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Red Red Wine

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"Red Red Wine"
Song
B-side"Red Rubber Ball"

"Red Red Wine" is a song written, performed and originally recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967, included on Neil's second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of someone who finds drinking red wine the only way to forget his woes.

When Neil left the Bang Records label in 1968, Bang continued to release Neil Diamond singles, often adding newly recorded instruments and background vocals to album tracks from the two Neil Diamond albums that Bang had issued. For the "Red Red Wine" single, Bang added a background choir without Neil's involvement or permission. Diamond's version reached number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968. The original album version was released on Diamond's The Greatest Hits (1966–92) but the 1968 single version has never been issued on a vinyl album or CD.

The song was covered by several artists, shortly after Diamond's recording was released. Tony Tribe covered the song in 1969 in a reggae-influenced style. UB40 recorded it in 1983 in a lighter reggae style; a version which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Diamond later performed a UB40-inspired version of the song on tour.

Chart performance

Chart (1969) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 62

UB40 version

"Red Red Wine"
Song
B-side"Sufferin'"

UB40 made their rendition for their cover versions album, Labour of Love. According to the band, they were only familiar with Tony Tribe's version (they apparently didn't realise that the writer, credited simply as "Diamond", was in fact Neil Diamond), and their version featured a lighter, reggae-style flavour compared to Diamond's sombre, acoustic ballad. The UB40 version adds a toasted verse by UB40 member Astro, opening: "Red Red Wine, you make me feel so fine/You keep me rocking all of the time" — which was edited from the single that reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1983, and number 34 in the United States in March 1984.

In 1988, the song was re-released as a single in the U.S., this time including the toast from Astro as he performed it at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert a few months prior to its release. The single climbed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In September 2014 the Official Charts Company announced that sales in the UK had reached 1 million.[1]

Songwriter Neil Diamond has stated this as one of his favourite covers of his songs.[2] Diamond frequently performs the song live using the UB40 reggae arrangement as opposed to the original version.

Charts

Chart (1983-2001) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 5
Canada (RPM[5]) 1
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 12
Ireland (IRMA) 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 14
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 8
UK Singles (OCC)[11] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 1,000,000


* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Chart successions

Preceded by UK number-one single
3 September 1983 – 17 September 1983 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
15 October 1988 (1 week) 		Succeeded by

Other cover songs

Swedish group Tom & Mick & Maniacs released their version of the song in 1967. This appears to be the first recorded version of the song.

Jimmy James and The Vagabonds released a cover version the same year as Diamond's version (1968), for the UK market. It charted at number thirty-six.

Tony Tribe, a Jamaican singer, recorded a reggae-influenced version in 1969 which reached number forty-six in the UK Singles Chart.[13] The song was also covered in 1969 by singer Charles Mann.

In 1970, a remake by Vic Dana became a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at number 72 and reached number 30 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In early 1972, singer Roy Drusky enjoyed a top 20 hit with his version, reaching number 17 in Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and number 16 in Canada Country chart.

The Hobos included the song on their 2004 double studio album, Radio Jah Jah. "Red Red Wine" was also performed by Peter Tetteroo, former singer of Tee Set, a Dutch band, in 1968. The song has also been performed by Cas Haley along with UB40 on the last episode of the season 2 show America's Got Talent.

In 2001, singer Elan Atias released a dancehall version on the Buy Out Riddim instrumental, best known performed by Sean Paul, with the song entitled, "Like Glue". This was the first time the song was performed on a totally different instrumental tracking. The lyrics were also re-written. In 2008, Sizzla also released a dancehall single ("No Time To Gaze") based on the UB40 version.

In August 2012, Ballyhoo!'s lead singer was requested to perform an acoustic version based on the UB40 version, and posted it on SoundCloud.

References

  1. ^ Moss, Liv (22 September 2014). "Now That's What I Call A Million tracklisting revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Singer/songwriter Neil Diamond here, AMA!". Reddit. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 316. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  4. ^ "UB40 – Red Red Wine" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ^ "RPM Weekly February 18, 1984".
  6. ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 39, 1983".
  7. ^ "UB40 – Red Red Wine". Top 40 Singles.
  8. ^ "UB40 – Red Red Wine". VG-lista.
  9. ^ "UB40 – Red Red Wine". Singles Top 100.
  10. ^ "UB40 – Red Red Wine". Swiss Singles Chart.
  11. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  12. ^ "UB40 Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  13. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 565. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

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