Neil Diamond and Bob Fosse
"Crunchy Granola Suite"
When Neil Diamond moved to Los Angeles in 1969 it was a fresh start for the songwriter who had trouble writing songs for artists other than himself. Oh, sure he'd had a few successes: a hit for Jay and the Americans and several for the Monkees, but his track record was nothing like his Brill Building coworkers Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weill or Ellie Greenwhich.
His own recordings eventually started to click but as the 1960s drew to a close it was definitely a new era for songwriters with the advent of the singer/songwriter and Diamond wanted to write deeper songs, both lyrically and musically than the framework he found himself in would allow.
In 1968 he signed to the Uni record label, owned by MCA, and by the next year he found himself in L.A. and on the verge of recording a string of albums that would raise his profile considerably as both a songwriter and a performer. After Tap Root Manuscript, which emphasized African sounds and instruments on its second side, he released Stones, an album on which he had written only three of the songs: "I Am...I Said, " the title track, and "Crunchy Granola Suite”.
The first two were heavy and serious both in their sound and dramatic delivery. "Crunchy Granola Suite," on the other hand, was bright, percussive and syncopated. Its cheerful enthusiasm hearkened back to Diamond's Tin Pan Alley days, even though its lyrics were California bred.
Of course it seems frivolous to write a song about Granola, the favorite food of hippies and health food devotees in the 1970s, but it's really about much more than that. In the liner notes to his compilation In My Lifetime, Diamond writes that "I 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."
The verses are about being yourself, with kind of a beatnik poetry feeling:
I got a song been on my mind
And the tune can be sung, and the words all rhyme
Deede-ee deet deet deet deet deet deet deedle dee dee
Though it don't say much, and it won't offend
If you sang it at school, they're liable to send you home
Never knowin' what you're showin'
Think you're growin' your own tea
Good Lord
I know a man was outta touch
And he'd hide in a house and he didn't say much
Deedle-dee deet deet deet deet deet deet deedle dee doo
And like a man with a tiger outside his gate
He not only couldn't relax, but he couldn't relate
Now he can
Family man
Tried my brand
Dig
In the chorus he rhymes 'crunchy granola suite' with 'crunchy granola's neat' and exhorts listeners to 'drop your shrink and stop your drinking.'
Diamond has talked about going into therapy in California and how it helped him to write and to process a lot of what happened to him. He reportedly spent up to four months composing Stones' "I Am...I Said" and he has said repeatedly that writing it was the most difficult thing he has done. "Crunchy Granola Suite" is a joyous, rhythmic tribute to Diamond's fresh start in California and it's almost impossible to resist. Even curmudgeonly Robert Christigau had to say that " From the first guitar riff, it's obvious that this man is some sort of genius rock entertainer" before going on to savage the rest of the record (it scored a D+, if you're curious).
When Diamond went out to play the series of concerts at the Greek Theatre that resulted in the recording Hot August Night he organized the show much like Broadway musical, with a full orchestra, advanced lighting concepts and a sense of drama in the pacing of the shows. "Crunchy Granola Suite" was chosen to lead off the show, preceded by the string interlude "Prologue." Both arrangements were done by arranger and conductor Lee Holdridge, who earned a Grammy nomination for his work. Holdridge worked on Stones as well as Diamond's a for the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
It's difficult to imagine Bob Fosse being inspired by the health food aspect of "Crunchy Granola Suite," but he could probably relate to the lyrics about the man with a tiger outside his gate and his inability to relax. More important he could definitely relate to the songs's dynamic energy and its syncopated, bongo-driven drive.
In 1973, while Diamond was releasing Hot August Night and Jonathan Livingston Seagull Fosse was checking into Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic. He'd had an incredibly successful year, winning a Tony for Pippin, an Oscar for Cabaret, and an Emmy for his work on Liza With a Z, and he topped it off with a nervous breakdown. Diamond took a sabbatical from live performances for his mental health following the August Greek concerts and a run of one man performances on Broadway from October 5-21, 1972.
In planning his Broadway dance revue Dancin', Fosse looked for musical inspiration from a variety of sources--classical, jazz, pop. The only requirement was that he not have a new music score or book and the collaborators they would bring. It's not clear when he selected "Crunchy Granola Suite" but he chose to kick off the two and a half hour show with the same "Prologue/Crunchy Granola Suite" arrangement that Holdridge wrote for Hot August Night.
Dancin' was a pure dance show, without dialogue or plot. It ran for 1,774 performances, from March 27, 1978 through June 27, 1982. Though it was a success, there were criticisms of the fact that it was a revue, and indeed Dancin' may have spurred a fashion for musical reviews based on certain eras or music. “It was a unique vision for Broadway. Bob was really testing his mettle as a choreographer with no book to fall back on and he succeeded,” said Ann Reinking in a 2018 interview.
Because the show was so long and included only dance numbers comprised of Fosse’s grueling, difficult choreography, it was never revived. The show featured incredibly talented dancers, including Sandhal Bergman, Wayne Cilento, and of course, Ann Reinking, who received rave reviews that judged her to be the show’s star.
Fosse won a Tony for his choreography and several dancers, including Cilento and Reinking, won awards for their work onstage.
Bonus Tracks:
Over at The New Yorker @MJSchulman just wrote a piece in which he talks with dancer Ann Reinking about her work and life with Fosse. They also discuss her thoughts about the FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon. [ link ]
It’s the end of an era for Apple’s iTunes as the digital jukebox is retired in favor of three separate apps. I used iTunes for years to keep track of my digital music collection even though I only once had an iPod. I also remember using other jukebox software like winAmp and RealJukebox. For fun, here’s CNN’s list of Top 10 MP3 Players of 1999.
Wallace Berman appears on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s but you may not be familiar with this poet, artist, and Jewish mystic. Tablet Magazine recently ran a great article on Berman by poet and contributing editor Jake Marmer. [ link ]
New Directions:
A few things we’ve talked about recently on the site or on Facebook:
Give a Damn: Spanky and Our Gang meets John V. Linsday in the turbulent year of 1968. I’ve been reading Sam Roberts’ book on Lindsay and there’s a lot there that speaks to the political climate today.
Yoko Ono: Approximately Infinite Universe and Feeling the Space: A look at Yoko Ono’s early ‘70s feminist rock albums and the circumstances surrounding their recording.
Iggy Pop’s Haitian Nightmare: Iggy’s album Zombie Birdhouse is reissued this month. Read about the creepy trip Iggy and German girlfriend, photographer Esther Friedman, made to Haiti while Iggy was writing songs. While you’re at it, read about the Cambodian ex-pat bar named Zombie Birdhouse.
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