating his 50th anniversary, having last played Birmingham when he headlined the Genting Arena in 2015.

Having sold more than 130 million albums worldwide, Neil has an enviable back catalogue that includes Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rosie, Love on the Rocks and Forever in Blue Jeans.

Neil is delighted to be back on the road after taking a couple of years out from his regular touring work.

“This is my usual schedule. Every two or three years I go out there. But the reaction to this one has been a little different. We’ve put 50 cities on sale and the response has been way high. It’s been very heartening to me. I’ve been doing this 50 years and to have an audience that’s out there and anxious and enthusiastic is exciting.”

He didn’t imagine he’d have made it this far. Neil is all too aware that rock’n’roll careers seldom last into their 50th year and when he started out artists tended to just have two or three records. After that, they were bombed out by their record company and it was on to the next.

He’s not the only one who’s lasted the course, however. Nobody imagined The Rolling Stones would still be singing Satisfaction 50 years later.

But Neil was part of a generation that also included other enduring stars, such as Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson. Before them, artists didn’t have long careers – with very few exceptions.

Neil has a vast catalogue of work from which to choose when he is playing live. He usually finds the opening song and if that gets him excited, the rest of the show writes itself. There are ups and downs, valleys, left turns, quiet moments and bombastic moments. “You just keep adding songs and work from the song before it. Eventually you get to a point after two hours where you think, ‘OK, let’s wrap it’.”

However, it’s not all blockbuster tunes. Neil is keen to find space for newer cuts so that he can keep the show exciting for him and the rest of the band. He’s also played songs by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and more.

But it’s tunes like Sweet Caroline that the fans want – and it’s a tune he’s played more than 1,500 times live.

Neil’s other ultra-popular songs are Cherry Cherry, Cracklin’ Rose, I Am I Said, Brother’s Love Travelling Salvation Show, Beautiful Noise, Holly Holy, Forever in Blue Jeans, America and You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.

“I want to create a list of songs that I haven’t done before. ‘If You Go Away’ is as definite candidate. ‘Suzanne’ is a definite candidate. I have a list, but I want to keep some of them surprises. There will be a bunch of additions to the set list. Hopefully they’ll be accepted by people. If they are, we’ll keep doing them.”

The veteran songwriter is making the most of his 50th anniversary and a career-spanning box set features 50 hand-picked songs from his career.

The star began his career as a Brill Building songwriter and wrote for Jay and the Americans, The Monkees and other stars. He was the brains behind I’m a Believer and A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You, among many others.

Stars flocked to play his music, with his work covered by musicians including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash and UB40, who turned his 1968 song Red Red Wine into a Number One in 1983.

While Neil has influenced many other stars, he was shaped by artists from a different era.

He loved Lonnie Donegan’s Rock Island Line, The Everly Brothers’ Bye Bye Love, The Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction, Peter Paul and Mary’s Blowin’ In The Wind and Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba.

Crosshead

During those early years, Neil had no real thought of becoming a singer. He wanted to go to medical school to become a scientist. However, he decided he wasn’t smart enough for that and instead he dropped out of New York University after his junior year to take a job on Tin Pan Alley. He was paid $50 a week and it took eight years to write his first hit, Solitary Man, in 1966.

Despite his brilliance, he’s never found it particularly easy to write a hit. He told an interviewer recently: “You would think that after all these years of writing I would have learnt to do it quickly and gracefully and easily, but it doesn’t seem to work out that way.

“Every song is different, so it doesn’t help me very much to have had years of experience. It’s hard work, and it’s not getting any easier.

“But all right, nobody told me it was gonna be easy. And so what? I’m a ditch- digger when I’m writing songs. My back hurts? Who cares? I gotta get that ditch dug deep and strong and it’s gotta serve its purpose. There are no short cuts. There are only long cuts. That’s what it is. But I’ve been doing it a long time now. I can’t find another way to make a living.”