Regarding Neil Diamond’s 1970 recording of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” Hal Blaine’s session notes indicate he did not perform on the track. While he often worked with Diamond, this particular song wasn’t among the sessions he documented. Hal noted that Neil Diamond did a beautiful job on the song, whether it was a cover or an original. He admired Diamond’s dedication, observing, “Everything Neil sang was from his heart. He worked so hard on doing it perfectly and that was always the end result. A perfect.”
From the session logs
Hal Blaine and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
Hal Blaine did not play drums on Neil Diamond’s 1970 recording of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” His session notes do not list this song.
“Everything Neil sang was from his heart.”
— Hal Blaine
Source: Hal Blaine’s own session database, in his words.
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