Cracklin' Rosie


"Cracklin' Rosie" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond in 1970, with instrumental backing by L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass, Al Casey on guitar and Gene Estes on percussion – arranged by Don Randi. The song was included on Diamond's album Tap Root Manuscript. In October 1970 the song became Diamond's first American No.1 hit on The Billboard Hot 100, and his third to sell a million copies. It was his breakthrough single on the UK Singles Chart, reaching No.3 for four weeks in November and December. Billboard ranked the record as the No.17 song of 1970. It also reached No.2 on both the Australian Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart. Its best performance was in New Zealand, where it stayed at No.1 for five weeks at the end of the year.
The single version released by Uni Records was in mono, while the album version from Tap Root Manuscript was in stereo.

Song meaning

Married to a catchy and dynamic melody and arrangement, the lyrics suggested to some a devotion to a woman of the night:
The stories about how Diamond was inspired to write the song are apocryphal. "Crackling Rosé" is the name of an inexpensive sparkling wine once produced by Andres Wines of British Columbia, Canada, which was popular among the indigent population. One story suggests that Diamond heard a story about a native Canadian tribe while doing an interview in Toronto, Canada—the tribe had more men than women, so the lonely men of the tribe would sit around the fire and drink their wine together—which inspired him to write the song. Another more likely version is that he saw homeless men drinking Crackling Rosé while on tour in western Canada.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications