He is...I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond [Paperback]

This book hits a truly sweet spot where the biography of Neil Diamond, the autobiography of David Wild and a critical appreciation of pop music's most enduring singer/songwriter overlap. The author is the rarest of beasts - a fully-anointed Rolling Stone-certified rock critic who isn't too much a rock-snob to appreciate the full scope of Neil Diamond's unique talent and legacy. And I'm not just talking about the early recordings that even the most staunch rock snobs seem to have finally embraced, but every stage of Diamond's career--Wild does casual fans the service of picking the great songs out of Neil's overlooked albums.

More importantly, though, Wild defends the career of the man himself in a measured but passionate book that incorporates his own feelings about Neil's music with his many encounters with the man himself. He doesn't dig for dirt in Diamond's personal biographical details, nor does he go for cheap shots at some of the man's admittedly less-than-stellar work. Instead he makes the case for a truly unique artist who, into his late 60s, is coming full-circle to his beginnings as a songwriter and, yes, even critical success.

If you're a true (sparkly) blue Diamond-head, you might not find the deeply detailed biography you've been waiting for, but you'll certainly find a loving appreciation for an artist who seldom gets his due. It's a book that could only have been written by someone with Wild's background, access and credibility.

It's time to let your Neil flag fly and admit that there's nothing wrong with shedding a tear to "September Morn" or "Love On The Rocks."

Author David Wild, well known for his work with "Rolling Stone" and other magazines, clearly thinks so. He, of course, likes Diamond even while many others think him a hack writer of sill love songs. And most music critics, we learn in "He Is...I Say," dismiss Neil Diamond as a hopelessly non-cool songwriter and singer. Not so, says David Wild. He sees much in introspective and shy musician and performer to admire. It is not just his wonderfully evocative and sometimes moving songs, it is also Diamond's approach to life and meaning. Wild takes a personal approach to his subject, saying more about the interplay of Neil Diamond in his life and experience than most writers. Wild thinks of him as a "Jewish Elvis," one who has his demons to be sure, but not the overpowering destructive urges of the "The King." The most serious demon he has had to wrestle with is depression, and sometimes its flip side, and we see this in such songs as "I am...I Said" and "Solitary Man."

It is hard--I agree with Wild--not to like Neil Diamond. His biography is less scandalous than most famous musicians, and as Wild shows he lives the life of a solitary man perhaps channeling his wonderful hit song. His music is enjoyable, lovely to listen to, and sometimes his lyrics soar. But it has been his live performances that most people enjoy most. Like any number of others of my generation I listened repeatedly to "Hot August Night" on vinyl after its release in 1971. It presented a Neil Diamond that was both exciting and gifted as a performer, whose great songs sparkled even more in the live show. When I saw him perform live while in graduate school in the latter 1970s I witnessed firsthand the excitement of those live performances. Of course, as a diehard baseball fan, how can I not mention the adoption by the fans of the Boston Red Sox the song "Sweet Caroline" and the enthusiastic rendition offered at every Fenway Park game? You have to know that Neil Diamond smiles at the thought of more than 40,000 members of Red Sox Nation singing along with him during the game.

While "He Is...I Say: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond" is not a full-blown biography of this artist, it is a loving tribute to a musical force in the latter third of the twentieth century. David Wild channels the hopes and dreams of millions of suburban youth, and probably some urban ones as well, who grew up listening to Neil Diamond. Many of these "Diamond-heads" are now grandparents who still introduce his music to their offspring's offspring. Still, like Rodney Dangerfield always said, he still does not get much respect, at least from the music critics. I doubt this book will change that snub, but David Wild has shown here that enjoying his music is not just a guilty pleasure. He has made an enormous difference in popular music during the last forty plus years. If the world divides into two camps over Neil Diamond, like David Wild I'm on Neil's side.

Neil Diamond has said that he doesn't "fit" into any of the accepted pigeon holes to which singers are assigned. He is a multi-faceted entertainer who has produced a body of work that embraces every form of music: ballads, "cracklin' toe tappers," country, reggae, romantic love songs, story songs, and at least one film score. His canvas is large and his talent seemingly endless and certainly enduring. His concerts sell out in minutes, and his fans sing along with his standards while cheering anything new he introduces. And his fans are "FANS!"

Just ask his number one fan and friend, David Wild. "I'm a Believer that Neil Diamond is an altogether merciful and loving musical god," effuses Wild. He claims no objectivity in this loving homage to his idol and is proud of it. A contributing editor with Rolling Stone magazine, Wild is still a true professional, with such credits as writing the liner notes to Diamond's anthologies and producing an episode of "Behind the Music" starring his hero. He has written companion books to several sitcoms and in his role of music critic has (objectively) reviewed much of Diamond's work.

One of the more serious anecdotes he shares is in telling the story of how he convinced the powers that be at Rolling Stone to run with his long and loving interview with the man, the myth, the middle-aged "Hebrew American Hunk." Wild hints that Diamond's generous donation to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner's anti-gun charity, in honor of John Lennon, just might have tipped the scales in Wild's favor --- especially since Neil Diamond is not known to give interviews. It seems like it was a coup for everyone concerned.

Wild's idolatry propels the narrative, and he infuses every sentence with either a pun or a family memory, or a signal of his own personal passion for the man and his music. One of the best tidbits is when he and his family were invited to a concert and given special backstage passes. Just before taking the stage, Mrs. Wild, the person responsible for transforming her children into "Diamondheads," was graciously invited by Diamond into his dressing room just before he was to take the stage. He had a generous pile of Neil Diamond memorabilia ready and waiting for her. But the biggest gift to Wild and his mother was when Diamond told her she had raised a "mensch" (a Yiddish word meaning a person to be very proud of). Wild said he was overwhelmed, and the family was even surer of their love for the music, lyrics and especially the man, their "Jewish Elvis."

At first, readers may wonder if Wild brings any "real" objectivity or "real" research to the book. The answer is yes and no. That he is a wild fan of Diamond is unquestionable and charming. As for the research, he is a professional with the credentials to prove it and he has done his homework. In his breezy style, filled with puns and very funny stories, he keeps the reader engaged and entertained. His insights are not tarnished by his feelings for Diamond.

Readers who are Neil Diamond fans will really enjoy this book. Those who aren't should give themselves a chance to read it because it's a well-written, informative and funny biography. As he ends this paean to the man and his music, Wild chastises those critics who have kept Diamond out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their narrowness and inability to admit that being an entertainer who cares about his audiences does not negate the place he deserves in the hallowed home of other inductees.

Nevertheless, Diamond charges on at his own pace and style, telling Wild: "Somehow, each album means as much to me as my very first record, if not more, and the experience of creation has yet to become easy. In truth, I'm as hungry as I ever was: the `emptiness deep inside' aches even more." Wild ends the book with the hope that Neil Diamond will someday write a memoir "about his music and the singular life to which [his words and life] are inextricably tied." In the meantime, Wild offers his own.

--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum