Neil Diamond or Carole King?

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Neil or Carole?

a) Diamond
8
28%
b) King
21
72%
 
Total votes: 29

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The Modernist
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby The Modernist » 18 Jun 2018, 13:29

George P. Smackers wrote:"Cherry, Cherry"?

"I'm a Believer"?


I like "I'm a Believer", just youtubed the other one you mentioned, it's okay..decent pop very much of its time. I just don't know how highly I'd praise something like that. He comes across to me like a talented hack, the sixties equivalent of Diane Warren or someone like that.

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clive gash
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby clive gash » 18 Jun 2018, 13:52

A potato print v Monet
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Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

Bent Fabric
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Bent Fabric » 18 Jun 2018, 14:29

ORORORO wrote:'Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon'


"Shilo"
"Kentucky Woman"
"Solitary Man"
"I Am, I Said"

For me, there are things about both King and Diamond (hereafter referred to as "King Diamond") that perhaps sully my ability to wholeheartedly embrace their undeniable greatness, but...the greatness is absolutely a given, and...I'm there for the greatness in a way that I'm not there for the misshapen package it arrives in.

If one is willing to begrudgingly accept the premise that a person may hold a nuanced view on a subject, I'd claim King Diamond as a two headed monster of sixties/early 70s pop magic that invites any number of caveats for me on either end. There's a sweetness to King that may verge into a certain "my well intentioned mother goes showbiz" as she steps out from behind the mic with the ferns and cats...to me somehow as demonstrative and garish in its way as Diamond. When Neil announced his retirement from the stage, I was heartbroken cause...I had always hoped I'd have another opportunity to see him perform (he was a motherfucker on the boards). Carole King could probably keep coming to town every year for the next decade and I wouldn't necessarily feel compelled to go unless she were playing in the next room.

That said, I saw the Monkees last week- songs by both writers were performed...quite a few more by Carole, and...yeah, those were absolutely among the highlights.

Abstain, I guess.

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George P. Smackers
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby George P. Smackers » 18 Jun 2018, 14:30

The Modernist wrote:
George P. Smackers wrote:"Cherry, Cherry"?

"I'm a Believer"?


I like "I'm a Believer", just youtubed the other one you mentioned, it's okay..decent pop very much of its time. I just don't know how highly I'd praise something like that. He comes across to me like a talented hack, the sixties equivalent of Diane Warren or someone like that.

That's OK. I know what you mean about "Cherry Cherry" being pop of its time.

But a few things for it. The hook, "she got the way to move me," just sounds like it's always been there, like he was tapping into some eternal pop thing. So it's more an icon to me than just another "generic" version of a bland something. Of course it helps if you've heard it a million times, which you haven't.

I also think he brings a strong personality to the verses, with the freedom in how he sings the "no, no you don't" and so on. With Neil Diamond, his strong personality is often a liability. I mean with the "not EV-un the CHAIR" later stuff (which I actually often like, silly as it is).

But a lot of the generic pop of the 60s could use a little of the Neil drama because the pop vocals of that era can sound almost impersonal. Here we have almost generic pop but made into something unique because of how he sings it like big Neil.

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clive gash
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby clive gash » 18 Jun 2018, 15:30

There’s something naff at the heart of Diamond, showbiz, insincere. An air of the wounded bellowing male, forthright, no place for doubt. It’s all about him. Time hasn’t done him any favours (who are his heirs? Robbie Williams? All that raised-eyebrow shit?), the stench of denim, a hairy chest, the top four shirt buttons undone. Tom Jones with an O level.

The Rick Rubin resuscitation was inevitable.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

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naughty boy
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby naughty boy » 18 Jun 2018, 15:37

Neil Sedaka when the laughing gas wears off
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Davey the Fat Boy » 18 Jun 2018, 15:39

If you took the two-dozen best songs from each - then mixed them together and ranked them...the top of the list would be something like 17 King songs to 7 Diamonds.
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clive gash
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby clive gash » 18 Jun 2018, 15:43

ORORORO wrote:Neil Sedaka when the laughing gas wears off


There’s an endearing puppydogish self-doubt around Sedaka’s best I reckon. I love his voice, light and full of fun.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

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naughty boy
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby naughty boy » 18 Jun 2018, 16:43

Yes. He's a sweet man.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Fonz
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Fonz » 19 Jun 2018, 07:19

King. Landslide. Love her
Heyyyy!

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Loki
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Loki » 19 Jun 2018, 12:37

Yeah, Carole.
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Snarfyguy
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Snarfyguy » 19 Jun 2018, 17:13

Jesus but Neil Diamond bugs the fuck out of me. Gash has it right upthread.

Carole King's great though.
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Loki
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Re: Neil Diamond or Carole King?

Postby Loki » 20 Jun 2018, 08:12

GASH HAS IT RIGHT?!??
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whodathunkit wrote: Somewhere it's always 1972.


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