Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – March 30, 2025
In 1968, Neil Diamond made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 for the ninth time with “Red Red Wine” which reached the #62 position. Who would have known that fifteen years later in 1983 that UB40’s version would go to #1 in the UK and would be moderately successful in the U.S. Moreover, who would have guessed that UB40’s re-release in 1988 would go to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
But that wasn’t Diamond’s first #1 record about wine. That distinction goes to a song he released in 1970.
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Neil Diamond was born on January 24, 1941 in Brooklyn, near the fabled Coney Island. His interest in music goes way back. In fact, he cannot recall a time in his life when he didn’t want to play music.
He first cracked the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 as a writer with the Monkees’ 1966 release of “I’m A Believer.”
With regards to his #1 wine song, Diamond got the idea for the tune from a post-interview discussion with a newspaper writer while touring north central Canada. The journalist told Diamond about her life growing up in Canada as a daughter of medical missionaries who provided aid to a number of Indian reservations. A land steeped in folklore, she shared one of the folk stories with Diamond about an Indian tribe in northern Canada who had more men than women.
According to the legend, the men who did not have women would buy bottles of rosé wine. The bottles would become their women for the weekend. Diamond racontes this story in 1971 while on stage, a performance that is available for view on YouTube
Certainly a different twist to wine, women, and song, it’s worth toasting Mr. Diamond with a glass of “Cracklin’ Rosie,” the week’s Tom Locke moment in time.
YouTube listing of the song: Click here
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.
