Neil spent a great deal of time in the basement of his parents house with his old white piano and a range of guitars. It was here he started to churn out songs, but he felt help was needed at this stage. This help came in the form of Jack Packer, a fellow Lincolnite, and a musical star on campus. They took their songs to Tin Pan Alley Music publishers and recording facilities. Four songs were made here.
This made Neil first realise that songwriting was for him. Neil and Jack went on to make singles, but after these failed they started to drift apart. Neil carried on by himself armed with determination.
In 1962, he impressed Columbia Records with his songwriting skills. They recommended him to Sunbeam Music and here he became a staff songwriter. This did not last long-he was eventually fired. Neil ended up at Roosevelt Music where he was allowed to develop his songwriting. The first record neil helped write was for Pat Boone 'Ten Lonely Guys'. A few years later he ended back at Columbia and on January 24th 1963 he recorded 'Clown Town' . The single dissapeared without trace. Because neil could not write a hit record, again he was fired.
He then rented an office and became a freelance songwriter where he would tout his songs to anyone that would listen. He was eventually introduced to Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, a couple of top song writers. They formed Tallyrand Music, but shortly after-Bang Records hunted down Neil and suddenly he was getting the support he need for his own style of singing. On February 14th 1966 he recorded 'Solitary Man' and 'Cherry Cherry' and following a huge advertising campaign, Solitary Man reached no. 10 in Los Angeles. Cherry Cherry climbed to no. 6 in the charts. Neil Diamond was now becoming a star!
