The Jazz Singer: Starting a long association with Neil Diamond

The album cover of the soundtrack for the movie "The Jazz Singer". It re-ignited Neil Diamond's career with three top 10 hits.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer_%28soundtrack%29

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My brother George always had cool toys. He is 10 years older than me, and was out on his own living in Calgary by the time I was barely starting elementary school, so he had the cool black Z-28 Camaro, the stereo, and one of the first VCRs I had ever seen.

My sister, who is a year younger than my brother, also migrated to Calgary right after high school, so my parents and I started making periodic trips to Calgary to visit them.

One time, I was in Grade 8, and we went up to Calgary on a Friday night, and stayed the weekend at my brother’s place.

He always tried to entertain everyone, so he suggested watching on a movie on his VCR. He had recorded a bunch of movies off Pay-TV which, back then was one of two ways to watch movies that had recently been in the theatre. The other was to rent them from one of the video stores dotting every community.

He had a few to choose from, and we settled on one because it starred a singer George liked.

His name was Neil Diamond and the movie was “The Jazz Singer”.

It would be my introduction to an artist I really have come to love as well as a movie, I have clear memories of.

The movie
“The Jazz Singer” is the story of Yussel Rabinovch, played by Diamond, who is a fifth generation Jewish cantor, kind of trapped in his life. He is married to a woman he grew up with, and his father, played by Laurence Olivier, is committed to having his son continue the Jewish tradition of family members being cantor at their synagogue.

Yussel has other ideas. He dreams of being a pop singer and, when he decides to pursue that dream, upsets his father. So much so, his father tears his own clothes, signifying his son is dead to him now.

Yussel changes his name to Jess Robin, and begins to make a life as a singer, meeting some interesting people on the way. One is a new love interest, played by Lucy Arnaz, who then was still known best as the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. They eventually marry, in a Jewish wedding ceremony which, to me, symbolized Jess was not breaking completely from his religion or heritage. Another was Bubba, played by Franklyn Ajaye, who helped him along the way with his career. I later saw that same actor, in a supporting comedic role in “Stir Crazy” starring Gene Wilder and Richard Prior. He was very good in that, as he was in “The Jazz Singer”.

Take three
Over time, I found out something interesting about “Jazz Singer”. It had already been made into a movie twice before. The first time was in the 1920s, with Al Jolson playing the lead role. I believe that version was one of the first movies with sound, if not the first. The second time was in the 1950s when Danny Thomas, who is Jewish, played the lead role.

As I found this information out, I could not imagine either of them playing the role. Neil Diamond was Jess Robin, and I couldn’t get his portrayal out of my head.

The soundtrack
More than anything, I remember the music from that movie. It was before I really got into music, so I never considered the idea it could all be on a soundtrack.

The first song I recall was called “Love on the Rocks”. Jess gets into this recording studio and hears kind of a punk singer belting out a song Jess wrote in a much faster tempo. The guy sees Jess and offers the mike. Jess sings “Love on the Rocks”, which is a ballad. After he is finished, the singer says, “Can I have something with a little more boom, boom, boom?”

What makes this so poignant is this. At the time, Jess had Bubba there, but they would have a falling out. As the movie nears its conclusion, Jess is in the studio, figuring out what to do. Bubba reappears, saying “Can I have something with a little more boom, boom, boom”. They laugh and make up leading up to the exciting conclusion.

A second song is “Hello Again”, and the final one is “America”, which Jess sings in the climactic concert scene.

Those three songs all hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981, and the soundtrack became Neil Diamond’s biggest album seller to date. “Love on the Rocks” went all the way to number two; “Hello Again” peaked at number two; and “America” went all the way to number eight on the charts.

I remember my Mom and I both being impressed with Neil Diamond’s music.

A couple years later, she actually bought a used copy of the soundtrack to “The Jazz Singer” at a garage sale, or flea market of some kind. I remember the album cover was the same art as the movie poster. It was a painting of the final scene of the movie after Jess has finished singing “America” and has thrust his arm in the air in triumph.

As for me, I developed a love for the music of Neil Diamond that continues to this day.

The music
In today’s day and age, the most popular Neil Diamond song is “Sweet Caroline”, played at a multitude of sporting events, including the home games of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox.

However, Neil Diamond has been a prolific writer and singer for a long time. Some of his other songs have included “Song Sung Blue”; “Longfellow Serenade”; “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”; and “Forever in Blue Jeans”.

Parting thoughts
Neil Diamond just has a presence about him. He has this powerful voice that just touches the soul. That is best illustrated in “America”, which is as much an anthem as anything – powerful, emotional and building to a crescendo. It really exemplifies the talent of Neil Diamond.

He had a long, prosperous career that had kind of stalled by the end of the 1970s.

Then came “The Jazz Singer”, whose music re-ignited his career.

That’s where I caught the Neil Diamond train.

And I have never got off.