Diamond Defenders

Neil Diamond has played a record 10-night concert at the Forum and whom do you have on your June 25 cover? Pete Townshend! Give me a break!

Diamond’s more than 20-year career has influenced every aspect of pop music. Others have received praise for Diamond’s ideas.

Paul Simon was practically knighted for his African-influenced “Graceland.” Has everyone forgotten that this format was originally a hit album of Neil Diamond’s in his 1971 “Tap Root Manuscript”?

Would Bruce Springsteen have released “Born in the U.S.A.” had it not been for Diamond’s “America”? Would Barbra Streisand have made the movie “Yentl” had it not been for “The Jazz Singer”?

DANIEL PAUL

Sacramento