The career of any major musician generally includes pivot points where the artist must make a decision about the direction they want to take. Often, this puts them in direct opposition to those within the music business who are making the decisions.
Videos by American Songwriter
Such a point came for Neil Diamond with his 1967 hit single “Kentucky Woman”. Although successful, it represented to him a less substantial type of song, one from which he wanted to steer away in the future.
Diamond’s Early Days
For the early part of his career, Neil Diamond was the guy behind the hits. He found success working within the stable of songwriters in New York City known as the Brill Building. They actually worked out of a variety of locations in the Big Apple, generally those associated with music publishing companies.
Diamond started to score big hits with these writing jobs right about the time his own career as an artist was starting to bloom. For example, his first US top 40 single, “Cherry Cherry”, came out not long before The Monkees took several of his songs to the stratosphere.
When Diamond started to find his footing as an artist, he did so under the guidance of Bang Records. Although several executives from Atlantic Records formed the label as an independent alternative for artists, Bert Berns, a famed songwriter and producer, eventually took sole stewardship. As such, he helped guide Diamond at a critical stage in his career.
A Kentucky Caravan
Most of Diamond’s early hits, both for himself and for others, tended to be well-crafted and catchy. But they didn’t exactly reveal anything personal about the songwriter. He wanted that to change. That’s why he was championing a song that he’d written called “Shilo” as a potential single.
But Berns was higher on “Kentucky Woman”. Diamond wrote the song when he was on a package tour of the American South. As that tour rolled into Kentucky, he thought about celebrating a special lady from that specific state. The recording featured some subtle country touches, but not so much as to alienate his pop fans.
“Kentucky Woman” did well for Diamond, reaching no. 22 in the US in 1968. It has also achieved a pretty solid shelf life at oldies radio. But Berns’ decision to shelve “Shilo” frustrated him. As a result, he left the label not long after, by which time Berns had died of heart failure at just 38 years old.
Behind the Lyrics of “Kentucky Woman”
Diamond manages to paint a sharp portrait in “Kentucky Woman”, one that honors this girl by playing up her subtle charms. “She shines with her own kind of light,” Diamond explains. “She’d look at you once / And a day that’s all wrong looks all right.”
The songwriter doesn’t oversell her and make her unrealistic. “Well, she ain’t the kind / Makes heads turn at the drop of her name,” he admits. However: “But something inside / That she’s got turn you on just the same.”
Later, Diamond hints at the bucolic, God-fearing nature of existence for many in the Bluegrass State: “I don’t want much / The good Lord’s earth beneath my feet / A gentle touch from that one girl.”
While “Kentucky Woman” might have proved a bone of contention between Diamond and his label, it certainly stands out as expert pop fodder. In many ways, the dichotomy between catchy songs like it and his more personal work would play out for the remainder of his storied career.
Photo by Freeberg/Mediapunch/Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.