Neil Diamond - Shilo (1967)

"Shilo" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. It was originally recorded in 1967 for Bang Records, but Diamond and Bang founder Bert Berns disagreed over Diamond's career path. The singer wanted to move away from his early teen-oriented pop type of recordings that Berns favored, which led to Berns' refusal to release the more introspective "Shilo" as a single, even though Diamond felt it was part of his development as an artist. "Shilo" was instead relegated to an album track on 1967's Just for You. Shortly after what was said to be a "tense" confrontation with Berns, Diamond departed Bang for Uni Records in 1968. Diamond went into a commercial slump, without hits. But by January 1970, his career had rebounded with "Sweet Caroline" and "Holly Holy" on Uni/MCA Records. Bang Records finally released "Shilo" as a single, albeit with a new backing track recorded to make it sound fresher and more like Diamond's current style. This reached number 24 on the U.S. pop singles chart in spring 1970, inspiring Bang to release a new Neil Diamond compilation album that year titled Shilo.