July 5, 2024      —–     Chart #253

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Today’s tune is a crowd pleaser, one that is sung by audiences around the globe every year. It’s a fun song from 1969 tat has taken on a life of its own. “Sweet Caroline” is a song written and performed by American singer Neil Diamond and released in May 1969 as a single with the title “Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)“. It was arranged by Charles Calello, and recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.                                                      

Diamond has provided different explanations for the song’s origins. In a 2007 interview, he stated the inspiration for the song was John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, who was 11 years old at the time it was released. Diamond sang the song for her at her 50th birthday celebration in 2007. On December 21, 2011, in an interview on CBS’s The Early Show, Diamond said that a magazine cover photo of Caroline as a young child on a horse with her parents created an image in his mind, and the rest of the song came together about five years after seeing the picture. However, in 2014, Diamond said the song was about his then-wife Marcia, but he needed a three-syllable name to fit the melody. Well who cares? Who has not been in a sports arena or a beer hall and stood up to sing this chorus along with thousands of others? I know I have on numerous of occasions and enjoy it every time.

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue”, “Longfellow Serenade”, “I’ve Been This Way Before”, “If You Know What I Mean”, “Desirée”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “America”, “Yesterday’s Songs”, and “Heartlight”. Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, including “Sweet Caroline”. He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 musical drama film The Jazz Singer.

Live in 2012:  https://youtu.be/ty1dwBCR6D0?si=cib4VzXp1IINOgkG

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, and he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 2011, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors, and he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Grab your guitar, strap on a capo and let this song fly. It’s a good one to add to your campfire repertoire. This will put a smile on your face!

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw