"Red Red Wine" | ||||
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Single by Neil Diamond | ||||
from the album Just for You | ||||
B-side | "Red Rubber Ball" | |||
Released | 1968 | |||
Format | 7" | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:42 | |||
Label | Bang | |||
Songwriter(s) | Neil Diamond | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Neil Diamond singles chronology | ||||
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"Red Red Wine" | ||||
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Single by UB40 | ||||
from the album Labour of Love | ||||
B-side | "Sufferin'" | |||
Released |
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Format | ||||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | Reggae fusion | |||
Length | 5:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Neil Diamond | |||
Producer(s) |
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UB40 singles chronology | ||||
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"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed, and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967. It is included on Neil's second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.
When Neil left the Bang Records label in 1968, Bang continued to release Neil Diamond singles, often adding newly recorded instruments and background vocals to album tracks from the two Neil Diamond albums that Bang had issued. For the "Red Red Wine" single, Bang added a background choir without Neil's involvement or permission. Diamond's version reached number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968. A live version was released on Diamond's The Greatest Hits (1966–92) but the 1968 single version has never been issued on a vinyl album or CD.
The song was covered by several artists shortly after Diamond's recording was released. In 1968, the Dutch singer Peter Tetteroo (from the band Tee Set) had a hit with a cover of the song in Netherlands. Tony Tribe covered the song in 1969 in a reggae-influenced style. In 1983, UB40 recorded perhaps the best known version of the song, in a lighter reggae style. The UB40 version topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Diamond later performed a UB40-inspired version of the song while on tour.
UB40 recorded their rendition for their album of cover versions, Labour of Love. According to the band, they were only familiar with Tony Tribe's version (they apparently didn't realise that the writer, credited simply as "Diamond", was in fact Neil Diamond), and their version featured a lighter, reggae-style flavor compared to Diamond's somber, acoustic ballad. The UB40 version adds a toasted verse by UB40 member Astro, opening: "Red Red Wine, you make me feel so fine/You keep me rocking all of the time", which was edited from the single that reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in August 1983 and number 34 in the United States in March 1984 but not from the version that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months after being performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert in 1988. In September 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that sales in the UK had reached one million.