Customer Reviews

Tap Root Manuscript

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was born in late 1969, and my parents must have bought this album shortly thereafter, for I have always known it. These songs are interwoven into my earliest memories. Consequently, it's probably not possible to write an entirely objective review. But I think my judgment may have matured to the point where I can separate at least some of the musical wheat from the chaff of my childhood.

This album was obviously a labor of love for Neil Diamond. Everything about it was lovingly wrought, including the packaging. In fact, my only complaint about the CD reissue is the loss of the gorgeous design work of art director John C. Le Prevost, designer Virginia Clark, photographers Jim Metropole and Larry Bartome, and calligrapher Jonzarr Haber. The original album cover had a satisfying heft to it, being printed on incredibly heavy, textured stock. Although it housed a single record, it folded out like a double album, revealing the other half of the moody, introspective photograph that began on the front cover and continued on like a Cinerama movie screen. Included inside was a booklet, printed on fine writing paper, supplying the lyrics for 'Childsong,' 'I Am The Lion,' 'Soolaimon,' and 'Missa' (in both English and Swahili) in earthy sepia calligraphy. Additionally, it included Neil Diamond's own explanation of the concept of the album:

"When rhythm and blues lost its sensuality for me I fell in love with a woman named gospel. We met secretly in the churches of Harlem, and made love at revival meetings in Mississippi. And loving her as I did, I found a great yearning to know of her roots. And I found them. And they were in Africa. And they left me breathless. The African Trilogy is an attempt to convey my passion for the folk music of that black continent. -n.d."

Sadly, this inscription and the other extras were left off of the reissue CD. Gone are the printed lyrics, the quality paper, the calligraphy, the credits, and all the other features that gave `Tap Root Manuscript' its air of earnest dignity. The CD merely has a glossy photo of the front cover. Gone is the other half of the photograph. The spine is generic. There are no liner notes, and inside is a jarringly anachronistic and graphically ugly advertisement listing other MCA artists. If I were Neil Diamond, I would be peeved. Heck, I'm not Neil Diamond and I'm still peeved.

Nonetheless, the music remains, and what others have said above is true. `Tap Root Manuscript' beat Paul Simon's `Graceland' to the punch by a good 15 years. It also foreshadowed David Byrne's Brazilian epic, `Rei Momo.' But neither Byrne nor Simon were brave enough or honest enough to include something as overtly Christian as `Missa' (in English, "Christ, Christ, Christ, I shall meet him... A child has been born. Christ, gloria.") Neil Diamond remains the only artist to acknowledge the explosion of Christianity in Africa and to link it to American gospel music, though at times `African Trilogy' sounds more like traditional choral music and chant than gospel.

On another technical note, I am grateful that the CD returns to the original continuity of the album. Like the Sergeant Pepper album, some of the songs on of `Tap Root Manuscript' were contiguous, without the standard five seconds or so of silence in between. When MCA released the cassette version, they arbitrarily stuck in some pauses that didn't belong, with a result that sounded careless and disjointed. The CD version wisely restores the original, continuous format.

This is one of the few albums I own that is good all the way through. It is also one of the very few that seems to appeal to all generations. My boomer parents, my classically trained wife, my 70-year-old mother-in-law, and my Radiohead-loving brother all have embraced it.

I recently played 'I Am the Lion' for my three-year-old daughter, and it captured her imagination with an immediacy that echoed the me I must have been thirty years ago. I had forgotten all about that. It's sort of nice to be able to recapture it.

At the time of his greatest popularity, Neil Diamond was quite experimental in some of his albums, which boldly showed his unusual willingness to take chances in pursuit of broadening his musical abilities and interests. This album, "Tap Root Manuscript", was the result of one such effort to experiment with African sounds and instruments, and one which paid off in terms of his commercial success and also with a number of top ten hits coming directly from the album. Some of the songs, like "Crackling Rosie", were not part of the concept, while others such as "Soolaimon", definitely were. At any rate, the combination of the two aspects of the album made for a number one Billboard rating.

Included here are other popular songs like "Done Too Soon", and a cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". I especially like the whole African song cycle, from "Childsong" through its reprise at the end of the album. "I am The Lion", "Madrigal", and "African Suite" are all interesting and quite innovative for the late 1960s time frame of the original recording. This was a trend-setting album and another notch in the growing body of recordings Diamond produced in his reign as one of America's favorite singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s. Enjoy!

In my opinion, this is THE best Neil Diamond album ever recorded. "Stones" and "Moods" were close with many of the same production values, but "TRM" could not be topped. My first exposure to this album was when I was 10. My aunt and uncle had just purchased a new set of stereo components and they loved playing this album for those who had never heard it before. When I first heard Neil's amazing voice, the incredible orchestral arrangements by Lee Holdridge, and the experimental concept of "The African Trilogy", I at my young age never knew music could sound so good. Though some may argue the point, I believe this album sounds just as good today as it did in 1970. There's not much music around today that can claim that.

Most people are familiar with the two big singles from this album, Cracklin' Rosie and Soolaimon. But, if you've never heard "Tap Root Manuscript" from beginning to end, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection. True, the CD doesn't have all the cool packaging of the original album, but the music is there and intact.

Hey MCA, how about a 25th Anniversary edition of "TPR" for 2005 with all the original artwork and liner notes restored?! I'm sure I'm not the only ND fan that would snatch that one up in a second.

This may be my all time favorite album. I originally had the vinyl which is now replaced by a CD. This is beautiful music to listen to on many occasions, particularly the old "side 2". The musical themes cycle through the whole album and reappear under haunting and different circumstances. If you like the way classical composers weave in and out of different mucical themes and instrumentation, you'll love Neil Diamond's explorations of several patterns in this album. Some seem based upon African music which I generally don't appreciate. But this album is an exception. I think the greatest appreciation of it comes from listening to the whole thing at once. It'll give you goosebumps.

I bought the original vinyl for TapRoot in 1970. I still have it,but, through the years, it has gotten . . .well used. The CD brings back all the richness of the beautiful beat and sumptuous sounds of the African veldt. I sa Neil D last year in Austin Texas, and I prayed he would do "Solaimon" - hope I got the spelling right. When he did I went nuts! The album is a must for Diamond-heads! Glorious music ahead of its time. One of the only albums, and artists that both I and my dad agreed upon as I grew up. I'm 55 today and my dad passed on 15 years ago at age 71. I know he still listens to this music.

This was such a departure from the Brill Building tunes! Neil Diamond so dominated the sixties with song after wonderful song. This album has included a few of his 'traditional' pieces here to satisfy the fan who wants the music the way it had been. The commerically popular include "Cracklin Rosie" and "Done Too Soon" and his emotive "He Ain't Heavy".

The magic, though, comes on side two with "The African Trilogy". I, too could have done without the sound effects, but they do not distract me too much (not like the critic) from the wonderfully gentle and passionate music. Almost a full decade before Paul Simon discovered the beautiful sounds of Soweto in Graceland or Brasilia in Rhythm of the Saints, N.D. was way out in front of the pack.

I had been too many years without hearing this album. It was immediately as comfortable and familiar as a lover's embrace.

This is a must if you have a CD player in your car and you have kids. Instead of endless children's music, you can enjoy Neil Diamond at his best and also know that the songs are both appropriate and enjoyable for kids. My daughter loves it, and she's very picky!

What makes this CD such a joy to listen to is the musical arrangement of the songs and the catchy lyrics. The instrumentals "Madrigal", "Missa", and "African Suite", give this CD a "progressive-rock" feel to it. Very creative! "Childsong" and "I Am The Lion" are wonderful arrangments as well. Let's not forget the hit "Cracklin' Rosie", which Neil says the inspration of this song came from him visiting an Indian Reservation in Canada, where the natives were lonely on Saturday nights and drank "Cracklin' Rose" Wine (aka Muscatel). The song "Free Life" can pertain to an existence with no worries, and just feeling carefree, which is the way you'll feel when you listen to this CD. Please enjoy!

Call me blessed - in my childhood, my dad "made" me listen to Neil and I thank him for it. One day he played this and I heard the kids singing about a lion and I was hooked. Whenever I feel a bit down, I play this album and immediately my spirit is lifted up. How can it not? The songs, especially "Soolaimon," express such joy, passion, and a sense of musical freedom, that one can get, and often does, caught up in the moment Neil created with song. I think this album is ahead of its time using African influences and styles. Its no wonder I also love Paul Simon's Graceland. The simular expression in the music is beautiful. If you are a Diamond fan, this one MUST be in your collection.

Diamond's best work pre-dated the mega successes of "Hot August Night" and "Moods", as evidenced by this concept album of pastiche African tribal rhythms (years before "Graceland") and good old fashioned Brill Building pop. "Soolaimon", one of Diamond's best hits of 1970, heralds the Africana theme with its pulsating rhythms and primal scream - "God of my want, want, want; Lord of my need, need, need". "Done Too Soon" and "Free Life" represent Diamond at his most compelling - sharply drawn, yet poignant, parables about the complex nature of the human condition.