''Stones'' is the seventh studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by Neil Diamond, recorded and released in 1971. It was one of the biggest hit recordings of his career. The conductors and arrangers were

Lee Holdridge Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and one ...

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

and

Larry Muhoberac Lawrence Gordon "Larry" Muhoberac, Jr.; (February 12, 1937 - December 4, 2016, in Erina, New South Wales, Australia) was an American musician, record producer, and composer who was also known under pseudonyms "Larry Owens" and "Larry Gordon". ...

. The cover photo was taken at

Luxford House Luxford House is a 16th-century Grade II listed building near Crowborough, East Sussex. It is near the Luxford Farm. It was used by several rock musicians in the 1970s under the guidance of Tony Stratton Smith. History Luxford house was const ...

, Crowborough, East Sussex. The house was occupied at the time by rock music manager

Tony Stratton-Smith Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...

. Early copies of the LP album featured a picture label and a unique version of the cover with a grommet-string style closure on the back. The cover itself was styled as an envelope that opened from the top. This was later abandoned and replaced with a standard side-opening sleeve. Inspired by the experience of a failed screen test for a film about rebel comic Lenny Bruce, " 'I Am...I Said' would ultimately turn out to be the single most challenging and time-consuming song that iamondever wrote." And while "it took four months every day, all day...It was a daily battle to put that song on paper...but when it was done, it turned out to be one of the most satisfying songs I had ever written." '' Record World'' said that the title track showed that Diamond "hasn't lost his knack of writing intelligent pop-oriented material." '' Cash Box'' said that the "striking image-laden ballad in fine Diamond fashion sparkles with immediate top 40 success." '' Billboard'' called it "exceptional ballad material with a performance to match."

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

2. "He Is...I Say" by David Wild (DeCapo Press, 2008) 1971 albums Neil Diamond albums Uni Records albums Albums arranged by Lee Holdridge Albums arranged by Larry Muhoberac Albums arranged by Marty Paich Albums conducted by Larry Muhoberac Albums conducted by Lee Holdridge Albums conducted by Marty Paich Albums produced by Tom Catalano {{1970s-pop-album-stub