“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to write a song with just one chord?’ And in the restriction of writing with one chord I found a freedom that I’d never found before”: When Neil Diamond broke new ground with The Band’s Robbie Robertson

Neil Diamond.

Neil Diamond was already a major star by the mid-’70s when he hooked up with influential musician and famed Bob Dylan associate Robbie Robertson. But this was a partnership that inspired one of Diamond’s greatest and most adventurous albums.

The New York-born singer-songwriter had racked up a host of hit records since the late ’60s, with a series of US top 10 singles including Cherry, Cherry, Sweet Caroline, Holly Holy, Cracklin’ Rosie, I Am… I Said, Longfellow Serenade and the No.1 smash Song Sung Blue.