Red Red Wine - Neil Diamond / UB40 (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond, 1968; Vic Dana, 1970; UB40, 1982). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2023-02-20. "Keeping the Oldies & Classics Alive"

"Red Red Wine," written by Neil Diamond, was a minor ballad hit for Diamond hitting the Billboard Hot 100 chart landing at the no. 62 position in 1968 and Vic Dana's version stalling at no. 72 in 1970; however, it was UB40's reggae version that many people remember. Their version originally rose to the no. 1 slot on the UK chart in 1983 and no. 34 on the US Billboard chart in 1984; but they released an extended version in the US, which included a rap sequence, in 1988. This version rose to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (Kutner & Leigh, 2005; Whitburn, 2013). UB40s version was based on a 1969 reggae cover by Tony Tribe, thinking Tony Tribe's was the original version and that "N. Diamond" referred to Negus Diamond as the writer of the song (Kutner & Leigh, 2005). What is interesting is that Neil Diamond responded to a fan on Redit and stated that UB40's version is his favorite (N. Diamond, redit, 2014); in fact, Diamond performs UB40's reggae version at his live shows (Kutner & Leigh, 2005).

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Lyrics:

Red, red wine, goes to my head,
Makes me forget that I
Still need you so

Red, red wine, it's up to you
All I can do, I've done
But memories won't go
No, memories won't go

I'd have thought that with time
Thoughts of you would leave my head
I was wrong, now I find
Just one thing makes me forget

Red, red wine, stay close to me
Don't let me be alone
It's tearing apart
My blue, blue heart

I'd have thought that with time
Thoughts of you would leave my head
I was wrong, now I find
Just one thing makes me forget

Red, red wine, stay close to me
Don't let me be alone
It's tearing apart
My blue, blue heart