Stages

Photos Yahoo Entertainment "Larry King Live"

NEIL DIAMOND: 'STAGES: PERFORMANCES 1970-2002' (Columbia, five CD's and one DVD, $59.98) A new live set from Mr. Diamond is hardly a rarity, but "Stages" is a well-conceived addition to the canon. Great care has been taken to avoid overlap with Mr. Diamond's other albums, yet the discs capture all the romantic crescendos, glitter-encrusted folk and modest jokes of a classic Neil Diamond show. Two of the discs document a Las Vegas concert from 2002; two others span his career, including covers of songs by Bob Dylan, Elton John and the Beach Boys; and the fifth CD — the only excruciating one here — consists entirely of Christmas songs. Finally, the DVD includes footage from a recent Dublin show and a loving documentary of his band's madcap antics on the road, like playing golf.
NEIL STRAUSS

"Stages" LATEST"

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Video clip Interview 12th Dec 2003

http://www.kstp.com/article/view/125170/

Delilah Interview 11th Dec.2003

Video clip of Neil on CNN 3/12/2003

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Transcript

"Delilah Interview" 13th November 2003

Australian Release of "Stages"

16th November 2003

www.sanity.com.au

Great News for Aussie Fans

re "Stages"

Great News!!!
Just thought I'd follow up your enquiry and let you know that we will be
releasing the "Neil Diamond Box set."

2500 units will be imported and made available as soon as possible.
They will be available at major retailers such as Sanity, HMV, JB Hi Fi,
selected independents.

We estimate these to be available in the next 2-3 weeks.

Thanks again for contacting us and showing your support.

Kind Regards
Danielle
Customer Enquiries Representative
1300 888 636

Check out Sony Music Direct’s Hot New Single’s Shop
http://www.sonymusic.com.au/campaigns/singles.do

Neil's new six disc box set

www.neildiamond.com

Audio of Neil's Message

Photos

DVD clips

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Transcript " LARRY KING LIVE"

Transcript "Note From Neil"

MSNBC.chat Transcript

Dave Til Dawn

Neil Diamond – Stages

5 CDS, plus bonus DVD
2 discs are from his most recent tour recorded in Las Vegas in Dec. 2002. 2 Discs are live performances from over 30 years of live concerts.
1 disc is all Christmas songs performed live (various dates).
The 6th Disc is a DVD of Highlights from his recent tour filmed in Dublin, Ireland and a tour documentary (approx. 2 hours of footage)

ALBUM:
Deluxe folding booklet style box set.
Contains 5 audio discs of live performances by Neil Diamond. Most of his hits ,many covers and rare live performances.
2 discs are from his most recent tour recorded in Las Vegas in Dec. 2002. 2 Discs are live performances from over 30 years of live concerts.
1 disc is all Christmas songs performed live (various dates).

The 6th Disc is a DVD of Highlights from his recent tour filmed in Dublin, Ireland and a tour documentary (approx. 2 hours of footage)

There will be a booklet containing credits, dates and locations of all recordings, a note from Neil and lots of photos taken over 30 years of live dates.

Special Note From Neil Diamond:
An Unexpected Journey
1.20.03

The live recordings in this boxed set date back to 1970, though my professional performances predate that by four years. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have those first years of early performances on tape, but then again, it may be a service to humanity that they are destined to remain only a distant memory of my stage career past.

Still, I will never forget my excitement as I boarded a Tampa, Florida bound flight at La Guardia airport in New York City in 1966 and headed off for the beginnings of an unimagined future. Nor will I forget rehearsing with the local high school band that the show’s promoter had hired to accompany me. As I handed out the chord charts of the songs to be performed, my only concern was that the band and I start and end the tunes together. I certainly had no thoughts of where this Journey would ultimately take me.

A career on stage was not my original intention when I fled the hallowed halls of New York University a few months short of graduation to pursue the uncertain dream of making a place for myself in the world of music. I had hoped to establish myself as a songwriter, but after years of chasing that unattainable goal I eventually opened myself up to any facet of the music business that would have me. By pure luck and a lot of persistence, along with a small helping of God-given talent, I was eventually able to parlay an untrained voice and my song writing experience into the beginnings of a career as a recording artist, songwriter, and performer. I have, over the years, been able to establish a reputation as a live performer, partly because I never had any hesitation in making a fool of myself on stage. As a matter of fact, I’ve always looked forward to the opportunity to do just that, despite my innate shyness. This anomaly is probably one of the secrets of my success, for I now believe that only when a performer is willing to take that leap of faith into the chasm of ridicule, can he or she begin to celebrate the true joys of live performance and, in doing so, transfer that joy to an audience.

Today, after almost four decades of making a fool of myself, I have morphed from a solitary man with a guitar to my present-day incarnation of a glass-beaded, artfully lighted, digitally sounded front man of a seventeen-piece band whose support troops number nearly fifty people. I have finally come to accept and embrace a miraculous fate, even if I still don’t quite believe it yet.

These days, my group and I travel on a charted plane to luxury hotels, where we are greeted by large groups of uniformed employees and throngs of eager fans, flash cameras and squeals of delight at the ready. These days, I am welcomed in my hotel rooms by overflowing bowls of fruit, vases of flowers, and handwritten notes from hotel managers expressing their pleasure at having me and my entourage stay at their establishments. Most importantly, these days when I go on stage, I am greeted by an audience of thousands of excited fans. This is all a long way from 1966 when I played that high school gym in Tampa and stayed in a Motel 6. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, and that is the excitement I feel about performing live. Taking the stage is as palpable and seductive for me today as it was back then. The thrill of the unknown, the new, and the unpredictable is still as inspiring and welcome to me after all these years as it was when I first took the stage and made that fool’s leap of faith.

Listen in, then, as I revisit the stages of my life and performances. From tiny folk clubs to immense arenas and stadiums, I have been afforded many lessons in humility and in “the kindness of strangers.” I have learned the value of taking an unexpected journey to an unknown place in the heart.

I thank you all for making that journey possible by taking me into your own hearts along the way.

-ND

Billboard Article 29th July 2003

Boxed Set Celebrates Diamond's 'Stages'

Columbia/Legacy will shine a spotlight on the live performance aspect of Neil Diamond's career with the Sept. 30 release of a six-disc boxed set, Billboard.com has learned. "Stages: Performances 1972-2002" will include five audio discs and a DVD. All but one of the 83 tracks spread across the set are previously unreleased. Diamond penned the liner notes for "Stages," which will be augmented with a 52-page color booklet.

The first two discs of the set, "A Night in Las Vegas," are drawn from Diamond's Dec. 27, 2002, performance at the city's MGM Grand Garden Arena. The track list ranges from such classic hits as "Cracklin' Rosie," "Hello Again," "America" and "Sweet Caroline" to deeper album cuts like "Beautiful Noise," "Yes I Will"/"Lady Magdalene" and "Captain Sunshine." Several tracks appear from Diamond's 2001 studio album "Three Chord Opera," including "I Haven't Played This Song in Years" and "A Mission of Love."

Discs three and four comprise material recorded between 1970-2001 in North America, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and Germany. Here fans will find Diamond covering Bob Dylan ("Lay Lady Lay"), Elton John ("Rocket Man") and the Beach Boys ("God Only Knows"), and trotting out tunes from his own catalog, such as "Brooklyn Roads," "Longfellow Serenade," "Primitive" and "Sweet L.A. Days."

The fifth disc of "Stages" is made up exclusively of live performances of such seasonal material as "Little Drummer Boy," "Winter Wonderland," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

As for the DVD component, 12 tracks are featured from a July 2002 show in Dublin, including "Solitary Man," "I'm a Believer," "September Morn" and "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show." The rest of the DVD includes the tour documentary "Welcome to Diamondville."

Diamond's 2001-2002 tour was a worldwide success, grossing $80 million, according to Billboard Box Score. "I don't know if I could do it again, but I felt it was necessary," he told Billboard last year. The artist added that he will begin work on a new album this year and plans to tour again in 2004, but in a "much more limited" capacity.

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

FOND Newsletter

The Friends of Neil Diamond (FOND) has announced in its latest newsletter that a new box set,

featuring 5 CD's and 1 DVD will be released on September 30.

The set, named "Stages--Performances 1970-2000" will also include a 50-page booklet

with never before seen photos of Neil and personal liner notes written by Neil.

Be sure to make plans to pick up your box set.

As soon as artwork is available, IAISND.com will add

the new release to its Discography/Videography catalog.

Thank you for your support of IAISND.COM and Neil Diamond.

Eydie
Iris
Jean