‘Sweet Caroline’: When Bobby Womack Put The Soul Into Neil Diamond

Bobby Womack could make anything soulful, and not just on his own compositions. The storied R&B singer from Cleveland is remembered for any number of self-written classics, from “Lookin’ For A Love” and “Across 110th Street” to later gems such as “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” and “I Wish He Didn’t Trust Me So Much.” But he was also a master of the imaginative cover, including several pop favorites in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Having previously turned his hand to the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” and classics of American easy listening music such as “Fly Me To The Moon” and “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” the summer of 1972 saw Womack opening the Neil Diamond songbook. On August 26 that year, Womack entered Billboard’s Best Selling Soul Singles chart with his take on “Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good).”

Diamond’s own enduring version of his feelgood number was a No.4 hit on the Hot 100 in 1969, and was soon attracting covers by Andy Williams, Bobby Goldsboro, and Elvis Presley, who made it a feature of his live show. There was an instrumental take on the tune by the Ventures, on their 10th Anniversary Album of 1970. Womack got to it on his1972 album Understanding, from which the opening single, his own “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” became his first R&B No.1 in June.

“Sweet Caroline” was chosen as the second 45 from the album, and while it largely missed the crossover audience, as had its predecessor, the Diamond cover became another soul favorite, climbing to No.16. Greater success would meet the follow-up, Jim Ford’s “Harry Hippie,” which reached No.3 R&B and made the pop Top 40 at No.31.

When Womack spoke to Blues & Soul upon the album’s release, he was excited about not only his own LP but other recent projects on which he had left his imprint. “I’ve worked with some heavy people in the last year and I’ve learned a lot of new things which I’ve been able to put into my new album,” he said. “I’m on Sly’s album, There’s A Riot Going On – you’ll even see me on the sleeve if you like to look closely! I worked on Billy Preston’s new album and I’m on ‘Outa Space’ playing my guitar.”

Billboard described Understanding as “a great album,” and in the New York Times, Loraine Alterman was full of praise for it, and for Womack’s covers of both “Sweet Caroline” and The Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” describing them as “relaxed and soulful interpretations.” Alterman judged Understanding to be “one of the tastiest albums I’ve heard in the past year. He possesses a warm, throaty, very expressive, and always funky voice. The arrangements, written by Womack, feature a dynamic interplay of instruments and lead and background voices.”

Listen to “Sweet Caroline” on Bobby Womack’s Understanding album on Apple Music and Spotify.