Maps of Music
Tap Root Manuscript (1970)
Where the lyrics of Tap Root Manuscript take you, and where it was really made.
Tap Root Manuscript was one of Neil Diamond's most experimental records, yet its label was unsure it would sell, and it went Gold within three months.
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Overview
- Tap Root Manuscript: sixth studio album by Neil Diamond
- Released October 1970
- One of his most experimental albums, fusing rock with prominent African sounds and instruments
- Commercial success: Gold within three months, later certified Platinum by the RIAA
- The hit single "Cracklin' Rosie", his first number 1, powered the album's success
- Side one: five pop rock songs
- Side two: "The African Trilogy", a 19-minute conceptual suite on an African theme
- Released in a gatefold sleeve with a beige paper 12-page lyric, credits and photo book
Background
- Diamond's cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" rose to number 20, helping the album
- The Hollies had a major hit with that song the previous year
- "Soolaimón", from the suite, rose to number 30 in the US
- Diamond called the 19-minute suite "a folk ballet", blending African folk styles with blues and gospel
- The album predates Western pop interest in world music, such as Peter Gabriel's 1980 founding of WOMAD and Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland
- It was one of the most novel experimental recording projects of its time
- The Uni label, to which Diamond was under contract, was at first unsure the album would be commercially viable
Recording
- Diamond is credited with vocals, keyboards, guitar, ukulele and steel guitar
- Many session musicians played guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, strings, horns and backing vocals
- Credited as a Neil Diamond / Tom Catalano Production, with Armin Steiner as engineer
- Consultants for the African Trilogy are credited as Mrs. Kinja Njui and Roberta Malgren of UCLA's African Studies Department
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com
Artist
Career
- American singer-songwriter born January 24, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York City, to a Jewish family.
- Began as a staff songwriter at Sunbeam Music Publishing and worked in the Brill Building in the 1960s.
- Wrote hits for others, including "I'm a Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" recorded by the Monkees.
- Solo breakthrough with "Sweet Caroline" (1969), followed by "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Song Sung Blue", both No. 1 on the Hot 100.
- Live album Hot August Night (1972) recorded at the Greek Theater, Los Angeles.
- Starred in the 1980 remake The Jazz Singer and won a Razzie for Worst Actor.
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
- Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and stopped touring in 2018.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- Cash Box on the single "Soolaimón": Diamond applies his composer's sophistication to a primitivism approach, a new slant on the top forty sound
- Cash Box compared the effect to "Brother Love" and "Brooklyn Roads" gone afro, with excellent results
- Record World said Diamond is "into some far out things" with "Soolaimon"
Records
- Billboard 200: number 13
- "Cracklin' Rosie": his first number 1 single
- "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Diamond's cover): number 20
- "Soolaimón": number 30 in the US
- Went Gold within three months of release
- Later certified Platinum by the RIAA
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- Diamond sings only on "I Am the Lion" and "Soolaimon" in the album's suite.
- Some radio stations played the whole African Trilogy, but most played only "Soolaimon", which the Spanish-language article says means roughly "may peace be with you".
- Soolaimón reached number 5 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, according to the Spanish-language article.
- The album's orchestral and choral work led to Diamond being called ambitious, and it earned him recognition as a composer, which later brought an offer to write the soundtrack for Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
- The African Trilogy was credited with two consultants, Mrs. Kinja Njui of the Kenyan Mission to the U.N. and Roberta Malgren of UCLA's African Studies Department.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com