I am still stunned that I somehow picked up a connect-the-dots album cover secondhand that had not already been filled in by one of the previous owner’s younger family members:

Neil Diamond, I have to admit, is pretty easy to find on the Goodwill circuit.  Like many others of my age, I dismissed Neil as a youngster only to discover later in life that his track record as a pop songwriter is undeniable.

Shilo, it turns out, is a compilation of hits Neil recorded for Bang in his fertile 1966-67 period and includes some of his biggies:  “Cherry Cherry”; “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon”; “Red Red Wine”; “Kentucky Woman”; “You Got to Me”; and the title track.  My copy of the Shilo album happens to be on the original Bang label, which features a quaintly violent logo:

Bang Records, by the way, was originally a partnership among Bert Berns (B); Ahmet Ertegun (A); Nesuhi Ertegun (N); and Gerald Wexler (G).

One of my favorite Neil Diamond songs is a nice country pop number that is not on the Shilo album but rather 1974’s Serenade – “Rosemary’s Wine” – a track that was released as the B-side of his “Longfellow Serenade” single:

Math Pays:  Perhaps it’s not too late to join the Shilo “Connect-the-Dots Contest” sponsored by the fine folks at ABC Arts in Australia – here’s one of the top entries: