The Sixties were a transitional time in popular music: hitmaking machines like Motown were running stronger than ever, but the advent of rock and roll was finally threatening the very engine of the music business for the last half-century: songwriters. New artists increasingly wrote their own songs, and while certain geniuses were good enough to maintain a lucrative career at it (Carole King, Jerry Goffin, and Ellie Greenwich), the writing was on the wall: the market was about to get considerably smaller.

No one met those changes with as much resiliency and determination as Neil Diamond. A songwriter in the classic sense who penned many of the Monkees' greatest hits (among other things), Neil stepped into the spotlight like no songwriter before or since, revealing good interpretive skills, a sense of drama and showmanship unmatched by any other pop performer of the time, and best of all, a fantastic, resonant voice, pregnant with meaning, that sounded honeyed and burnished at once.

It's these qualities - and Neil's solid yet wonderfully versatile way with the pen - that have kept him famous after many of his contemporaries have faded from sight. The slightest ripple in the public consciousness is enough to set off a whole new round of Neil worship: the cover of "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" that appeared in Pulp Fiction, for example, or the Neil-fetishist comedy Saving Silverman. With loads of Top 40 and album gold to his name, and a fan base that grows every day, Neil Diamond has completed the transition from songwriter to superstar like no other.

Here's a collection of links to the best Neil Diamond sites on the web. This will be an ongoing and permanent resource on this site; if you have or know of a site like this that isn't listed here, e-mail me!

Neildiamond.com
Neil's official site at Columbia. It's better than most official sites: it has a fantastic Flash animated timeline, for example, featuring career milestones and albums, not to mention a store and all the latest Neil news.

Diamondville
The former official Neil Diamond site, it now serves as the official site of his longtime, close-knit backup band, featuring bios on all the members and official news, including notes from the road.

I Am...I Said, A Fan of Neil Diamond
The web's best Neil Diamond fan site, featuring not only all the usual information but also unique offerings such as fan poetry, tv appearance listings, quizzes, polls, trivia, a who's who, sheet music, and its own newsletter! Register and you can also trade your original Neil photos with other fans.

The Original Neil Diamond Homepage
Not the official Neil site, but the first and one of the best Diamond fan sites, featuring news, tourdates, fan chat rooms and bulletin boards, and tons of glorious color photos of Neil in action that you can't see anywhere else!

Neil Diamond Online
Neil worship from a fan's point of view... loads of concert photos and a bulletin board where you can tell everyone exactly what makes you a fan.

Jean Bovis' Neil Diamond Home Page
For the hardcore Diamond fan, this fan site focuses on collecting Neil concert photos and hooking up fans from different countries. Lots of news as well.

The Gift Of Song
The first place to go for Neil lyrics... 438 at last count! Arranged alphabetically.

Good Times Never Seemed So Good
A great place for Neil oddities, including karaoke, trivia lists, mishead songs, parodies, and personal encounters!

The ZMOQ Home Page
Scroll down and you'll find a "Neil Diamond Collectors Corner" that features a number of articles about Neil albums, books, and more, including a look at the Andy Kim connection.

Dupo24 Motorsports: Neil Diamond Music Page
Over 50 Neil MIDI files available here for download; features most of the big hits and some rarities.

Neil Diamond's Beautiful Noise
The web's only mailing list for Neil fans; you can join here, and/or check out archives of old lists.

Friends Of Neil Diamond Fan Club (FOND)
Here's how to join! From I Am...I Said.

Tom Sadge
The most popular of the single Diamond impersonators.

Super Diamond
A Neil impersonator with a full band and stage show.

Black Diamond
An African-American version of the Neil Diamond experience? Yes!