Red Red Wine

"Red Red Wine"
File:Red Red Wine label.jpg
Single by Neil Diamond
from the album Just for You
B-side	"Red Rubber Ball"
Released	1967 (1967)
Genre	Reggae
Length	2:42
Label	Bang
Songwriter(s)	Neil Diamond
Producer(s)	Jeff Barry Ellie Greenwich
singles chronology
"New Orleans" (1968) "Red Red Wine" (1967) "Brooklyn Roads" (1968)

"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.

UB40 recorded a cover version in 1983 that went to #1 in the UK and was moderately successful in the United States. It was rereleased in 1988 and went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Neil Diamond version

When Diamond left the Bang Records label in 1968, the label continued to release his singles, often adding newly recorded instruments and background vocals to album tracks from his two albums for Bang. For the "Red Red Wine" single, Bang added a background choir without Diamond's involvement or permission. Diamond's version reached #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968. Billboard described the single as a "compelling, original folk-flavored ballad."

A live version was released on Diamond's The Greatest Hits (1966–92), but the 1968 single version has never been issued on a vinyl album or CD. However, according to the liner notes in the booklet included in the 1996 box set "In My Lifetime," the version of "Red Red Wine" in the set is the 1968 Bang single #556. Diamond also released a live version on Hot August Night.

Several artists covered the song shortly after Diamond's recording was released:

• In 1968, Dutch singer Peter Tetteroo (from the band Tee-Set) had a hit with a version that reached #6 on the Dutch Top 40 chart.
• Jamaican-born singer Tony Tribe recorded a reggae version of the song in 1969 that reached #46 on the UK Singles Chart. It became Trojan Records' first chart hit.
• Vic Dana's cover became his last Hot 100 hit, peaking at #72 in June 1970.

Chart performance

Chart (1968)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	62

UB40 version

"Red Red Wine"
File:Red Red Wine.jpg
Single by UB40
from the album Labour of Love
B-side	"Sufferin'"
Released	8 August 1983 (1983-08-08) 1988–2000 (re-releases)
Recorded	1982
Length	5:20 (album/12" version) 3:01 (shortened version)
Label	DEP (UK) A&M (US) Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Neil Diamond
Producer(s)	Ray "Pablo" Falconer UB40
singles chronology
"I've Got Mine" (1983) "Red Red Wine" (1983) "Please Don't Make Me Cry" (1983)

UB40 recorded a version of "Red Red Wine" for their album of cover versions Labour of Love. According to UB40 member Astro, the group's former vocalist and trumpet player, the band were only familiar with Tony Tribe's version and did not realize that the writer and original singer was Neil Diamond. Astro told the Financial Times, "Even when we saw the writing credit which said 'N Diamond,' we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond."

UB40's version features a lighter, reggae-style flavor compared to that of Diamond's somber, acoustic ballad. The UB40 version adds a toasted verse by Astro, opening: "Red Red Wine, you make me feel so fine/You keep me rocking all of the time," which was edited from the single that reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1983 and #34 in the U.S. in March 1984.

In 1988, UB40 performed the song at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert. Soon after, program director Guy Zapoleon of Phoenix-based KZZP placed the full version, including Astro's "rap", on the station's playlist, and it soon became the station's most popular song. With UB40 ready to release Labour of Love II, Virgin Records promotion man Charlie Minor asked UB40 to hold off on releasing the album so that the label could reissue and promote "Red Red Wine." On the Billboard Hot 100 chart of 15 October 1988, the song hit #1. In September 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that sales in the UK had reached one million.

Neil Diamond has stated that UB40's "Red Red Wine" is among his favorite covers of his songs. He frequently performs the song live using the UB40 reggae arrangement rather than that of the original version.

Charts

Chart (1983–2001)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	5
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	1
Denmark (Hitlisten)	2
Ireland (IRMA)	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	1
Norway (VG-lista)	10
Poland (LP3)	7
South Africa (Springbok Radio/Radio Orion)	1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	14
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	8
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	1
US Billboard Hot 100	1
12

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)	Position
United States (Billboard)	39

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)	Gold	5,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	Gold	7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)	Platinum	1,245,324
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Other cover versions

• Jimmy James and the Vagabonds released a 1968 cover version for the UK market. It charted at #36.
• Tony Tribe covered the song in 1969, reaching #46 on the UK chart.
• A 1970 remake by Vic Dana became a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at #72, and reached #30 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
• In early 1972, singer Roy Drusky reached #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #16 on the RPM Country Tracks chart.