Randy Cordero’s first-ever eight-track tape as a kid was Neil Diamond’s “His 12 Greatest Hits.”
He played the 1974 album over and over and over and over and over ... you get the drift.
“Out of all my eight-track tapes, my Neil Diamond was my favorite,” he recalled. “I listened to Neil Diamond when I was 10, 11, 12.
By the time he was 14, 15, he had kicked his Diamond habit and formed a garage band with some high school buddies. Their musical poison: Van Halen, Kiss, AC/DC and Rush.
“I kind of didn’t listen to the Neil Diamond as much,” he said.
Until about 1989.
Cordero was living in the Phoenix area at the time, studying engineering by day and playing area clubs with his funk and rock band at night. At a Tempe club’s acoustic night, Codero pulled out his guitar and dusted off Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
The small crowd at the club loved it.
They threw out requests — “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” among them — and Cordero rediscovered his inner Diamond. Two years later, he relocated to San Francisco and by 1993 had formed the Neal Diamond tribute act Super Diamond with him cast in the role of frontman Surreal Neil.
Super Diamond has gone on to become one of the country’s leading Neil Diamond tribute acts.
Four years ago Super Diamond started combining its full band experience — six guys all playing instruments — with symphonies. It creates an experience that Cordero can only describe as “amazing.”
“It’s amazing to have flutes and violins and tubas and xylophones and bells and cellos. Even if they don’t know the music, they are playing it perfectly. It’s incredible. They are so professional,” said Cordero.
This weekend, Cordero, 51, and Super Diamond join the Tucson Symphony Orchestra to open its 2016-17 SuperPops season.
