Neil Diamond / Noah Wyle On ‘The Pitt’
Fresh Air
NPR
4.4 • 34.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The new film ‘Song Sung Blue’ is about a Neil Diamond tribute band and stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Before Diamond began recording his own hits like “Solitary Man,” “Cherry, Cherry,” “America,” and “Sweet Caroline,” he wrote songs for other musicians, including The Monkees. Diamond spoke with Terry Gross in 2005.
Also, the hit HBO medical drama ‘The Pitt’ is back for season two. Noah Wyle plays the veteran attending physician in a Pittsburgh emergency room. The actor/producer spoke with Dave Davies about his tenure on ‘ER’ and putting scrubs back on for ‘The Pitt.’
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. In the new film Song Sung Blue, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play a couple who form a Neil Diamond tribute band. |
| 0:11.0 | You know, Neil is special, and I just want everyone to get that feeling I get when I listen to America and forever blue jeans. |
| 0:18.0 | Sweet Caroline. Sweet Caroline, yeah, but I I'm never gonna be the real McCoy. |
| 0:21.6 | I mean, I don't really look like Neil. |
| 0:23.6 | I don't even really sound like Neil. |
| 0:25.6 | I gotta be Neil, but I've just gotta be me, too. |
| 0:28.6 | Yeah, you don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator. |
| 0:33.6 | You want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter. |
| 0:36.6 | I was looking for the right way to say it, and you just came right out and said, impersonator, you want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter. |
| 0:42.2 | I was looking for the right way to say it, and you just came right out and said a Neil Diamond interpreter. Today we're going to listen to our interview with Neil Diamond. In the |
| 0:48.2 | 1960s, he started out writing songs for a music publishing company, hoping someone would record |
| 0:53.9 | them. |
| 0:54.7 | He wrote The Monkey's hit, I'm a Believer. |
| 0:57.3 | But it was Diamond himself who made most of his own songs famous. |
| 1:01.2 | Here's a sampling. |
| 1:03.7 | The linda was mine till the time that I found her. |
| 1:10.2 | Holding Jim. Loving him. that I found her holding Jim |
| 1:11.6 | loving him Then Sue came along Love me strong That's what I thought Me and Sue I don't know that I do |
| 1:27.6 | Don't know that I will |
| 1:31.8 | but until I can find me |
| 1:35.2 | the girls |
| 1:36.8 | will stay |
... |
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