"Red Red Wine" was written and first recorded by Neil Diamond. His original version first appeared on his 1967 album Just For You (Bang 217) and was produced by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (a.k.a. The Raindrops of "The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget" fame). Neil's version of the song (Bang single 556) peaked at #62 over a three-week run in April 1968. In the UK, two versions of the song charted in 1969: a soul cover by Jimmy James & The Vagabonds hit #36 (it also made #127 in the US), and a reggae rendition by Tony Tribe hit #46. UB40, whose members grew up listening to these versions, took it to #1 in their native UK with their 1983 cover.
The lyrics sing the praises of wine, and its ability to make you forget your problems. Diamond wrote another song about red wine in 1970 with Cracklin' Rosie.
UB40 recorded this as a cover of the Tony Tribe 1969 reggae version, which reached #46 in the UK charts. The band did not realize until after it topped the charts that Neil Diamond wrote it and originally recorded it. Lead singer Ali Campbell recalls in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits: "The funny thing about the song is we only knew it as a reggae song. We had no idea that Neil Diamond wrote it." Terence "Astro" Wilson, confirmed: "Even when we saw the writing credit which said N. Diamond, we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond or something."
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