This Morning

Neil was complimented - "You can sing a bit!" and "It's a helluva voice!"
Neil replied that his voice wasn't trained. He tried to be as natural as possible. He admitted however that people often recognised his voice before they recognised him.
	They spoke about Neil being in the middle of a tour. Neil said he had done about 90 cities in the States and was set to begin in Ireland and the UK. John admitted to being a big fan and told Neil that even though they often got "freebies" in this job, he had already bought his tickets to see Neil in concert when he came to London. He held up his tickets to prove the point
John said he didn't mind contributing to Neil's bank account. Neil responded by saying his band, his lighting people, his sound people etc were grateful. He said how they had added strings, a horn section and an extra voice to the tour this year making the band up to about 17 or 18 people.
	Neil was asked about the problems involved in touring. He said he had grown accustomed to it. He was close to the band and looked on them as family. He loved them for that.

He was asked how they spent their time between shows. He replied that they played poker. They no longer played for money - they had done at one time but started to get angry with one another!	When asked who was the best player, Neil replied "Not me for sure. They give me no quarter."
	He said they also did yoga, He had a physical therapist who travelled with him and she took a yoga class for anyone who was interested. Ping pong was another way they spent their spare time. The interviewer said she thought he sounded like a good boss and Neil said he tried to be.
She went on to ask if he took things on tour with him to make him feel more at home. He said he always took his own blanket and pillow as "you never know in hotels." He was asked if he carried photos and said that nowadays they were on a computer. He had photos there of his kids and grandkids and dogs. He also was having work done on his home in Colorado and had photos sent over daily to show how it was progressing.
The interview then went to the usual Barbra Streisand questions - going to school with her, singing in the same choir at Erasmus High and the recording of You Don't Bring Me Flowers.
	John then advertised the Essential Neil Diamond. He told a story of having to drvie across South Africa. Before setting off on the journey he bought Neil's Greatest Hits. He loved it and played it throughout the whole journey.
Neil was asked if they ever did any sightseeing whilst on tour. He said they liked to catch the local points of interest e.g. castles. He said he had been the previous week to Wimbledon and had seen Tim Henman win an exciting game. His fingernails were practically bitten away! He said how he had enjoyed watching Wimbledon on TV as a kid and how nice it was to be there.


	Neil is welcomed and the show begins with a collage of pictures and facts about his career.

The show finished with Neil performing "I'm A Believer"