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Diamond's Diamonds

I've gotten several of these mailing list items.  I've seen some references to an album 
called "Diamond's Diamonds".  I saw this album on a trip to Canada in 1972.  I can 
narrow down the date range on which I saw it, as well as the cities.  I either saw it in 
Montreal on Wednesday, July 26 or Toronto on Thursday, July 27 or Friday, July 28.  I 
remember it as being a collection of his Bang label stuff and wondered if it would ever 
be released in the U.S.  Later, I came across "Double Gold" in the U.S.  I did not buy 
it during my Canadian trip because it would have been too much trouble to carry home.  
That's what's so nice about cassettes and compact discs today!  I can buy them on trips 
(and often I do).  Another possible reason would have been that it was a double LP set, 
and I may have felt I couldn't afford it.  At that time, I was working in a relatively 
low-paying job.

Ah, yes, the summer of 1972.  The last summer before Neil went on his sabbatical that 
was supposed to last a year but got stretched out to 3 1/2.  I missed his concerts at 
Merriwether Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, that summer, though, because I was still on 
that trip that took me to Canada and a few northern states.  But I could turn on the 
radio and hear "Song Sung Blue", which was #1 on Billboard in early July.  And his 
oldies got plenty of airplay then.  Some people in the office next to mine listened to a 
local r&b station, and sometimes I heard "Sweet Caroline" sung by Bobby Womack.

After that first sabbatical, Neil thought nothing about taking more large blocks of time 
off.  He deserved them, but I have missed him during these times.