Hot August Night

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Hot August Night
Hot august night.jpg
Live album by Neil Diamond
Released December 9, 1972
Recorded August 24, 1972
Venue Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Genre Rock
Length 93:05
Label MCA Records
Producer Tom Catalano
Neil Diamond chronology
Moods
(1972)Moods1972		 Hot August Night
(1972)		 Rainbow
(1973)Rainbow1973
Singles from Hot August Night
  1. "Cherry, Cherry"
    Released: March 17, 1973

Hot August Night is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond[1] ("Hot August night" is also the opening lyric to Diamond's 1969 single "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"). The album is a recording of a Diamond concert on August 24, 1972, one of ten sold out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This also marks the first album released by the newly-formed MCA Records (a merging of the Uni, Kapp, and Decca labels).[2]

This album, and its predecessor album Moods, are generally acknowledged to be the two most important recording projects of Diamond's career in terms of defining his signature sound, and in the case of Hot August Night his live performance style, for the future.[citation needed]

Diamond later released two live "sequel" albums, Hot August Night II (1987) and Hot August Night/NYC (2009).

Australian reception

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The album has become a great success for Diamond, and in Australia, it spent 29 weeks at number 1 on the album charts during 1973 and 1974. This figure was surpassed in the 1980s by Dire Straits with their album Brothers in Arms spending 34 weeks at number one on the album charts. In 2003, Delta Goodrem with her Sony BMG-based album Innocent Eyes, also achieved number 1 on the Australian album chart for 29 weeks, thereby tying her with Neil Diamond.

It was the number one charting album in Australia for the 1970s, entering the Australian album charts in late 1972 and was still charting in the top 20 in 1976. It re-entered the Australian top 10 in 1982.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau D+[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[5]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Lester Bangs called Hot August Night a "fine presentation of the entire spectrum" of Diamond's work and praised its music as "great, pretentious, goofy pop" with a melodramatic, "hymn-like feeling".[6] In his review for Creem, Robert Christgau panned the album as a failed attempt at "bad art", and found Diamond's humor "sententious" and his country-western songs tasteless.[4]

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Hot August Night "the ultimate Neil Diamond record ... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory."[3] Rob Sheffield, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), dubbed the album "the triumph of Neilness" and said that its music is slightly more "lax" than his studio recordings, but "festive".[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Diamond except "I Think it's going to rain today", Randy Newman

1972 Vinyl Edition

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Prologue"   3:07
2. "Crunchy Granola Suite"   4:26
3. "Done Too Soon"   3:22
4. "Dialogue"   1:22
5. "Solitary Man"   3:14
6. "Cherry, Cherry"   4:43
7. "Sweet Caroline"   4:06
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "Porcupine Pie"   1:51
2. "You're So Sweet"   2:17
3. "Red Red Wine"   3:56
4. "Soggy Pretzels"   3:24
5. "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"   4:39
6. "Shilo"   3:35
7. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"   2:48
Side three
No. Title Length
1. "Play Me"   4:43
2. "Canta Libre"   5:28
3. "Morningside"   5:35
4. "Song Sung Blue"   4:53
5. "Cracklin' Rosie"   2:45
Side four
No. Title Length
1. "Holly Holy"   6:18
2. "I Am... I Said"   6:09
3. "Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"   9:36

2000 Compact Disc Release

Disc one
No. Title Length
1. "Prologue"   3:07
2. "Crunchy Granola Suite"   4:26
3. "Done Too Soon"   3:22
4. "Dialogue"   1:22
5. "Solitary Man"   3:14
6. "Cherry, Cherry"   4:43
7. "Sweet Caroline"   4:06
8. "Porcupine Pie"   1:51
9. "You're So Sweet"   2:17
10. "Red, Red Wine"   3:56
11. "Soggy Pretzels"   3:24
12. "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"   4:39
13. "Shilo"   3:35
14. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"   2:48
15. "Walk On Water" (bonus track) 3:30
16. "Kentucky Woman" (bonus track) 2:01
17. "Stones" (bonus track) 3:59
Disc two
No. Title Length
1. "Play Me"   4:43
2. "Canta Libre"   5:28
3. "Morningside"   5:35
4. "Song Sung Blue"   4:53
5. "Cracklin' Rosie"   2:45
6. "Holly Holy"   6:18
7. "I Am...I Said"   6:09
8. "Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"   9:36

2012 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Compact Disc Release

Disc one
No. Title Length
1. "Prologue"   3:07
2. "Crunchy Granola Suite"   4:26
3. "Done Too Soon"   3:22
4. "Dialogue"   1:22
5. "Solitary Man"   3:14
6. "Cherry, Cherry"   4:43
7. "Sweet Caroline"   4:06
8. "Porcupine Pie"   1:51
9. "You're So Sweet"   2:17
10. "Red, Red Wine"   3:56
11. "Soggy Pretzels"   3:24
12. "Gitchy Goomy" (new bonus track) 3:49
13. "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"   4:39
14. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (new bonus track) 4:12
15. "Shilo"   3:35
16. "Modern Day Version of Love" (new bonus track) 3:31
17. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"   2:48
18. "Walk On Water"   3:30
19. "Kentucky Woman"   2:01
20. "Stones"   3:59
21. "Musician Intros" (new bonus track) 7:25
Disc two
No. Title Length
1. "Play Me"   4:43
2. "Canta Libre"   5:28
3. "Morningside"   5:35
4. "Song Sung Blue"   4:53
5. "Cracklin' Rosie"   2:45
6. "Holly Holy"   6:18
7. "I Am... I Said"   6:09
8. "Soolaimon" / "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show"   9:36

Personnel

  • Neil Diamond - vocals and guitar
  • Richard Bennett - guitar
  • Danny Nicholson - guitar
  • Emory Gordy, Jr. - guitar and vibraphone
  • Alan Lindgren - keyboards
  • Reinie Press - bass
  • Dennis St. John - drums
  • Jefferson Kewley - percussion
  • String section - Sidney Sharp, Philip Candreva, Paulo Alencar, Baldassare Ferlazzo, Robert Lipsett, Haim Shtrum, Ron Folsom, Henry Ferber, Hyman Goodman, William Henderson, John DeVoogdt, Wilbert Nuttycombe, Jay Rosen, Walter Wiemeyer, Shari Zippert, Ralph Schaeffer, Tibor Zelig, Walter Rower, Salvatore Crimi, Richard Kaufman, David Turner (violins), Linn Subotnick, Philip Goldberg, Sven Reher, Myron Sandler, Marilyn Baker, Samuel Boghossian (violas), Jesse Ehrlich, Jerome Kessler, Raymond Kelley, Nathan Gershman, Alice Ober, Giacinto Nardulli (violoncelli), Timothy Barr, Jess Bourgeois, Don Bagley (bass violins)

Orchestra conducted by Lee Holdridge

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1973 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart 1
1974

References

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External links

Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
May 21 - June 3, 1973
June 25 - July 8, 1973
July 30 - November 25, 1973
December 24, 1973 - January 27, 1974
February 25 - March 17, 1974		 Succeeded by
Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin
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