Neil Diamond - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Neil Diamond was one of those anomalies that thrived in the '70s. The '70s were weird. I may have been a little kid when this came out, but I knew weird, and this was weird. My dad was a voracious reader and our family room was full of books ... from floor to ceiling there were books. I remember people talking about Jonathan Livingston Seagull like it was some great insight into the human condition. I mean, for me at that age, the human condition amounted to trying not to get bullied in school and what time was Star Trek on?

As a kid my parents didn't load up the car to take us to the movies very often. I still held a grudge because they wouldn't take me to see The Poseidon Adventure ... and frankly having to sit through Song of Norway as a kid was awful, but I have to admit something must have sunk in because I have a soft spot for Edvard Grieg. It was a couple years after the movie came out that it was showing at our little theatre, and we loaded up the car and went to Jonathan Livingston Seagull. A movie that was ... perplexing. Two hours of seagulls flying around with some fiddle faddle narration, and a contemporary soundtrack provided by none other than the Hot August Night himself ... Mister, Neil Diamond.

Now I'll be honest, I'm here for the soundtrack, or what I thought I remembered from the soundtrack, and it turns out this is a very different record than I had expected. Which isn't a bad thing, it was kind of pleasant to sit and read the lyrics from the booklet, when there were any. Much of the album thematically plays on variations of the same tracks. Lushly orchestrated and was a pretty ambitious release for all that. While Neil takes the credit for words and music, the reality is most of the tracks were adapted for orchestra by Lee Holdridge, which in and of itself was likely no small feat. However, music credits are assigned to he who wrote it, hence Neil Diamond.

Speaking of credits and stiff, the album itself must have been a little more expensive to produce than your average record. It's a lovely custom gatefold and includes a luscious full colour booklet with lyrics and credits. It's a really nice package.

At the time in 1973, this was a big hit ... unlike the movie, which was pretty much universally shit on, and one of less than a handful of movies Roger Ebert ever walked out of. No thumbs given for this one. The album would go double platinum in the United States, and move over 200,000 copies in Canada. Kind of mind boggling when you think about it. This wasn't really a pop album, it was a Neil Diamond album, and frankly Neil was a genre unto himself, and holy turd nuggets he was moving a lot of albums in the early '70s. His music was safe for all ages, and I'm pretty sure that Tipper Gore had this in her collection.

"Skybird" is one of the songs that appears more than once, and it turns out is the only song I remember from the album. I thought there were more ... I think I confused my uncle's greatest hits with the soundtrack, it happens - I was just a kid. The first time "Skybird" plays it's a lush, almost goofy instrumental that I could imagine Andre Rieu performing, but only after dialing it down a little. It's a song that honestly hasn't aged well, but still gets a pretty warm reaction, mainly because of nostalgia. Honestly it is a pretty album, lush and contemplative.

I know there are people who love this syrupy stuff ... I can't say I love it, but it was sweet while it lasted.