Somewhere between his stint as a successful Brill Building songwriter (his songs 'I'm A Believer' and 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You' became mega-hits for The Monkees) cum-fledgling solo artist (scoring US hits with 'Solitary Man', 'Kentucky Woman' and 'Cherry, Cherry') and his world-conquering 1970s solo career, Brooklyn-born Neil Diamond released a string of inauspicious, low-selling albums in something more akin to a singer-songwriter/troubadour style. Velvet Gloves And Spit, recorded in New York before Diamond had perfected the Memphis-helmed sound of his subsequent hits, was his first for new label Uni and appeared in 1968 to little acclaim. However, following the single success of 'Shilo' in 1970, the song was tacked onto the album and it was reissued in a new sleeve. Stylistically, the album covers the whole spectrum of contemporary sounds from romantic ballads to tongue-in-cheek social commentary to brash pop gems not unlike his mid-'60s Brill Building output.
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