Talk:Neil Diamond

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[edit] neil's name

His real name is Noah Kaminsky, not Neil Leslie Diamond, as much as we would like to believe.

The above is disputed convincingly at: http://members.aol.com/litmanrs/aintnoway.htm I claim no authority. Moleskiner 22:29, 23 September 2005 (UTC)


Yes, the article first seems to claim that Neil is "born Noah Kaminsky", then mysteriously claims that he "decided to keep his real name" after considering a name change to Noah Kaminsky because he didn't want to disappoint his grandmother, and finally ends with the trivia that it is "sometimes reported" that he was "born Noah Kaminsky," but that this is wrong, because he has always been named Neil Diamond. You mean, IN THIS VERY ARTICLE IT IS REPORTED THAT HE WAS BORN NOAH KAMINSKY. A pretty blatant error on a pretty fundamental piece of information.

-Dave A.

After a decent amount of rooting around and double-checking, I've found a decent number of sources (that I consider to be more reputable than random people from the so-called "Internet") who claim that his name was, in fact, Neil Diamond, and that he had at some point considered changing his name to Eice Cherry or Noah Kaminsky, but decided not to (because, seriously, what guy would change his name to "Eice Cherry"?).

Perhaps the most convincing of these sources is "The Original Neil Diamond Home Page," located at <http://www.neildiamondhomepage.com/>, whose FAQ section claims that "Neil Leslie Diamond actually is his real name. Other names such as Eice Cherry and Noah Kaminsky were considered as stage names for Neil, but were never used."

That being said, I would like to believe that his name really is Neil Diamond. But of course, I'm just a random internet person.

According to my information from a person, living in Miami and being raised in New York, Neil Diamond is his artist name as his father had a jewelry store in NY. But this "word of mouth information". --Floridaadler 12:38, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Now honestly, I'm sure Diamond would like you to believe that's his real name, but does anyone here buy that he considering using NOAH KAMINSKY as his stage name? I mean, seriously, that's not a stage name. You don't wake up one day and go, "Wow, I'm gonna be NOAH KAMINSKY!", he must have been born with it, and decided to give out some bullshit reasons to explain his real name away.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.41.137.144 (talk • contribs) 15:21, 11 April 2006.

Well, there's no accounting for taste when it comes to picking stagenames. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? How else could one explain Engelbert Humperdinck? fuddlemark (fuddle me!) 06:51, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I am the author of the web page noted earlier, even though I have not kept it up in the past six years. I had been aware of the various references to Noah Kaminsky being his real name, so I put it on this web page of various untrue items that had been circulating about Neil Diamond. For several years, his entry at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004871/bio - showed "Noah Kaminsky" as his real name, but this has finally been changed to show that it's Neil Leslie Diamond. (IMDb, like Wikipedia, gets all or most of its information from user contributions, but these are not subject to the same verifiability and neutral point of view critiera as Wikipedia. On the other hand, Wikipedia submissions take place immediately, while submissions to IMDb do not, so there may be some fact-checking done before the information is posted there.)

Using one of my other pseudonyms, "ApostrophePosse" (which I was going to adopt here also for minor changes but decided against after reading that Wikipedia prefers users to adopt only one name for everything they do), I made a pre-emptive entry on a user-maintained web site of real names of music industry celebrities showing that Neil Diamond's real name is -- Neil Diamond! You can see it at:

http://www.amiright.com/names/pseudo/n.shtml

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Neil's Wikipedia entry does not show Noah Kaminsky as his real name. I realize that it might have shown this at one time, but someone who knew better removed it. I then decided to add the information about the names he considered using as another pre-emptive entry entry. I originally put it in the "Personal Life" section. Someone else has since moved it to the "Biography" section, where I agree it more rightfully belongs. However, I think that it needs to be moved within this section to better correspond with the time in his life, early 1966, when he was considering this name change. I will have to think about where exactly to place it, though, since there doesn't appear to be a logical place in between existing paragraphs in which to put it.

Although the sources I cite regarding where it was reported that he considered changing his name to either Noah Kaminsky or Eice Chary are the same ones that appear on http://members.aol.com/litmanrs/aintnoway.htm, this is a case of the cited web page and the Wikipedia entry getting its information from the same source, not the Wikipedia entry getting its information from the cited web page. I have stored on my computer a PDF copy of the New York Times article that I obtained legally from a database available to card holders of a local public library. For copyright reasons, I won't post the PDF or the whole article here. But here is the relevant excerpt:

Yes, [Neil Diamond is] his real name, although he almost changed it professionally to--can you believe it?--Noah Kaminsky. "I always liked Biblical names," he says sheepishly, "and Diamond wasn't interesting enough."

RSLitman 21:09, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Neil Diamond met up with Barbara Walters again today, December 12, twenty-oh-six, as a guest on her current T.V. show, The View. And she reminded him of what he told her in that interview more than 20 years ago regarding the stage names he was considering - Eice Chary and Noah Kaminsky. RSLitman 00:57, 13 December 2006 (UTC) (although my time stamp says December 13, it's still December 12 where I live)

[edit] Porcupine Pie

Anyone have any idea why this song was written?--Vercalos 01:56, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Date Format

Greetings, there is a Wikipedia policy on date formatting at Manual of Style:Dates and Numbers. Steven McCrary 22:01, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Brisbane Lions?

Is there evidence for his being "a fan of Australian Rules Football team The Brisbane Lions"? Can a citation be provided? If not, this should be deleted. mtz206 03:29, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Anti-christ

This was added to the article under the Trivia section but it's not anything I had ever heard of in Reference to Neil Daimond or Neil Young. Can anyone confirm this? To me, this just seems like subtle vandalism.--Vercalos 07:50, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm thinking Neil Sedaka would make a better anti-Neil. I could actually see Mr. Young and Mr. Diamond covering a few of each others' songs. Cranston Lamont 20:51, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

  • In fact, while Neil Diamond has never done a Neil Young song (and vice versa), Neil Diamond has done a Neil Sedaka song--"Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" appeared on Diamond's 1993 album, "Up on the Roof (Songs from the Brill Building)". Neil Diamond and Neil Young did cross paths at The Band's final concert, which became the movie The Last Waltz. RSLitman 21:13, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tap Root manuscript

This album is quite different to most of his work - did it influence other people ?

-- Beardo 03:37, 28 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] 12 Songs

The career section says this album is a Sony BMG album. The discography section says its a Columbia album. Which is it?

Columbia was bought up by Sony somewhere along the line. When Neil first signed with the label, and for many years thereafter, the company was known as Columbia. RSLitman 21:15, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] POV-statement

This album demonstrates Diamond's skills as a performer and showman, as he reinvigorated his back catalogue of hits with new energy that make the original studio versions pale by comparison.

Is this quoted from somewhere? If so, find the source and cite it. If not, take it out as it's extremely subjective and POV. Daniel Case 02:39, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neil and Babs

Barbara Streisand went to Erasmus, not Abraham Lincoln. That would make it hard for her to sing in the choir with Neil Diamond. Interestingly the Babs page claims that they sang in the choir together at Erasmus. Anyone know the real story?

Here is my take on this. Neil's family moved a lot. Neil began high school at Erasmus Hall but eventually graduated from Abraham Lincoln. Neil was born in January 1941, while Babs was born in April 1942. So, she was probably a year behind him in school.
I think that Neil only went to Lincoln his senior year. That would have put him in Erasmus for his junior year (11th grade). Barbra probably would have been in 10th grade (her sophomore year) that year. If 9th graders (freshmen) attended high schools rather than junior highs then, they may have also been together at Erasmus during her 9th grade year.
Because he's got a new album out this week (actually, a repackaging of the album that came out last year), Neil's been making the rounds of talk shows. On Monday, December 11, he was on The Today Show, and on Tuesday, December 12, he was on The View. On both shows, he was asked about singing in the high school chorus with Barbra. On Today, he said she was only 14, while on The View, he said she was only 15. I suspect that he didn't really know her, and they only realized this shared experience years later. RSLitman 01:10, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Canadian?

I edited the article a bit, because it said he was born in Ottawa, Quebec (no sense there). Are his parents Canadian? Does he have Canadian roots? If so, that should be better explained in the article.

Well, he's New YOrk City born and raised, but nowadays he's lost between two shores. Ottawa's fine, but it ain't home, New York's home but it ain't his no more. john k 22:44, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
I believe that Neil's ancestors came directly to the U.S. from Eastern Europe. While the whole Western Hemisphere could be considered to be "The Americas", the United States of America (United States, U.S.A., or U.S.) seems to have appropriated the title "America". So, when Neil wrote and sang, "They're coming to America," in the song called "America", he almost certainly meant the United States of America. He has said that this song was inspired by his own ancestors' experiences. Neil's father served for the United States during World War II. This has been reported in several sources over the years, most recently in the December 9, 2006, issue of the music trade publication, Billboard, which included a lengthy biographical feature about Neil Diamond. All or part of his father's service was spent at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, where his whole family was able to live with him. RSLitman 20:12, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
Sometimes vandals change the brith places of celebs just to see if anyone notices. That's most likely what happened here. john k made me laugh with his comment that quoted I am, I said. ! LiPollis 04:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neodymium

It had been stated in the trivia section that the element neodymium is named for Neil Diamond. This is trivially refutable - the name of the element predates Neil Diamond and, as is correctly stated in the article on Neodymium, is from Greek meaning "new twin." Btober 02:50, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neil Diamond Photo Book External Link

The external link called "Neil Diamond Photo Book Lots of unreleased images from the 70ies!" links to what appears to be a commercial site. Is this permitted? Of course, it could be argued that Neil's own official web site could be considered to be commercial because it is actually run by his record company and exists mainly (if not exclusively) to sell his records and to promote his concerts (when he's on tour). I've left this entry up for now, although I may correct "70ies" to the more commonly-seen form of "70s". RSLitman 03:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Jewish Elvis?

Should we mention here that he is known as "the Jewish Elvis"? The nickname seems fairly common, e.g. Rolling Stone. john k 22:45, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

No. It appears to be more of an opinion than a fact. RSLitman 20:06, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

More than just an opinion, my friend. See [[1]]. Rolling Stone is a legitimate source; there are others as well. Please consider. signed DB

I read the link that appears here, and it still appears to me to be an opinion that is not sourced. For instance, if Neil Diamond himself, or his publicity people with his permission, originated this nickname, then I'd consider it to be legitimate. If Neil or his publicist did not originate this nickname, then I think we'd need to see several instances of this from respected sources (and not just someone's opinionated blog) in order to consider it to be legitimate.
Maybe we can say something like, "Neil has been called 'The Jewish Elvis' because of [and then fill in some ways in which his career has been somewhat like Presley's]." RSLitman 20:33, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
He has clearly been called "the jewish Elvis," and it's pretty clearly a very common nickname. A google search pretty clearly reveals that this is a prevalent name. And I don't know that your phrasing is very good - generally he's just called "the Jewish Elvis", with no specific explanation, so that your suggestion of describing ways his career parallels Elvis's would be OR. But the existence of the nickname is not. john k 22:32, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
What does the abbreviation OR stand for? Incidentally, in honor of Elvis's birthday, I am trying to come up with a way to put in the "Jewish Elvis" reference. I probably don't have time tonight to put it in, but maybe by Neil's birthday on the 24th, I'll have it in there. RSLitman 23:52, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
It means Original Research - basically, we can't include original analysis that we can't source in wikipedia articles. But if we can source the fact that he is called the Jewish Elvis, we can (and should) include it somewhere. john k 03:23, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for the explanation. Actually, the parallels I had in mind were lists of songs that both have recorded (for instance, Elvis did "Sweet Caroline", Neil has done "Don't Be Cruel", and both have done Buffy Ste. Marie's "Until It's Time For You To Go") and musicians who have worked with both of them (including Ron Tutt, who has been the touring drummer for both of them). All of the information I've planned to include comes from verifiable sources, such as discographies. RSLitman 02:47, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
This information is interesting, but I think it would still constitute "original research" in the context of wikipedia. One of the things OR tries to avoid is new synthesis. What you are essentially doing is saying (or at least implying) that Diamond is called "the Jewish Elvis" because of these various (documentable) connections you identify. But you need to find a source that says that this is why he is called the Jewish Elvis, or else it's OR. I suppose if you want to mention the similarities in a way that does not imply that they are the reason he's called this, that would be okay, but might not necessarily be relevant. Do you get the idea? If not, you might want to read the page I linked above more closely. john k 21:19, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

A few edits ago, someone vandalized "Brill Building" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You". Someone else fixed "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You". I've just fixed "Brill Building" (for which the original vandalism was changed to yet another bit of vandalism in the interim).

Someone else keeps coming in and vandalizing Neil's middle name. This is the only editing this user has done, according to his/her contribs. I know there's a way to report users who are not behaving themselves, but I'll need to research how this is done. RSLitman 02:57, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jewish?

If he's Jewish, how come this isn't mentioned in the article?Jlujan69 08:00, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

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