Rob Garrett was a kid, growing up Brooklyn, a native New Yorker, when his parents moved the family to Las Vegas. Vegas has been his home ever since. Garrett has been a professional entertainer — singing and playing guitar — since he graduated from high school.
Garrett had a successful career singing the hits of Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond and the Beatles with a Las Vegas oldies band, Rock ’n’ Roll Heaven, when Elvis tribute artist Jonathon von Brana and “Legends in Concert” executive Paul Revere (of Paul Revere & The Raiders) told him he could make more money singing Diamond’s hits with the “Legends” tribute show. When Garrett found out how much more money, he decided to give it try.
In 1995 Garrett was booked for a three-month engagement with “Legends in Concert” in Waikiki. He did so well that he continued to perform on Oahu for three years. When Garrett returned to Vegas in 1998, it was to portray Diamond in “Legends in Concert” there. Two years later he created his own full-length Neil Diamond show.
And, just for the record, Garrett accompanies himself on guitar throughout the show.
On Jan. 8, Garrett will cap his career with a dream-come-true concert, “Neil Diamond: The Tribute,” in the 1,800-seat M Pavilion at the M Resort Casino in Las Vegas. For more information, call 702-797-1000 or go to ticketmaster.com for tickets.
How did this show come together?
I got a call asking me if I’d be interested in doing a show at the M Resort. That’s one of the few casinos in this town that I have not worked at, and I said I’d love to do a show there, and in about two days they made an offer. I was planning to go in with my regular-size show band, seven or eight people behind me, and they asked me if I could come in with an orchestra. … They were expecting 10 pieces and I gave them 16. I’ve never done anything this big in Vegas. This is a bucket-list thing for me. This is the show of my dreams.
Considering how prolific Neil Diamond has been as a writer and recording artist since the mid-1960s, what are you going to be doing?
It’s like seeing Neil Diamond in concert in the early ’80s. Before his retirement I would do the show as if I were him, and then at the end of the show I’d make a joke, “Just to come clean, I want you to know that I’m not really Neil Diamond” — which usually got a laugh. Since he retired (in 2018) I don’t speak as Neil, I speak as a narrator.
What do you remember most vividly about auditioning for “Legends?”
Paul scheduled an afternoon audition in the club where I was working. Just me and the tape, and a couple of friends for moral support. He sat down in a chair about 10 feet away from me and watched me sing four songs. Afterwards he told me that not only had I done a good job, but what I had done was one of the hardest things for a performer to do — performing for an audience of one with no band. Then he asked how’d I feel about coming to Hawaii for a few months. I’d been having a bad year, so it was like divine intervention.
Do you have a favorite Neil Diamond song — or two or three?
My favorite Neil Diamond song — out of all the hits — is “I Am … I Said.” Some of the others are songs most people do not know, but going back to the hits, “America” and “Sweet Caroline” are big ones for me, probably because of the reaction they get.
To portray Neil Diamond, you have to know a lot about the man and his music. Are there things a lot of people get wrong?
A lot of people think that his 1980 film, “The Jazz Singer,” was his life story, but it was a remake of the (1927) Al Jolson movie. And Neil Diamond didn’t write “I’m a Believer” for the Monkees. The song was a hit for the Monkees, but he wrote it for (himself). He did not write anything for anyone in particular except for Neil Diamond.
Have you met Neil Diamond?
Neil Diamond and I have never met face-to-face, but we have mutual friends so I know he knows about me.
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Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.
