Diamond finds "Home" field advantage with Rubin (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Neil Diamond doesn't mess withsuccess.

That's why he "never doubted" he'd work again with producerRick Rubin, who steered their 2005 collaboration, "12 Songs,"to a No. 4 debut on the Billboard 200, Diamond's best since"The Jazz Singer" in 1982. The album has sold 571,000 copies inthe United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Diamond, 67, says he and Rubin began working on "HomeBefore Dark," due May 6 via Columbia, "within weeks after '12Songs' was finished. All of those questions you have when youwork with somebody new were yesterday's news. We knew what wewanted to do."

So after "14 or 15 months" of writing, Diamond hit thestudio with Rubin and an improvisational-leaning band featuringguitarists Mike Campbell, Matt Sweeney and Smokey Hormel andkeyboardist Benmont Tench. Dixie Chicks vocalist Natalie Maineschipped in on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," Diamond's firstmajor duet with a female singer since "You Don't Bring MeFlowers" with Barbra Streisand in 1978.

As with "12 Songs," the material on "Home Before Dark" isdrumless, with Diamond's still-commanding voice front andcenter and his rhythm guitar, which he hadn't played in thestudio for three decades, guiding the way for the otherinstrumentalists. On "Whose Hands Are These" and the titletrack, Diamond hammered out the final arrangements (with Tenchand Sweeney, respectively) after the regular session was overfor the day.

"Working with these guys, and having Rick's ear, made it agreat deal of fun," Diamond says. "Of course, I had to have theenthusiasm of the band, and their consent, in a way. When Iplayed them a new song, I wanted them to love it and feel wherethey belonged in it. I was lucky enough to receive that on allof these songs. They'd be playing along and looking for theirplaces even before I'd finish the first run-through. It wasmagic, in a way."

Diamond's summer tour starts May 24 in Rotterdam, theNetherlands, and touches down in North America on July 19 inSt. Paul, Minnesota. Included in the itinerary is an August 23date at Boston's Fenway Park, which Diamond announced with asurprise video appearance on the scoreboard during an April 8Red Sox game.

"I always like to include songs I haven't done in the showin a while," he says, declining to reveal specifics butpromising that material from "12 Songs" and "Home Before Dark"will be on the set lists.

In the time since Diamond and Rubin worked on "12 Songs,"the latter became co-head of Columbia, but Diamond insists theconversation never turned toward business.

"We talk about the music and the recordings, and that'swhat our relationship is about," he says. "His work withColumbia is his own challenge, and I wish him well with it. Butmy relationship with him is all about the art of making greatrecords."

Reuters/Billboard