The Jazz Singer (soundtrack)

The Jazz Singer is an album by Neil Diamond from 1980, which served as the soundtrack album to the 1980 remake of the film The Jazz Singer. The soundtrack was released in November 1980 originally on Capitol Records, instead of his then-usual Columbia Records, because the film was produced by EMI Films, owned by the parent company of the label for which the soundtrack was released. The soundtrack was re-released in February 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States and Sony elsewhere. After Diamond signed with Capitol Records, this album was reissued by Capitol globally in 2014.

The film's reviews were negative, earning Diamond the first Razzie for Worst Actor at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards, but made a modest profit at the box office, grossing almost double its budget. However, its soundtrack was a huge success and became Neil Diamond's biggest selling album in the United States, selling over 5 million copies there and reaching #3 on the pop albums chart. This would mark the second time a Neil Diamond soundtrack outperformed the movie from which it came (after Jonathan Livingston Seagull). Three songs from the album became top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Love on the Rocks", "Hello Again" and "America" reaching Nos. 2, 6, and 8, respectively.

Personnel

 * Neil Diamond – guitar, lead vocals
 * Richard Bennett – acoustic and electric guitars
 * Doug Rhone – guitar, backing vocals
 * Alan Lindgren – synthesizers, pianos, orchestra arrangements and conductor (1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11)
 * Tom Hensley – keyboards, pianos, orchestra arrangements and conductor (5, 7, 12)
 * Reinie Press – bass
 * Dennis St. John – drums, music director
 * Vince Charles – percussion
 * King Errisson – percussion
 * Assa Drori – concertmaster
 * Jimmy Getzoff – concertmaster
 * Sid Sharp – concertmaster
 * John Rosenberg – orchestra contractor
 * Bob Gaudio – vocal arrangements
 * Donny Gerard – backing vocals
 * Marilyn O'Brien – backing vocals
 * Linda Press – backing vocals, vocal arrangements
 * H.L. Voelker – backing vocals
 * Luther Waters – backing vocals
 * Oren Waters – backing vocals
 * Choir – Timothy Allan Bullara, Jeremy C. Lipton, Dale D. Morich, Yoav Steven Paskowitz, Boyd H. Schlaefer, Mark H. Stevens, David Teisher and James Gregory Wilburn

Production

 * Producer – Bob Gaudio
 * Production Coordination – Beatrice E. Marks and Alison Zanetos
 * Production Assistant – Rita Zak
 * Recording Engineer – Andy Bloch
 * Assistant Engineers – Bill Benton, David Bianco, Jack Crymes, Brad Gilderman, Mark Eshelman, Larry Rebhun and Rick Ruggieri.
 * Recorded at Arch Angel Studios and Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA); Sunset Sound Recorders and Cherokee Studios (Hollywood, CA); Dawnbreaker Studios (San Fernando, CA).
 * Mixed by Ron Hitchcock
 * Mastered by Mike Reese, Doug Sax and Lois Walker at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA).
 * Art Direction and Design – David Kirschner
 * Contributing Artwork – Michael Donaldson, David Kirschner, Ron Larson, John Squire and Jan Weinberg.
 * Photography – Larry Barbier
 * Equipment – Ed Lever / Canyon Recorders