This Diamond Ring by jomel77

jomel77 - This Diamond Ring

jomel77

Jul 16, 2024 03:28am

"This Diamond Ring" is a 1965 song written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kooper" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Al Kooper</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Brass&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bob Brass</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Levine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Irwin Levine</a>. The original demo was sung by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Radcliffe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jimmy Radcliffe</a>. It was first released as a single by Sammy Ambrose on Musicor #1061, then by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Lewis_%26_the_Playboys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gary Lewis & the Playboys</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> on Liberty #55756. Lewis' version charted first, number 101 on the January 2, 1965, Billboard "Bubbling Under" chart. Both versions charted on January 9, Lewis still at number 101 and Ambrose at number 117. Ambrose dropped off the chart at that point, but Lewis made number 65 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard Hot 100</a> chart the next week (January 16), and his version continued to climb until it reached number 1 on February 20, 1965.<h2> </h2><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:This_Diamond_Ring_-_Gary_Lewis_%26_the_Playboys.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/14/This_Diamond_Ring_-_Gary_Lewis_%26_the_Playboys.jpg/220px-This_Diamond_Ring_-_Gary_Lewis_%26_the_Playboys.jpg" height="214" width="220"></a> According to David Brackett, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Lewis_(musician)" target="_blank">R</a>on Hicklin's overdubs heavily supported Lewis' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Hicklin_Singers" target="_blank">vocal</a>s.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> The session drummer was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Blaine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hal Blaine</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Osborn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joe Osborn</a> played bass<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Russell" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Leon Russell</a> played keyboards and arranged the music. Snuff Garrett produced the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_Garrett" target="_blank">song</a>. Lewis denied claims that the Playboys did not play on the record and said that not only was the band largely self-contained, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the Wrecking Crew</a> session musicians only came to do overdubs or solos.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a>Although it has been his biggest commercial success as a songwriter, Al Kooper has repeatedly stated that he was unhappy with the record.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Diamond_Ring#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> He originally hoped the song would be recorded by a group like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drifters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Drifters</a> based on the original demo of the music as recorded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Radcliffe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jimmy Radcliffe</a>. Kooper would later re-visit the song, recording a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">funky</a> version for his 1976 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_Like_Nothing%27s_Wrong" target="_blank">Act Like Nothing's Wrong</a> album.