Revisiting Odd Musical Couple Neil Diamond and Robbie Robertson’s Collab Album From 1976

Musicians from seemingly disparate backgrounds and styles can often find common ground. On paper, you would have to squint to see anything remotely connecting Robbie Robertson of The Band and mega-selling pop artist Neil Diamond.

Yet there the two men were, in 1976, making a record together. Beautiful Noise, performed by Diamond and produced by Robertson, was the result.

Neil and Robbie

On the surface, it certainly didn’t appear as though Neil Diamond needed anything to jump-start his career circa 1976. Three of his previous four albums had hit the Top 10 and gone platinum. And his 1974 single “Longfellow Serenade” put him back in the Top 5 of the singles charts.

As for Robbie Robertson, he found himself with a bit more time for side gigs around that time. The Band, for whom Robertson played guitar and handled much of the songwriting, had slowed their recording schedule considerably since their first brilliant burst in the late 60s and early 70s.

Diamond didn’t seek Robertson out of the blue for a production gig. Instead, Bob Dylan introduced the two men, and they simply struck up a friendship. After a while, they decided that they might want to try to work together.

Something ‘Beautiful’

When Diamond wrote the song “Beautiful Noise”, it convinced Robertson that the album should be more than just a collection of songs. He wanted it to tell a story of sorts. In the Barney Hoskyns book Across The Great Divide: The Band And America, Diamond is quoted about the direction of the project:

“We’re working around a story, telling a tale musically about a certain period of time, and using the events and music of that period. The time is just about the early 60s – The Beatles, Kennedy, some of the social stuff that was going down then – seen through the eyes of the songwriter.”

Robertson enlisted Garth Hudson of The Band to add keyboards on a few songs. Meanwhile, Robbie mostly stayed behind the boards, with just a few appearances on guitar and one co-writing credit. Otherwise, Diamond wrote all the songs for Beautiful Noise, which was released in June 1976.

After ‘Noise’

Despite the men’s efforts to create a kind of concept album, Beautiful Noise comes off sounding like your typical Neil Diamond record. And considering Robertson’s background, there really aren’t many rocking numbers. The producer certainly coaxed a powerful performance out of Diamond on the hit single “If You Know What I Mean”. The album sold well, making it into the Top 5.

A year later, Robertson also produced the Diamond live album Love At The Greek. In the interim between those two projects, Robertson and Diamond made one other high-profile appearance together.

At The Last Waltz, The Band’s farewell concert in November 1976, Diamond appeared as one of the many special guests to help send the band off with a performance. He sang “Dry Your Eyes”, the droning closing track from Beautiful Noise. And he inspired millions of viewers of the film to wonder in years to come, “What the heck was Neil Diamond doing there?”

(Photo by Tony Russell/Redferns)