Neil Diamond is far from the reason. Try giving the Baha Men A Grammy Award. How the hell can you take any organization that awards shiat like that seriously?

/The Baha Men

I like Mr. Diamond.
Up yours subby.

oh, and i am so sure that 25 years from now any of the pre-packaged marketing-driven "popular" acts from today will have any relevance.

I love Neil Diamond, even when he's wearing sparkly shirts bellowing overly grandiose versions of "America." He doesn't take himself too seriously and that's what makes him so awesome. Unlike the Grammys.

Not sure what an iPod "generation" is. My Mom, myself and my daughters all have iPods. Only my daughter's are absent Neil Diamond. Subby is making sounds with his azzzzzz

if anything, the "iPod generation" gets their crappy acts awarded. i hate the Grammy's because they choose to award established acts rather than anything actually good. (Steely Dan over Radiohead? Really?)

Meanwhile, they repackage and/or rework stuff from Neil Diamond and other allegedly irrelevant old fogies and pass it off as a new, fresh creation.

Not that there's anything wrong with that; it's been happening for decades, but it happens. I love the kids that I was teaching last semester thinking that Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" was a brand new song. It broke my heart that they didn't know who Warren Zevon was. I'm surprised that a few of them knew Lynyrd Skynyrd.

/get off my lawn
//got a Zune on a serious discount at OfficeMax, so I suppose I'm the Zune generation...

I like Neil Diamond and own an Ipod.

/that is all

His "Home Before Dark" album is superb.

As has been mentioned, Neil Diamond isn't the problem. Honoring a man who has had the career he's had is fine, regardless of whether or not you consider him "cool". The issue is in giving away awards to pedestrian crap that sells well. It's masturbatory and a sham. I'm not saying that every Grammy needs to go to some band that no one has ever heard of, but it could stand to broaden its scope. But that's not the point of the award.

/listening to Neil Diamond as I type
//but not on an iPod

FeedTheCollapse
if anything, the "iPod generation" gets their crappy acts awarded. i hate the Grammy's because they choose to award established acts rather than anything actually good. (Steely Dan over Radiohead? Really?)

I'm a huge Steely Dan fan, and even I think that their record paled in comparison not only to Radiohead, but Eminem as well (for the record, I can't stand the latter and don't really care for the former outside of a couple of songs).
The Grammy's have become another institution afraid of rewarding creativity, innovation, and experimentation, relying instead upon formula that appeals to the spoonfed masses that really don't understand what expression is.

irrelevant = naming a generation after an electronic device.

I own two iPods, a Cowan A3, a Verizon VX6800, 2 laptops and 4 working desktops. There's a least 2-3 Neil Diamond tunes on each of these devices. Is he the epitome of hipness? Probably not. Is he a true American talent? No doubt. Good choice, Grammy people, better than any of the vaporware modern acts inferior brains would have chosen.

Hobo Jr.: I like Neil Diamond and own an Ipod.

/that is all

I have Neil Diamond on my iPod, and I'm more saddened by the craptastic collection of current acts that they got to cover him. Coldplay? Kid Rock? The farkin' Jonas Brothers?!? He deserves better than that.

Oh wait, I think i missed the memo. Is Fark supposed to hate Neil Diamond now?

I have Deep Purple's cover of a Neil Diamond song "Kentucky Woman" on my non-iPod MP3 player. Am I part of the Creative Zen V Plus Generation?

I so adore Neil Diamond.

He is awesome because he makes sappy and corny song writing so sincere and heartfelt that you can't NOT like him.

A friend of mine works for a stage hand union in California and one day him and a team were unloading trucks for a Neil Diamond show that evening when a modest station wagon parks outside the coliseum. Out pops Diamond. No chauffeur,no escorts,just Neil.
He opens the trunk and grabs four guitar cases and walks up the ramp to the service elevator by himself holding the guitar cases in each hand and under his arms. He then walks to the stage and sets up his guitars. When finished he then approaches my friend and says: "Do you guys need some help?"

He then spent the rest of the afternoon helping the team unload trucks and set up.

Neil Diamond.
Most non-bullsh*t non-pretentious down to earth super star ever.

craigdamage

I remember that story... you told it last Neil Diamond thread!

It's still nice to read every time, though. With his fame and money, he could very well be a douchebag.

Anyway, I like the songs Diamond wrote for The Monkees, his stuff from Bang records, the early UNI singles, but he loses me after that.

Up until about 1973 or '74, he was pretty damn good IMO.

Derwood: His "Home Before Dark" album is superb.

So is '12 Songs'

FirstNationalBastard: craigdamage

I remember that story... you told it last Neil Diamond thread!

It's still nice to read every time, though. With his fame and money, he could very well be a douchebag.

Anyway, I like the songs Diamond wrote for The Monkees, his stuff from Bang records, the early UNI singles, but he loses me after that.

Up until about 1973 or '74, he was pretty damn good IMO.

His '12 Songs' album from a few years ago made me a believer.

Neil Diamond rules.

And, let's be serious...the day "My Humps" won a Grammy was the day the Grammys became obsolete.

Thanks.

That same friend of mine has told me a great deal of stories involving Neil Diamond as well as several other famous musicians.
He has worked hundreds of shows as a stage hand and sound guy as well as being employed by a large musical instrument rental service.

The only other person he has met that is as cool as Diamond is Chris Isaak.

Tori Amos is a horrible rude biatch.
Greg Allman is a drunk asshole.
Chuck Berry is an insane asshole.
Kim and Kelly Deal are nice and polite but total airheads.
The Offspring are drunk morons and basically amateurs who are utterly indifferent to their performances and fans.

...and my favorite story is when he was asked by the clowns in Alice in Chains to go out and "score some smack" for them.

He really should write a book.

Bullitt: Neil Diamond rules.

And, let's be serious...the day "My Humps" "Boogie Oogie Oogie" won a Grammy was the day the Grammys became obsolete.

FIFY

/Playing Neil Diamond's Tap Root Manuscript
//on vinyl

DIAF submittard

/Cherry Cherry
//get off my lawn

No Saving Silverman yet?
Ok...

J.D.: Neil! I wanna party with you! I WANNA PARTY WITH YOU!

Link is hot just like the August Night.

The best statement ever made about the Grammys was pulled off by Steve Martin. When Martin won a Grammy for "King Tut" he showed up to collect his award in his underwear. Then when he got to the platform he called the Grammy the "Dumbest thing ever." He was never nominated again.

I watched both major country music award shows and they were far more entertaining than the Grammys. I don't even like country music.

Martstar: Hobo Jr.: I like Neil Diamond and own an Ipod.

/that is all

I have Neil Diamond on my iPod, and I'm more saddened by the craptastic collection of current acts that they got to cover him. Coldplay? Kid Rock? The farkin' Jonas Brothers?!? He deserves better than that.

This. Give me the man himself, don't give me shiatty cover versions of his brilliance.

Just like when James Taylor was given the MusiCares award. I don't want to hear some flash-in-the-pan asshole do Junkie's Lament - give me Taylor, goddamnit.

I have a recording of Neil Diamond doing Red Red Wine that absolutely blows the doors off any cover of it that came after, including the incredibly annoying UB40 pop crap.

The song is slow, acoustic, and dramatic, and Diamond's vocals are wrenching -- you can hear how much he wants to forget whoever the woman is, and how much he hates being sober. (Even if he doesn't. It's a performance, after all.)

The man is an amazing artist. I can give him his due regardless of my generation.

craigdamage: The Offspring are drunk morons and basically amateurs who are utterly indifferent to their performances and fans.

They played for about 10,000 people at the first Blizzcon in 2005, and their opener was a band called (at the time), "Level 60 Elite Tauren Chieftans" -- a metal band made up of Blizzard employees.

I shiat you not, they were about 10x better than Offspring.

/enjoyed the Chieftans
//left two songs into Offspring's set, out of boredom

The Grammy's became irrelevant back in 1989 when Jethro Tull won the award for the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance. Yeah. Ian Anderson sure can shred with that flute.

emnar: I have a recording of Neil Diamond doing Red Red Wine that absolutely blows the doors off any cover of it that came after, including the incredibly annoying UB40 pop crap.

The song is slow, acoustic, and dramatic, and Diamond's vocals are wrenching -- you can hear how much he wants to forget whoever the woman is, and how much he hates being sober. (Even if he doesn't. It's a performance, after all.)

The man is an amazing artist. I can give him his due regardless of my generation.

OMFGWTFBBQThis. The live version on Hot August Night is enough to drive a grown man to tears.

Diamond might be the finest live performer of all time.

Count me in with the Neil Diamond love. One of my favorite songs was always Holly Holy, which I don't think got as much radio play as his more recognizable hits.

Dionne Warwick from the Diamond era. One classy lady.
Just walk on by.....