Mention The Jazz Singer to Neil Diamond and it’s more likely to set off some combined reactions. His performing in Richard Fleischer’s 1980 film earned him a Razzie from the Golden Raspberry Awards (a light-hearted ceremony that “rewards” Hollywood’s extra questionable moments), however his soundtrack was an unqualified triumph. To date, it has offered greater than six million copies and is hailed as a basic.
Listen to The Jazz Singer on Apple Music and Spotify.
It’s no marvel that Diamond later stated, “I decided while I was doing The Jazz Singer that I’d rather be a really good singer than a mediocre actor; that I’d concentrate on my music, my records, and my shows.”
In the movie, a remake of the Al Jolson basic from 1927, New York-born Diamond stars reverse Laurence Olivier as Yussel Rabinovitch, a younger Jewish cantor performing on the synagogue of his overbearing father. Diamond, who was about to show 40 when the movie was made, confirmed appreciable braveness in taking up the problem of performing, particularly when you think about that it got here after a protracted spell in a wheelchair when he had been recuperating after having had a tumor faraway from his backbone. But regardless of the poor reception for the movie, the album, launched on November 10, 1980, was an prompt hit, with chart placings for songs as emotionally potent as “Love On The Rocks,” “Hello Again” and the overtly patriotic “America.”
Diamond had robust credentials as a songwriter earlier than he grew to become a solo artist. As a younger school dropout, he made a dwelling as a author on New York’s Tin Pan Alley, throughout which era he realized to play guitar by listening to people group The Weavers.
One of the primary albums he purchased as a teen was by The Everly Brothers, and he significantly beloved a “beautiful, very melodic song” referred to as “Let It Be Me,” initially written in French by Gilbert Bécaud, a person whose compositions had been lined by Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Before The Jazz Singer, Diamond sought out Bécaud they usually wrote songs collectively, together with 5 for the soundtrack: “Love On The Rocks,” “Summerlove,” “On The Robert E Lee,” “Hey Louise” and “Songs Of Life.”
The most profitable was “Love On The Rocks,” a weepie love track that grew to become one in every of Diamond’s requirements, and which was later successful for Gladys Knight. Elsewhere, “America,” in regards to the hopes and fears of immigrants, performed the patriotic card deftly with lyrics about “the flag unfurled” and a catchy refrain. It, too, grew to become an everlasting anthem for Diamond.
The album additionally incorporates a Jewish conventional hymn (“Adon Olom”), used as a 30-second interlude among the many 13 snappy songs. Most tracks are beneath three minutes lengthy – and all pack an emotional punch, channeled by means of his sugary bass voice. Among them, “You Baby” is bouncy and witty, and the jazzy “On The Robert E Lee” is quirky, whereas “Summerlove” is a merely a well-constructed pop track. It all mixed to assist the album go platinum 5 instances over.
In addition, the guitar work on The Jazz Singer is exemplary, that includes Richard Bennett, who had labored with Mark Knopfler for the previous 23 years. Back within the 70s, Bennett was an everyday in Diamond’s band. His marvelous taking part in can also be a key a part of The Bellamy Brothers’ 1975 hit “Let Your Love Flow.”
Diamond preferred to collect musicians of the very best caliber. His long-term bandmate Alan Lindgren – the arranger on the album who additionally performed synthesizer and piano – had beforehand labored with Frank Sinatra. Another candy track, referred to as “Acapulco,” was written with guitarist Doug Rhone.
At the time, Diamond grew to become one of many highest-paid debut actors ever for his efficiency in The Jazz Singer (scooping $3.5 million), however later instructed Larry King Live on CNN that it was not a contented expertise. “I didn’t really understand the process. It was a little scary to me. I had never done it before. And I never did get a real taste for the movies.”
Cinema’s loss was music’s acquire… and The Jazz Singer stays a landmark album.
The Jazz Singer may be purchased right here.