Shirley Bassey & Neil Diamond - Play Me / Sweet Caroline / Longfellow Serenade (1974 TV Special)

Shirley hosts Neil Diamond on her 1974 TV Special, and they perform together one of his hits, "Play Me". Then, Neil performs two more of his hits, "Sweet Caroline" and "Longfellow Serenade".

ABOUT the song, Play Me:
"Play Me" is a 1972 song by Neil Diamond from his album Moods. The song, the first single from Moods, was recorded in February 1972 in Los Angeles. It was released as a single in May 1972 and peaked at #11 in the United States in September of that year. It was listed by Billboard as #27 of his best 30 songs.

LYRICS - Play Me:
She was morning
And I was night time
I one day woke up
To find her lying
Beside my bed
I softly said
"Come take me"
For I've been lonely
In need of someone
As though I'd done
Someone wrong somewhere
I don't know where
Come lately

You are the sun
I am the moon
You are the words
I am the tune
Play me

Song she sang to me
Song she brang to me
Words that rang in me
Rhyme that sprang from me
Warmed the night
And what was right
Became me

You are the sun
I am the moon
You are the words
I am the tune
Play me

And so it was
That I came to travel
Upon a road
That was thorned and narrow
Another place
Another grace
Would save me

You are the sun
I am the moon
You are the word
I am the tune
Play me

ABOUT the song, Sweet Caroline:
"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. Diamond revealed the inspiration for "Sweet Caroline" was President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, who was eleven years old at the time. Diamond sang the song to her at her 50th birthday celebration in 2007. The song reached #4 on the USA Billboard chart and eventually went platinum for sales of one million singles. The song reached #8 on the UK charts.

ABOUT the song, Longfellow Serenade:
"Longfellow Serenade" is the title of a 1974 song by the American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. This song spent two weeks at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November. The song became Diamond's second number-one hit on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, following his 1972 single, "Song Sung Blue". Diamond said, "occasionally I like using a particular lyrical style which, in this case, lent itself naturally to telling the story of a guy who woos his woman with poetry." The title of the song is a reference to the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.