as told by Ian Graham
July 2nd 1977
4.30am
I couldn’t sleep. It had been raining for ever it seemed, and suddenly it was still dry and very hot!
The early morning news on the radio….it was men’s finals day at Wimbeldon, Borg Vs Connors, it would be unusually hot, possibly in the mid 80’s: a few traffic problems, then another record. I sat bolt upright as I recognised the familiar intro to my all time favourite son "I Am..I Said..", the Frog/King verse still gives me goosebumps even after a million listenings! As the melody drifted away the DJ mentioned that this guy Neil Diamond was playing Woburn Abbey, and if you didn’t have a ticket, not to bother, as over 50,000 others already did!
10.30am
Having showered, dressed, and had a light breakfast I was waiting patiently outside Kings Cross railway station for my friends, Julie, Jim and Jim’s fiance Claire. Today was "The day" Diamond at Woburn! I had been a fan since 1968, and had seen Neil in London in 1971 and 1972. My friends thought me rather odd – a young male totally obsessed with a singer who wasn’t very "hip". Well today they would find out just how many " unhip" Diamond fans there were!
I had managed to beg, trick and sneak my way to tickets for all 5 of Neil’s London Palladium shows -
My friend Julie had been persuaded to apply for Palladium tickets and was successful in obtaining 3 for different shows. I was equally successful in relieving her of them, and didn’t flinch when she grudgingly handed them over, saying " Ian, you really are selfish, I wanted to go!" I obtained another ticket through the ballot, but the Saturday midnight show I managed just a standing room only ticket from a tout (Scalper) at $20 – nearly 6 times the face value!
Having seen Neil at the Palladium I knew that Woburn would be special. He was light years better than in ’72, more polished, at ease with his audience, and confident enough to perform for nearly two and a half hours with no support. I also knew as soon as Woburn was announced that it would be a box office smash. In ’72 you could still get tickets for the 2nd Royal Albert Hall show the day before the concert. In ’77, 6 weeks before the Palladium shows, 45,000 applications had been received for just 11,500 tickets, suddenly, everyone wanted to see Neil!
11.30am
Jim, Claire and Julie roll up late in Jim’s battered old Ford escort, Jim insisting that the crowds of people milling around us must going to the tennis, "Neil Diamond isn’t that popular", he said
Just then, a group of about 12 young ladies nearest us decided to unfurl their Wimbledon Tennis banner to reveal the legend " Diamond is Forever" Jim was strangely muted!
1.30pm
Well, we are stuck in a massive traffic pile – up about half a mile from the official Woburn Abbey
Concert car park. We had had a pleasant journey from London, listening to the "Hot August Night"
Tape, only occasionally interrupted by Jim, "he isn’t that popular" demanding " rewind, I want to hear Cracklin’ Rosie again, it’s my tape!" And he was only there because Claire, like me, was a huge Diamond fan. As for Julie, well I did owe her a big favour and had bought her Woburn ticket as a thank-you for her Palladium sacrifice!
3.30pm
We had made the car park. It was now a scorching afternoon. I was wearing my Black & Gold hand knitted " Neil Diamond – The Frog who would be King" sweater, complete with Frog/King motif, and
Was feeling a trifle hot. I also had a very bad hayfever and was sneezing non- stop. "Don’t be silly Ian, take your sweater off" urged Julie, "You need to cool down" I stubbornly refused, "I want to show that I’m a real fan, even if I melt to nothing"
5pm
The concert area is open, after patiently queuing in the stifling heat we edge to the front of the line. There is a sea of people ahead of us, for a moment I panic, then we are past the ticket check and in a human tidal wave headed for the blocks of unreserved seats in the distance, Amazingly, and with the help of a few well placed elbows, we reach row 7 in the 2nd block back from the stage, and settle into our seats for a well deserved rest. Jim disappears and returns with some huge hot dogs, no onions though, the Marchioness of Tavistock has banned them! She thinks they would cause a terrible smell about the Abbey! 3 rows in front of us Mick Jagger is patiently signing autographs
7.30pm
Borg has beaten Connors in the Wimbledon final. It is pleasantly cool now, and my hayfever has subsided a bit. The Grenadier Guards Band have finally finished their "Show". I bet they will go down well in the States if Neil ever makes a Woburn video. Claire looks all around, there is no empty space as far as the eye can see. Could the people with "Grass Only" tickets possibly see from that far back ?! "I can’t believe all these people " she says. "Why not, Neil Diamond is very popular" replies
Jim
8.15pm
Neil is late, he should have been with us at 8pm. It is becoming quite dark now, thousands of people are wearing those luminous Green necklaces and bracelets, and are lighting up the whole concert area.
Several Deer ( and perhaps a Doe!) are attracted by the light and can be seen clearly silhouetted against the night sky.
The huge canopied stage is dark, except for the lights of the Abbey, which are dimmed. Neil’s personal flag hangs down from the Stately flagpole, there is no wind to make it flutter
8.35pm
Slowly, shadowy figures appear on stage, creeping towards Drums, Piano, Guitar Stands, the crowds starts to cheer. I turn to Julie, " This is our Greek Theatre" the grass people are our "Tree People", it’s going to happen!" A slow steady beat begins, the stage lights rise, but not fully, the music grows in strength, building to a deafening crescendo
8.40pm
Suddenly, he’s there! An explosion of dazzling light floods the stage as Neil appears, as if by magic. Wearing a sparkling Peacock Blue shirt and Grey slacks, he looks as though he can’t understand all the fuss, he strides stage left , picks up his guitar and bashes out the instrumental intro, followed by "Soolaimon" and " Play Me", during which several spotlights dance across the audience like a million fireflies. Then it’s straight to the 60’s, "You got to Me", "Cherry Cherry" "This is no ordinary night says Neil, ever the master of the understatement as the crowd join, arms aloft, like some huge spider’s
Web , as he launches into ‘Sweet Caroline’ Then it’s "Reggae Strut", "Solitary Man" and "Kentucky Woman" The atmosphere is electric With every roll and sway a celebrity appears, Jeanne Moreau here, David Frost there Jagger again, and a host of UK sport stars, Neil sets a furious pace, "Red Red Wine" by public demand "Longfellow Serenade" , "The Last Picasso", "Cante Libre" "Morningside"
, then from his latest album, the title track "Beautiful Noise" "Street Life" "Stargazer" "Lady Oh", "Surviving the Life" , and the brilliant "If you know what I mean" . Barely pausing for breath he treats us to "Song Sung Blue" , and now he’s really cooking! "Cracklin’ Rosie" , Jim goes bananas , "Cracklin" Rosie" again. Jim is near to a frenzy, "Holly Holy" then a strange calm for the jewel in the Diamond crown, "I am…I said" I stand on my seat cheering and almost decapitate the lady in front of me as I lose my balance and plunge forward. Neil is lapping everything up, bantering with the front rows of the crowd , rewarding several ladies, who beat the security men to the stage, with a kiss. He gives us a beautiful 15minute piece from "Jonathon", the crowd is silent, in awe, until we are stunned by the blinding light at the climax to "Be" . A huge ovation, and he’s gone. The crowd won’t budge, we all know he’ll be back, he hasn’t saved our souls yet! Right on cue, Neil is there and leads us stampeding into THE best performance of "Brother Love" I have ever seen, before or since! As the applause thunders down after ‘Amen’ Neil surprises all but the Palladium- goers by closing with "I’ve been this way before" Then he really is gone. The near hysteria won’t bring him back "If I never see another concert I will die happy says Julie "I’m forgiven then" I venture "The next time I get tickets for Diamond, don’t ever think of asking me for them" she replies, Jim is shell shocked, dismissed as a one song "Cracklin’ Rosie" fan, he is totally converted. There will never be a time like this again He is stating the obvious!
July3rd
02.30a.m.
We spent hours getting out of the car park and the drive back to London is silent, save for my hayfever which has returned with a vengeance. Everybody is shattered but content. We part company outside a deserted Kings Cross railway station, almost whispering our farewells. It begins to rain, lightly at first , but within a few minutes it has become a deluge. I barely feel wet, lost in my own "Woburn time warp", I am recalling every magical moment, committing each to memory. It may be a long time before we see Neil again, I muse. Indeed it was 7 long years till Earls Court 1984- but that, as Neil would say "It was another time- another place"
The above article was produced for the September 1992 issue of the USA Neil Diamond newsletter, Neil News and was again used in the September 1994 issue of the UK fan magazine Diamond Connection Issue 2 . It was also given for use in August 1998 to the Australian website run by Judy Farrell