Two-Bit Manchild is a song written and performed by Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond

Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

. It appears on Neil's 1968 album Velvet Gloves and Spit

Velvet Gloves and Spit

Velvet Gloves and Spit is the third album by Neil Diamond. His first for MCA's UNi label, it included three low-charting singles: "Brooklyn Roads" , "Two-Bit Manchild" and "Sunday Sun" ....

, and was released as an A-side with a B-side of "Broad Old Woman (6 a.m. Insanity)". It is a "strong and interesting" song according to Robert Jamieson.

"Two-Bit Manchild" also appears on the Neil Diamond compilation albums Glory Road 1968-1972, Play Me: The Complete UNI Studio Recordings Plus, Gold, and Reflections.

The site Allmusic recommends "Two-Bit Manchild" as one of the top four songs on the album Velvet Gloves and Spit, calling it, "a fascinating adaptation of his Brill Building-era sound to a personal/introspective lyric and approach (picture the Monkees' sound melded to a singer/songwriter persona)." It has also been described as "brilliant and very Bang

Bang Records

Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegün, Nesuhi Ertegün and Jerry Wexler...

-ish" and a "jewel". The opening riff is also reminiscent of Day Tripper

Day Tripper

"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles, released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...

 by The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

.

Debut

Neil Diamond performed "Two-Bit Manchild" on July 2, 1968 on Showcase 68. Officially released as a 45 single on July 13, 1968 with the B-Side "Broad Old Woman (6 a.m. Insanity)" as UNI 55075. It eventually reached #66 on the charts.

At least two versions of the 45 sleeve were released. One featured a picture of Neil Diamond. The other featured a swirly, psychedelic graphic. It was arranged by Renzetti, Altman, Cerone, Richards and Sandler.

International Release

In the United Kingdom, "Two-Bit Manchild" was also released with Broad Old Woman (6 a.m. Insanity) as the B-Side. It was released by MCA records in August 1968, and licensed by MCA INC. USA as UK MCA MU 1033. It did not chart in the U.K.

Subsequent History

The copyright has been registered twice, first as EP0000284487 on December 12, 1970, and again as RE0000772415 on January 2, 1998.

The poor chart performance of "Two-Bit Manchild" forebode the poor chart performance of Velvet Gloves and Spit. "Two-Bit Manchild" is now considered one of the "obscurities" of Neil Diamond's catalog.
"Two-Bit Manchild" was covered by Australian pop singer

Pop Singer

"Pop Singer" is the début single from London-based glam rockers Rachel Stamp. It was released in February, 1996 through WEA. The single was released as a 2 track CD Single and limited edition pink 7" vinyl of 1000 copies...

 Johnny Farnham on his second studio album Everybody Oughta Sing a Song

Everybody Oughta Sing a Song

Everybody Oughta Sing A Song is the second solo studio album by Australian pop singer Johnny Farnham and was released on EMI Records in November 1968. Its first single, released in July, was the double A-sided, "Jamie"/"I Don't Want To Love You", which peaked at #8 on the Go-Set National Singles...

 released on EMI Records

EMI Records

EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...

 in November 1968. The song is now covered by the Neil Diamond coverers Nine Inch Neils, and Mike Tyler.

Non-Performance on American Idol

On April 29, 2008, contestants on American Idol and Neil Diamond performed his songs on American Idol. One song they did not perform was "Two-Bit Manchild". Perhaps, as New York

New York (magazine)

New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...

suggested, it was too "on-the-nose." Some were "desperate" that David Cook

David Cook (singer)

David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...

perform it. Sadly, it was not to be.