Three Songs you didn’t know Neil Diamond wrote for other artists
As a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Neil Diamond was already penning songs and poetry for girls. By the time he enrolled at New York University on a fencing scholarship, songwriting had pushed him in a whole other direction. Diamond eventually got a job composing for Sunbeam Music Publishing and dropped out of school, so he recorded a few of his own songs as Neil and Jack (with high school classmate Jack Packer). Diamond was soon signed as a solo artist by Columbia Records in 1962.
After releasing several singles under the label, including “Cherry, Cherry” and his first hit “Solitary Man”—later covered by Johnny Cash, Chris Isaak, and others—Diamond remained drawn to writing for other artists at several publishing houses, spending the majority of his early career writing at the Brill Building in New York City.
Diamond composed “Sunday and Me,” a top ten hit for Jay and the Americans, as well as numerous songs for The Monkees, including their 1966 No. 1 smash “I’m a Believer,” while working at Brill.
Within a few years, Diamond’s songs had been covered by Elvis Presley (“Sweet Caroline,” “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”), Deep Purple (“Kentucky Woman”), and Lulu’s rendition of his 1966 song “The Boat That I Row,” among dozens of other artists who would connect with and cover his songs over the next five decades.
In 2022, American Songwriter focused on Diamond’s songs that were made famous by other musicians first. Here are three more songs Diamond penned for other singers throughout his early Brill career.
1. “Where Do You Run,” Billy Fury (1965)
Written by Neil Diamond
Diamond’s words crossed the Atlantic to British singer and actor Billy Fury, who recorded Diamond’s “Where Do You Run.” Fury was on top of the charts at the time, as were his fellow Liverpool performers The Beatles, who even auditioned to accompany Fury on tour.
Fury, best known for his parts in the 1962 film Play It Cool and That’ll Be the Day in 1973, also charted with songs including “Jealousy,” “Wondrous Place,” and the Carole King and Gerry Goffin-penned “Halfway to Paradise.”
Where do you run
To hide the hurt
Where do you hide the pain
Tears that fall like rain
When your somebody wants somebody new
Where do you run
After you’ve found
All of the things she said
Were meant for him instead
And now you know
That you just don’t belong
You give all you got
And for what
You just turn your back on her
And someone else is standing
2. “It Comes and Goes,” Bennie Thomas (1965)
Written by Neil Diamond
Diamond never recorded “It Comes and Goes,” but it has been covered by other musicians, including Bennie Thomas in 1965, Mike Berry, and Sadina (Priscilla Mitchell).
It comes and goes
The feeling I’ve been feeling
When she comes it grows
I know it’s just a feeling
But when she’s around
I get the feeling
That I’m in some other world
Like some other girl
And when she calls her name
I don’t know what it is
But it’s just not the same
I don’t know what’s been missing
But I know it’s gone
I feel it from
My head way down to my toes
It comes and goes
3. “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” The Monkees (1967)
Written by Neil Diamond
By the mid-1960s, Diamond had written numerous songs for The Monkees as part of his employment at the Brill Building. Diamond wrote The Monkees’ first No. 1 song, “I’m a Believer,” which went gold within two days of its debut. He also wrote “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),” “Love to Love,” and “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You,” for the group.
“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Around this period, Diamond was becoming more well-known as a songwriter and was ready to strike out on his own as an artist, releasing his debut album The Feel of Neil Diamond in 1966 and follow-up a year later.
Walk out
Girl, don’t you walk out, we’ve got things to say
Talk out
Let’s have it talked out and things will be okay
Girl
I don’t wanna fight
I’m a little bit wrong
And you’re a little bit right
And I said, girl
You know that it’s true
It’s a little bit me
It’s a little bit you, too
