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Hot August Night

Paul Gambaccini recalls Neil Diamond’s 1972 gigs at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, resulting in the album ‘Hot August Night’.

Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasion where a classic live album was recorded.

In August 1972, Neil Diamond returned to The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for a series of sell-out concerts. For those in the audience who'd seen him there the previous year, the change was extraordinary. The once subdued star now burst onto the stage in a blaze of smoke and light, sporting his new mane of shaggy hair and dressed to kill by Bill Whitten.

This was going to be an event: the first time a concert by a singer-songwriter was 'staged' and the first time surround-sound was used to envelop the audience in the luscious sound of strings supplementing Neil's rhythm section. Those who were there, backstage, on stage and in the audience, remember the thrill.

Producer: Marya Burgess

First broadcast on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio 4 in August 2007.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Mon 1 Feb 2021 03:30

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Broadcasts

  • Sat 25 Aug 2007 10:30
  • Fri 8 Aug 2008 13:30
  • Sun 10 Aug 2008 20:00
  • Sun 31 Jan 2021 15:30
  • Mon 1 Feb 2021 03:30

Five of the most legendary live gigs ever

Five of the most legendary live gigs ever

Earth-shattering performances that changed the cultural landscape.