Neil Sedaka - Brighton Beach Memories: Neil Sedaka Sings Yiddish (2003)

Singer. Songwriter. Composer. Pianist. Author. Neil Sedaka’s impressive sixty year career ranges from being one of the first teen pop sensations of the 50’s, a tunesmith for himself and other artists in the 60’s, an international superstar in the 70’s, remaining a constant force in writing and performing presently. This is all thanks to the countless songs he has written, performed, and produced that continue to inspire artists and audiences around the world.

Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939. Neil’s interest in music began at the young age of eight, when he would listen to The Make-Believe Ballroom. It was not Rock and Roll, but Classical music that would shape Neil into the musician he is today. By the time he was nine, he had already begun his intensive classical piano training at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music attending both the Preparatory School and the College. At 16, Arthur Rubinstein voted Neil as The Best New York High School Pianist. Though Neil considered pursuing his Doctorate in music, Neil’s next choice became his chosen vocation.

Eager to gain acceptance from his peers at Abraham Lincoln High School, Neil began performing Rock N Roll outside of his classical training. At this time, he would form the Doo-Wop group The Tokens, in which they would record two singles that would go on to be regional hits. But, it was his introduction to his young neighbor Howard Greenfield, by Greenfield’s mother, that began one of the most prolific songwriting partnerships of the last half-century that sold forty million records between 1959-1963.