he's not heavy, he's my brother

[dodgerfan]

i know both the hollie and neil diamond both recorded the song around 1970. when i hear the song on local odies radio station i can't figure which artist i am hearing. does anyone know who's version is the most widely played on the radio. i am in south carolina if that helps. thanks

[Crazy Don]

I'm pretty sure that it's the Hollies' version as I am not really familiar with Neil Diamond's version. Olivia Newton-John also recorded the song?

[Jimmy1104]

Whenever you hear the song on radio it is indeed The Hollies. If Neil was singing it you wouldn't really care for it...I know I don't. You would recognize Neil's voice as it would sound like he has a frog in his throat.

[MuzikTyme]

That's one song that has been covered quite a bit. One of the most memorable to me was The Osmond Brothers' rendition.

I think it was on the B side of One Bad Apple.

[lotsahits]

The Hollies had the biggest hit version of the song (#7 versus Neil Diamond at #20) and radio definitely leans towards their recognized version. By the way, that's a pre-Your Song Elton John on piano on that Hollies record!

[Randy25725]

A good way to tell which version you are listening to is to wait for the last verse "And the load doesn't weigh me down at all". If you hear harmony, you are listening to the Hollies. If it is just one voice, it is Diamond.

[Danielj]

That song is on The Terry Fox run movie. For those who don't know, Terry Fox was a Canadian hero. He had cancer and had only one leg. To raise funds for cancer research, he wanted to run the entire length of canada. He started in Newfoundland and ran 42 miles a day. He made it to Thunder Bay, Ontrio where he found that the Cancer had spread to his lungs, heart etc. He died. Since then (it was about 20-30 years ago) We have had a Terry Fox walk/run and bring in a dollar .

[Ace27519]

Yet ANOTHER version of this classic was performed by (you guessed it) Frank Stallone. It appeared over the ending cresits to Rambo: First Blood II.