Jonathan Livingston Seagull (soundtrack)

{{Infobox album

| name = Jonathan Livingston Seagull

| type = soundtrack

| artist = Neil Diamond

| cover = JonathanLSalbum.jpg

| alt =

| released = October 19, 1973

| recorded = 1973

| studio =

| genre = Film soundtrack

| length = 43:29

| label = Columbia

| producer = Tom Catalano

| prev_title = Rainbow

| prev_year = 1972

| next_title = His 12 Greatest Hits

| next_year = 1974

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev2 = Rolling Stone

| rev2Score = (mixed)[https://web.archive.org/web/20071024140236/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neildiamond/albums/album/187623/review/5942186/jonathan_livingston_seagull Rolling Stone review] {{dead link|date=February 2025}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/jonathan-livingston-seagull-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mw0000194375 |title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Review |last=Haney |first=Shawn M. |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 3, 2025}}

}}

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a soundtrack album by American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, released in 1973 by Columbia Records. Produced by Tom Catalano, it is the soundtrack to the 1973 film of the same name. The album marked Diamond's return to Columbia and grossed more than the film itself. It won the 1974 Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/neil-diamond/2720 |title=Neil Diamond |website=Grammy Awards |access-date=November 16, 2019}}

Diamond often included a Jonathan Livingston Seagull suite in his live performances, as he did in his 1976 Love at the Greek concert—comprising "Be", "Dear Father", "Lonely Looking Sky", "Sanctus", "Skybird" and "Be (Encore)"—and his show in Las Vegas that same year.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyBkeUmUkfI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nyBkeUmUkfI |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=dead |title=Neil Diamond live (1/2) - Jonathan Livingston Seagull |date=September 25, 2011 |access-date=August 18, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{better source needed|date=February 2025}} A studio version of the suite—comprising "Prologue", "Lonely Looking Sky", "Skybird", "Dear Father (Rebuked)" and "Be"—was presented on Diamond's 1996 box set In My Lifetime.{{cite AV media notes |title=In My Lifetime |author=Neil Diamond |date=1996 |publisher=Columbia Records |type=CD box set liner notes |id=CSK 65013 |location=New York}}

Reception

Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Diamond's subsequent album Serenade (1974) have earned a combined 27 gold discs in Australia.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1976/Billboard%201976-03-06.pdf |title=Golden Diamond |magazine=Billboard |page=58 |date=March 6, 1976 |access-date=October 22, 2020}} As of September 1976, the soundtrack was a bigger financial success than the film, grossing 12 million dollars, while the film itself had grossed 2 million.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-importance-of-being-neil-diamond-244407/ |title=The Importance of Being Neil Diamond |magazine=Rolling Stone |last=Fong-Torres |first=Ben |date=September 23, 1976 |access-date=November 19, 2019}}

Irvine Herald reviewer Willie Freckleton observed that "Be" was "classical Diamond singing a very powerful ballad."{{cite news |via=newspapers.com |access-date=August 6, 2023 |newspaper=Irvine Herald |last=Freckleton |first=Willie |title=Freckleton in Discoland |date=November 30, 1973 |page=11 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/irvine-herald/129389271}} In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Shawn M. Haney found the album to be "compelling and rich in texture and melody" and praised Catalano's direction, Holdridge's orchestral arrangements and Diamond's occasional vocals, concluding that the album "fits the piece of the puzzle the motion picture needed so perfectly."

Track listing

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Liner notes

| all_writing = Neil Diamond.

| title1 = Prologue

| extra1 = And here begins our story – the sky, the sea, the flock.

| length1 = 3:19

| title2 = Be

| extra2 = Introduction of Jonathan – his flight and fall.

| length2 = 6:28

| title3 = Flight of the Gull

| extra3 = Jonathan is carried to the heights of ambition, and to near catastrophe.

| length3 = 2:23

| title4 = Dear Father

| extra4 = Battered, and near death, Jonathan asks for reasons.

| length4 = 5:12

| title5 = Skybird

| extra5 = Returning home to show what he has learned, his acrobatics only serve to anger the flock elders. He is put on trial, and forever…outcast.

| length5 = 1:12

| title6 = Lonely Looking Sky

| extra6 = Alone and adrift.

| length6 = 3:12

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Liner notes

| title1 = The Odyssey: Be/Lonely Looking Sky/Dear Father

| extra1 = And so begins a journey, an odyssey, a test of the spirit.

| length1 = 9:28

| title2 = Anthem

| extra2 = "Transcend, purify, glorious."

| length2 = 3:03

| title3 = Be

| extra3 = Jonathan returns to teach the flock.

| length3 = 1:06

| title4 = Skybird

| extra4 = The lesson

| length4 = 2:18

| title5 = Dear Father

| extra5 = Rebuked again by the elders, Jonathan attempts to rally the flock.

| length5 = 1:14

| title6 = Be

| extra6 = Recapitulation and farewell to Fletcher

| length6 = 3:26

}}

Personnel

Guitar: Richard Bennett, Larry Carlton, David Bennett Cohen Arthur Smith
Bass: Emory Gordy Jr., Abe Luboff, Peter Mercurio, Joe Osborn Stanley Sheldon, Ray Siegel
Keyboards: Paul Beaver, Caesar Giovannini, Ralph Grierson, Tom Hensley, Pearl Kaufman, Michael Lang, Michael Omartian, Clark Spangler
Drums: Hal Blaine
Percussion: Gary Coleman, Gene Estes, Victor Feldman
Saxophone: Sonny Criss, John Ellis, William Henderson
Woodwinds: Donald Christlieb, Gene Cipriano, Arthur Hoberman, Jules Jacob, Jack Marsh, Hugo Raimondi, Johnny Rotella, Gordon Schoneberg, Julian Spear
Strings: Paulo Alencar, Israel Baker, Marilyn Baker, Myer Bello, Arnold Belnick, Dixie Blackstone, Harry Bluestone, Samuel Boghossian, Owen Wilson Brady, Rollice Dale, Isabelle Dashkoff, John De Voogdt, Joseph Di Tullio, Assa Drori, Robert Dubow, Jesse Ehrlich, Henry Ferber, Ronald Folsom, Norman Forrest, James Getzoff, Philip Goldberg, Harris Goldman, Allan Harshman, Claire Hodgkins, Lee Holdridge, Selene Hurford, Harry Hyams, Yukiko Kanei, George Kast, Richard Kaufman, Raymond Kelley, Jerome Kessler, Louis Kievman, Lou Klass, Robert Konrad, Jacob Krachmalnick, Raphael Kramer, Bernhard Kundell, William Kurasch, Carl LaMagna, Gayle Levant, Marvin Limonick, Leonard Malarsky, Joe Mondragon, Milton Nadel, Wilbert Nuttycombe, Robert Ostrowsky, Sven Reher, Joseph Reilich, Nathan Ross, Sheldon Sanov, Ralph Schaeffer, David Schwartz, Louis Singer, Sidney Sharp, Robert Stone, Tibor Zelig
Horns: Hoyt Bohannon, Vincent DeRosa, David Duke, Tommy Johnson, Arthur Maebe, Lew McCreary, William B. Peterson, David B. Roberts, Tommy Shepard, Henry Sigismonti, Tony Terran
Backing Vocals: Phil Azelton, Luella Howard, Diana Lee, Ida Sue McCune, Sally Stevens, Robin Ward, Andra Willis
Choir: Bob Mitchell’s Singing Boys: Mark Albert, Kirk Alley, Timothy John Butala, Christopher Cartwright, Michael DeWayne Clark, Dale Cohen, John Coniglio, Sean Patrick English, Clement Shuji Hanami, Jeffrey Kennedy, Mathew Leum, Michael Leum, Bruce MacLeod, Martin Shunji Nomura, Brian Tatsuo Okamoto, Bradford Ralston, Jaime Rodriguez, Timothy Schmidt, Erik Stanton Simmons, Tracy Thielen, Eric Williams, Sherman Williams, Paul Watson Wims, Ronald Trimby Young

Charts

=Weekly charts=

scope="col" \| Chart (1973–77) ! scope="col" \| Peak position
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="row" \| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book\|last=Kent\|first=David\|author-link=David Kent (historian)\|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992\|edition=illustrated\|publisher=Australian Chart Book\|location=St Ives, N.S.W.\|year=1993\|isbn=0-646-11917-6\|page=281}} \|1
{{album chart\|Austria\|7\|artist=Soundtrack / Neil Diamond\|album=Jonathan Livingston Seagull\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
{{album chart\|Canada\|3\|chartid=4976a\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
{{album chart\|Netherlands\|8\|artist=Soundtrack / Neil Diamond\|album=Jonathan Livingston Seagull\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
{{album chart\|Germany4\|44\|artist=Soundtrack / Neil Diamond\|album=Jonathan Livingston Seagull\|id=8757\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
scope="row"\|Japanese Albums (Oricon){{cite book\|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005\|publisher=Oricon Entertainment\|location=Roppongi, Tokyo\|year=2006\|isbn=4-87131-077-9\|language=ja}} \| align="center"\| 45
{{album chart\|New Zealand\|3\|artist=Soundtrack / Neil Diamond\|album=Jonathan Livingston Seagull\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
scope="row" \| Spanish Albums (El Musical){{cite magazine\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAcEAAAAMBAJ&q=Jonathan+Livingston+Seagull+soundtrack+billboard&pg=PA56\|title=Hits of the World - Spain\|magazine=Billboard\|via=Google Books\|page=56\|date=March 9, 1974\|access-date=October 24, 2020}} \| 8
{{album chart\|UK2\|35\|date=19740210\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
{{album chart\|Billboard200\|2\|artist=Neil Diamond\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}
scope="col" \| Chart (2021) ! scope="col" \| Peak position
{{album chart\|Flanders\|154\|artist=Soundtrack / Neil Diamond\|album=Jonathan Livingston Seagull\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 8, 2021}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

scope="col" | Chart (1974)

! scope="col" | Position

scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=426}}

| 8

scope="row" | Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM){{cite magazine |date=December 28, 1974 |title=The Top 100 Albums of '74 |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.3891&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.3891.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.3891 |magazine=RPM |language=en |volume=22 |issue=19 |page=6 |issn=0315-5994 |via=Library and Archives Canada |access-date=November 8, 2021}}

| 61

scope="col" | Chart (1975)

! scope="col" | Position

scope="row" | Dutch Albums (Album Top 100){{cite web |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1975&cat=a |title=Jaaroverzichten – Album 1975 |publisher=Dutch Charts |language=nl |access-date=7 November 2021 }}

| 30

scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web |url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-albums/1975-12-31 |title=Top Selling Albums of 1975 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart |publisher=Recorded Music New Zealand |access-date=November 8, 2021 }}

| 14

=Sales and certifications=

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Australia|artist=Neil Diamond|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|award=Gold|certyear=1976|relyear=1973|certref={{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1976/Cash-Box-1976-03-06.pdf|title=Gold Down Under|magazine=Cash Box|via=World Radio History|page=50|date=March 6, 1976|access-date= November 15, 2021}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|nocert=true|salesamount=200,000|relyear=1973|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1976/Billboard%201976-05-01.pdf|title=From the Music Capitols of the World - Brussels|publisher=Billboard|page=69|first=Juul|last=Anthonissen|date=May 1, 1976|access-date=November 16, 2019}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1973|certyear=1978}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull (B.O.F.)|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Platinum|relyear=1973|certyear=1986}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Gold|relyear=1973|certyear=1978}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Hong Kong|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Gold|relyear=1979|certyear=1978}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Gold|relyear=1973|certyear=1997|access-date=7 March 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Gold|relyear=1973|certyear=1977|id=3519-3130-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Soundtrack)|artist=Neil Diamond|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1973|certyear=1986|access-date=November 24, 2019}}

References

Category:Neil Diamond soundtracks

Category:Drama film soundtracks

Category:1973 soundtrack albums

Category:Columbia Records soundtracks

Category:CBS Records soundtracks

Category:Albums arranged by Lee Holdridge

Category:Albums conducted by Lee Holdridge

Category:Albums produced by Tom Catalano

Category:Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media