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In 1976, Neil Diamond was the world’s biggest star! Everyone knew his name, he had sold millions of records, and was known to wear flashy sequins!
But inside, he felt like something was missing. He wanted to prove to the world he still had the “street” energy as a kid from Brooklyn.
So, what did he do? He called up the coolest rock star he knew, Robbie Robertson from The Band, to work with him on his new album!
Even though Neil Diamond was a legend himself, he was nervous about working with Robbie. Why? because Robbie was the king of cool, working with artists like Bob Dylan!
Neil Diamond – Beautiful Noise (Audio)
Neil felt like he had to audition for him to prove he wasn’t just a shiny pop star. He wrote the song “Beautiful Noise” just to convince Robbie to say yes. It worked! Robbie loved it, and the two began a partnership that changed Neil’s music forever.
During their time together, working on the album “Beautiful Noise,” Neil had a crazy idea!
Usually, a song needs 3 or 4 chords to stay interesting. But Neil asked himself: “Can I write a whole song using only one chord?” And well, yes, he could! This is how he came up with the song Street Life.
Street Life – Neil Diamond
Neil stayed on just one single chord for the entire song! Most people thought it would be boring, but Neil found that by restricting himself, he became more creative. It was a total rule-breaker move that proved he was still a musical genius.
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