Hot August Night

"Cherry, Cherry"
Hot August Night
Live album by Neil Diamond
Released	December 9, 1972
Recorded	August 24, 1972
Venue	Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Rock
Length	93:05
Label	MCA
Producer	Tom Catalano
Neil Diamond chronology
Singles from Hot August Night
	"Cherry, Cherry"; Released: March 17, 1973;

Hot August Night is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond[1] 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]

Diamond later released three live "sequel" albums, Hot August Night II (1987), Hot August Night/NYC (2009), and Hot August Night III (2018), as well as the Love at the Greek live album, issued in 1977.

Australian reception

Hot August Night is one of the biggest selling albums of all time in Australia,[3][4] where it spent 29 weeks at number 1 on the album charts during 1973 and 1974. This makes it equal 5th for the most weeks at number 1, tying with Delta Goodrem's 2003 album Innocent Eyes.

Hot August Night was the number one charting album in Australia for the 1970s, entering the Australian album charts in late 1972 and still charting in the top 20 in 1976. It was the number 1 album of 1973 and the number 3 album of 1974.[5] It re-entered the Australian top 10 in 1982, then had another chart run in 1991-92 peaking at number 21.[6] During the 1991-92 chart-run it was listed on the chart as 14 x Platinum.[7] Based on album accreditation levels used until 1983, it equates to a 700,000 sales milestone. When the album re-entered the albums chart in 2014, it was listed as 10x Platinum.[8][9] Based on accreditation levels since 1983, it also equates to a 700,000 sales milestone. However, because ARIA was only formed in 1983 and record companies have not reported complete record sales records to them, sales are an estimation only and in the case of 1970's albums like Hot August Night, the conservative estimates may be falling short.[3] In 1996, MCA Managing Director Paul Krige estimated that cumulative sales of Hot August Night in Australia have exceeded one million units.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Creem	D+[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[13]

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".[14]

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."[11] 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".[13]

Track listing

1972 vinyl edition

All tracks are written by Neil Diamond, except "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" on the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition which was written by Randy Newman.

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

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
Emory Gordy Jr. – guitar and vibraphone
Lee Holdridge – orchestra conductor
Jefferson Kewley – percussion
Alan Lindgren – keyboards
Danny Nicholson – guitar
Reinie Press – bass
Dennis St. John – drums
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)

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1972	USA Billboard Album Top 200	5
1972	UK Album Chart	21
1973	Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	1
1975	Dutch LP Top 50	14

Year-end charts

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[15]	3

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[8]	10× Platinum	700,000^{^}
Netherlands (NVPI)[16]	Platinum	100,000^{^}
New Zealand (RMNZ)[17]	Platinum	15,000^{^}
South Africa[18]	Gold	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Gold	100,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)[20]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^{^}
^{^}shipments figures based on certification alone

References

Diamond, Neil (December 9, 1972). Hot August Night (album). MCA records. MCA 2-8000.
"MCA Records Announcement". Billboard Magazine. Billboard: 16–17. November 25, 1972. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
Dale, David (July 12, 2007). "The music Australia loved". smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
"They love Diamond in Australia: Los Angeles - Neil Diamond's two-record set, Hot August Night, has sold in excess of $2 million in Australia, reports Lee Armstrong, MCA's international vice president. The label estimates that one in every 35 persons in Australia owns a copy in some musical form. The LP is distributed in Australia by Astor, which recently received a licence of the year award from MCA's president Mike Maitland." Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (November 16, 1974). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510.
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
Position 21, 138th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Albums Chart". November 24, 1991. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Position 41, 145th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Album Chart". January 12, 1992. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
"The ARIA Report - ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 27th October 2014" (PDF). ARIA.
"Research into the Top 200 Highest Selling Albums in Australia". Retrieved December 27, 2016.
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (June 29, 1996). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510.
Thomas, Stephen. "Hot August Night - Neil Diamond". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
Christgau, Robert (March 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
Sheffield, Rob; et al. (November 2, 2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 233–4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
Bangs, Lester (March 15, 1973). "Neil Diamond: Hot August Night". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 426. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
"Dutch album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Enter Hot August Night in the "Artiest of titel" box.
"New Zealand album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
"MCA/Gallo Ltd. Garners Gold" (PDF). Cash Box. October 12, 1974. p. 40. Retrieved December 12, 2019 – via American Radio History.
"British album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Hot August Night in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
"American album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 29, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.

External links

Hot August Night at Discogs (list of releases)
"The Night Neil Diamond Whanged His Clanger" by Steven Hyden

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Diamond, Neil (December 9, 1972). Hot August Night (album). MCA records. MCA 2-8000.

[2] "MCA Records Announcement". Billboard Magazine. Billboard: 16–17. November 25, 1972. Retrieved August 21, 2015.

[SMH-3] Dale, David (July 12, 2007). "The music Australia loved". smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved December 27, 2016.

[Astor-4] "They love Diamond in Australia: Los Angeles - Neil Diamond's two-record set, Hot August Night, has sold in excess of $2 million in Australia, reports Lee Armstrong, MCA's international vice president. The label estimates that one in every 35 persons in Australia owns a copy in some musical form. The LP is distributed in Australia by Astor, which recently received a licence of the year award from MCA's president Mike Maitland." Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (November 16, 1974). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510.

[kent-5] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[ARIA1991-1992-6] Position 21, 138th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Albums Chart". November 24, 1991. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[7] Position 41, 145th week: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond, 14 x Platinum "ARIA Album Chart". January 12, 1992. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[ARIA2014-8] "The ARIA Report - ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 27th October 2014" (PDF). ARIA.

[9] "Research into the Top 200 Highest Selling Albums in Australia". Retrieved December 27, 2016.

[Inc.1996-10] Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (June 29, 1996). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510.

[Erlewine-11] Thomas, Stephen. "Hot August Night - Neil Diamond". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.

[Christgau-12] Christgau, Robert (March 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved April 21, 2013.

[RSguide-13] Sheffield, Rob; et al. (November 2, 2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 233–4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[Bangs-14] Bangs, Lester (March 15, 1973). "Neil Diamond: Hot August Night". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[15] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 426. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[NetherlandsNeil_DiamondHot_August_NightalbumCertRef-16] "Dutch album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Enter Hot August Night in the "Artiest of titel" box.

[New_ZealandNeil_DiamondHot_August_NightalbumCertRef-17] "New Zealand album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

[18] "MCA/Gallo Ltd. Garners Gold" (PDF). Cash Box. October 12, 1974. p. 40. Retrieved December 12, 2019 – via American Radio History.

[United_KingdomNeil_DiamondHot_August_NightalbumCertRef-19] "British album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Hot August Night in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

[United_StatesNeil_DiamondHot_August_NightalbumCertRef-20] "American album certifications – Neil Diamond – Hot August Night". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 29, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.

Neil Diamond
Studio albums	The Feel of Neil Diamond Just for You Velvet Gloves and Spit Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show Touching You, Touching Me Tap Root Manuscript Stones Moods Serenade Beautiful Noise I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight You Don't Bring Me Flowers September Morn On the Way to the Sky Heartlight Primitive Headed for the Future The Best Years of Our Lives Lovescape The Christmas Album Up on the Roof: Songs from the Brill Building The Christmas Album, Volume II Tennessee Moon The Movie Album: As Time Goes By Three Chord Opera 12 Songs Home Before Dark A Cherry Cherry Christmas Dreams Melody Road
Soundtrack albums	Jonathan Livingston Seagull The Jazz Singer
Live albums	Gold: Recorded Live at the Troubadour Hot August Night Love at the Greek Hot August Night II Live in America Stages: Performances 1970–2002 Hot August Night/NYC Hot August Night III
Compilation albums	Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits Shilo Rainbow His 12 Greatest Hits And the Singer Sings His Song Classics: The Early Years The Greatest Hits: 1966–1992 The Neil Diamond Collection Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! The Essential Neil Diamond Neil Diamond 50 – 50th Anniversary Collection
Singles	"Solitary Man" "Cherry, Cherry" "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" "Thank the Lord for the Night Time" "Kentucky Woman" "New Orleans" "Red Red Wine" "Two-Bit Manchild" "Shilo" "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" "Sweet Caroline" "Holly Holy" "Until It's Time for You to Go" "Solitary Man" (re-release) "Cracklin' Rosie" "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" "I Am... I Said" "Done Too Soon" "I'm a Believer" "Song Sung Blue" "Play Me" "Cherry, Cherry" "The Last Thing on My Mind" "Longfellow Serenade" "I've Been This Way Before" "If You Know What I Mean" "Don't Think... Feel" "Desiree" "God Only Knows" "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" "Forever in Blue Jeans" "September Morn'" "Dancing in the Street" "Love on the Rocks" "Hello Again" "America" "Yesterday's Songs" "On the Way to the Sky" "Heartlight" "Marry Me"
Concert tours	50 Year Anniversary World Tour
Related articles	Discography
Book Category