| "Crunchy Granola Suite" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Neil Diamond | |
| from the album Stones, Hot August Night | |
| A-side | "Stones" |
| B-side | "Crunchy Granola Suite" |
| Released | 1971 |
| Genre | Pop rock |
| Length | 3:15 |
| Label | UNI |
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Diamond |
| Producer(s) | Tom Catalano |
"Crunchy Granola Suite" is a pop rock song written and recorded in 1971 by Neil Diamond.
The song was released on the album Stones and included as a B-side on the single for the album's title track. [1]
The song appears on a number of Diamond's albums, including the live album Hot August Night , which opens with a combination of the instrumental "The Prologue" and "Crunchy Granola Suite".
James Perone writes, "The song describes how a man who previously suffered through all sorts of hang-ups has found solace with his newfound adherence to the stereotypical California, macrobiotic, granola, health food lifestyle". [2]
The song was inspired by the healthy lifestyle Diamond was exposed to after moving to Los Angeles. In the liner notes to his 1996 compilation album In My Lifetime Diamond says he was "newly transported to California and was impressed by the health food consciousness there. I actually thought Crunchy Granola Suite might change people's eating habits!" [1]
The single "Stones" (for which "Crunchy Granola Suite" was the B-side) charted at #16 on the Billboard Chart in the US [3] and #14 on the Australian charts. [4]
The track "Prologue / Crunchy Granola Suite" was nominated for the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (for conductor Lee Holdridge). [5] [6]
Reviewing Hot August Night in 1973, Robert Christgau said "Crunchy Granola Suite"'s opening guitar riff made it "obvious this man is some sort of genius rock entertainer". [7] David Wild in his book He Is-- I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond, said, "he managed to write the coolest song ever written about granola or any other breakfast food made of rolled oats, nuts and honey". [1]
Easy listening artist Percy Faith released a version in 1973 [8] on his album Corazon which was released as a single reaching # 16 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart [9] in the USA.
The song was used in the Tony Award winning musical review Dancin' , directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse.
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight". Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, including "Sweet Caroline". He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 musical drama film The Jazz Singer.
Percy Faith was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format. He became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Although his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, he refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.
Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 27, 1972, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album and Music of My Mind, released earlier the same year, are generally considered to mark the start of Wonder's "classic period". The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Innervisions is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has been regarded as completing his transition from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads into a more musically mature, conscious, and grown-up artist. On the album, Wonder continued to experiment with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on the future sound of commercial soul and black music.
Déjà Vu is the second studio album by the American folk rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their first as a quartet with the addition of Neil Young. It was released in March 1970 by Atlantic Records. It topped the pop album chart for one week and generated three Top 40 singles: "Woodstock", "Teach Your Children", and "Our House". It was re-released in 1977 and an expanded edition was released in 2021 to mark its fiftieth anniversary.
"A Song for You" is a song written and originally recorded by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell for his first solo album Leon Russell, which was released in 1970 on Shelter Records. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understanding from an estranged lover, the tune is one of Russell's best-known compositions. Russell sang, played piano, and played tenor horn on the recording. It has been performed and recorded by over 200 artists, spanning many musical genres.The Encyclopedia of Country Music, 2012: "In 1970 Russell released his self-titled debut solo album, including such enduring songs as 'Delta Lady' and 'A Song for You,' both written for versatile vocalist Rita Coolidge.
Faith is the debut solo studio album by the English singer George Michael, released on 30 October 1987 by Columbia Records and Epic Records. In addition to playing various instruments on the album, Michael wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A pop album with influences of R&B, funk and soul music, Faith's songs include introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time.
"It's Too Late" is a song from American singer-songwriter Carole King's second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Toni Stern wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music. It was released as a single in April 1971 and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. Sales were later gold-certified by the RIAA. Billboard ranked "It's Too Late" and its fellow A-side, "I Feel the Earth Move", as the No. 3 record for 1971.
"Theme from A Summer Place" is a song with lyrics by Mack Discant and music by Max Steiner, written for the 1959 film A Summer Place, which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It was recorded for the film as an instrumental by Hugo Winterhalter. Originally known as the "Molly and Johnny Theme", this lush extended cue, as orchestrated by Murray Cutter, is not the main title theme of the film, but an oft-heard secondary love theme for the characters played by Dee and Donahue. The theme has become a canonical representation of the easy listening genre, and is considered by some to be the definitive easy listening track of all time.
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production from The Neptunes, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, Craig Kallman, Prolyfic, Needlz, Soundtrakk, and Brandon Howard. Jay-Z, Chill, and Fiasco himself are credited as the executive producers for the album. Songs on the record discuss poverty, Islam, terrorism, racism, and individuality.
The Golden Streets of Glory is the sixth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on February 15, 1971, by RCA Victor. The album was produced by Bob Ferguson. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. No singles were released from the album, but the title track was released as the B-side of the religious single "Comin' for to Carry Me Home" in May 1971. The album was nominated for Best Sacred Performance at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards. The album's liner notes were written by Parton's maternal grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens.
The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton is a compilation album by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. It was released on July 19, 1971, by RCA Victor. The album contains tracks from each of their collaboration albums released up to that point, with the exception of 1969's Always, Always. The album included one previously unreleased track, the Grammy-nominated single, "Better Move It on Home".
Solar Fire is the fourth studio album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1973. It spent 15 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 96 on 11 May 1974. It was initially intended to be a full adaptation of The Planets Suite but Gustav Holst's heir, who had previously given permission to the adaptation of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" in the hit single "Joybringer", didn't allow this to happen, so the band made their own "cosmic" album using mostly original themes, although the most well known song is the Bob Dylan composition "Father of Day, Father of Night", which is in the Earth Band's live set to this day and remains a popular song on rock radio. "Pluto the Dog" and the two-part "Saturn, Lord of the Ring/Mercury, the Winged Messenger" are instrumentals, and "Earth the Circle Part 2" features only two lines of sung vocals. The album is often considered the peak of the early Earth Band line-up and, for a lot of progressive rock reviewers, the pinnacle of Mann's career in general.
Gold: Recorded Live at the Troubadour is a live album by singer/songwriter Neil Diamond.
The Greatest Hits: 1966–1992 is a compilation album by Neil Diamond released in 1992. Songs from his years with Uni/MCA (1968–1972) are represented by live or studio re-recordings as noted below because MCA Records refused to license the masters to Columbia Records, something that would cause controversy.
"I Am... I Said" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single on March 15, 1971, it was quite successful, at first slowly climbing the charts, then more quickly rising to number 4 on the U.S. pop singles chart by May 1971. It fared similarly across the Atlantic, reaching number 4 on the UK pop singles chart as well.
Hot August Night/NYC is a DVD release from Neil Diamond released on August 14, 2009. The DVD features songs from Diamond's four shows at Madison Square Garden during his 2008 tour. An accompanying 2-CD album was released at the same time.
Love Will Keep Us Together is the first release by the duo Captain & Tennille. It was released in 1975 by A&M Records. The album would peak at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, while the title song, "Love Will Keep Us Together", won the Grammy Award for Record Of The Year and was nominated for Song Of The Year.
"Love on the Rocks" is a song written by Neil Diamond and Gilbert Bécaud that appeared in the 1980 movie The Jazz Singer and was performed by Diamond on the soundtrack album to the film. It was also released as a single and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in January 1981. The song also made it to #3 on Billboard's US Adult Contemporary chart. Billboard rated it as the #26 pop single overall for 1981. It performed less well in the UK, reaching only #17.
Robert Eibach is an American, multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award nominated artist, producer, recording engineer, musician, DJ and remixer. Eibach is a band member and one of the producers on The Lucky Band album Paseo Lunar, which was nominated for a 2020 Latin Grammy Award in the Children's category. He worked on Winds of Samsara by Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman, which won a Grammy® Award for Best New Age Album. Also, Eibach contributed his work on Wouter Kellerman's 2015 album Love Language, which earned a Grammy® Nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. In 2015, Lucky Diaz and The Family Jam Band earned a Latin Grammy Award nomination for their children's album Adelante, which Eibach was an engineer on. Eibach contributed Billboard charting remixes for Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Mark Ronson, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Lopez among others. He is performing as the DJ on tour with David Longoria in support of Longoria's album The Journey and song We Are One. In 2019, The Lucky Band won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Children's Album with Buenos Diaz, which included Robert Eibach remixes. Eibach's first single as the main recording artist, Play With You, was released on August 21, 2020. Robert Eibach earned his first Grammy nomination as a member of Lucky Diaz and The Family Jam Band for their release Crayon Kids in the Best Children's Album category at the 64th Grammy Awards. The album Los Fabulosos by Lucky Diaz and The Family Jam Band was also nominated for a 65th Grammy Award in the Children's Category, which featured Eibach's remix of Mi Gusta, as well as his contributions as a musician and engineer.
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