Found Performance: “Solitary Man”

One of the first songs I ever heard on the radio, back in 1966 when I was listening to KPUG, was “Solitary Man” by Neil Diamond. Neil recorded the track in late January 1966 and it was released three months later on BANG records. When it came out, Diamond was not yet a big star. He’d written songs that had been recorded with modest success by other artists. However, “Solitary Man” was his debut single. Although the song is well-known, it really was not much of a hit ….ascending only to #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and to #56 on the Canadian RPM Chart.

Diamond went on to become a household name. A few of his signature songs include “Cherry Cherry,” “Thank The Lord For The Nighttime,” “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon,” “Sweet Caroline,”and “I’m A Believer” as recorded by The Monkees. This particular rendition of “Solitary Man” comes from Dick Clark’s popular teen TV show “Where The Action Is.” The show was aired in October 1966. (Click on the start button 2x, first time to go to Vimeo, then the  next time to start the video.)