Barbra Streisand Discussion Thread

[my chicken is infected]

Birth Name: Barbara Joan Streisand
Born: April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Occupation: Singer, actress, occasional songwriter, producer, director, gay icon, DIVA SUPREME
Years active: 1957-present

Notable films:
Funny Girl (1968)
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
The Way We Were (1973)
A Star Is Born (1976)
Yentl (1983)
The Prince Of Tides (1991)

Notable songs (with US Hot 100 chart peaks and RIAA certification):
-People (#5)
-My Man (#79)
-Second Hand Rose (#32)
-Don't Rain On My Parade
-Stoney End (#6)
-The Way We Were (#1, Platinum)
-Evergreen (#1, Platinum)
-You Don't Bring Me Flowers with Neil Diamond (#1, Platinum)
-No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) with Donna Summer (#1, Platinum)
-Woman In Love (#1, Platinum)
-Somewhere (#43)
-I Finally Found Someone with Bryan Adams (#8, Gold)

Notable albums (with US album chart peaks and RIAA certifications):
The Barbra Streisand Album, 1963 (#8, Gold, Grammy for Album Of The Year)
People, 1964 (First US #1 album, Platinum)
A Christmas Album, 1967 (#108, 5X Platinum)
Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits, 1970 (#32, 2X Platinum)
The Way We Were, 1973 (#1, Gold)
Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Vol. 2, 1978 (#1, 5X Platinum)
Guilty, 1980 (#1, 5X Platinum)
Memories, 1981 (#10, 5X Platinum)
The Broadway Album, 1985 (#1, 4X Platinum)
Back To Broadway, 1993 (#1, 2X Platinum)
Barbra: The Concert, 1994 (#10, 3X Platinum)
Higher Ground, 1997 (#1, 3X Platinum)
Love Is The Answer, 2009 (#1, Gold)

RIAA Facts:
-Fifty-one of her albums have received no less than a Gold certification for sales/shipment of 500,000 units.
-Twenty-nine of those albums have been given at least one Platinum certification for sales/shipments of 1 million units.
-Out of those twenty-nine albums, twelve of those albums have been certified as multi-platinum, indicating sales/shipments of 2 million or more units. When combined, her Platinum certifications total 61.
-In all, Barbra has 92 RIAA album certifications.
-Eight of Barbra's singles have been given a Gold certification. Five of those have been given a Platinum certification, for a total of thirteen RIAA certifications. This brings Barbra's total album and single certifications to 105.

Grammy Awards:
1963 - Album Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (The Barbra Streisand Album)
1964 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("People")
1965 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (My Name Is Barbra)
1977 - Song Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Evergreen")
1980 - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Group Or Duo ("Guilty" with Barry Gibb)
1985 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (The Broadway Album)
1992 - Grammy Legend
1994 - Grammy Lifetime Achievement
2004 - Grammy Hall Of Fame (Funny Girl: Original Broadway Cast Recording)
2006 - Grammy Hall Of Fame (The Barbra Streisand Album)
2008 - Grammy Hall Of Fame ("The Way We Were")

Academy Awards:
1968 - Best Actress (Funny Girl)
1977 - Best Original Song ("Evergreen")

For more information on Barbra and her career and achievements, read her Wikipedia article.

Ok, I'm getting verklempt, tawlk amongst yourselves.

[my chicken is infected]

Bumping up this old post to squeal about having finally acquired the 5-DVD box set of TV specials. And I've watched them all over the past two days. A few quick thoughts on all of them.

My Name Is Barbra (1965) - This is the only one I'd seen before acquiring the set, since I have the VHS tape. I saved this one for last, albeit not consciously. While I rank it at #2 among the 5 specials, her performance of "My Man" close to the end ranks as my #1 moment in the entire set. Although taped in black and white, it's beautifully done and showcases a more raw and energetic Barbra than we usually see these days.

Color Me Barbra (1966) - My favorite special in the set, this wonderful example of early color TV is a treasure. The color is used very well, and the first act in the museum is one of the highlights of the entire set. The act with the animals is fun too, albeit a bit campy.

The Belle Of 14th Street (1967) - This is one of the two forgotten specials she did, as a soundtrack album was recorded but never released and the special was not re-broadcast or released on home video until this set was released. While not my favorite thing she ever did, I found her tribute to the art of vaudeville enjoyable. Plus there's some pre-Yentl cross-dressing.

A Happening In Central Park (1968) - Before it cost an arm and a leg to go see a sometimes overly-relaxed Barbra in concert, this special captured her when she was still more energetic and raw. You can tell at times that her famous stagefright is kicking in, but she definitely gives a great performance. My only complaint is that the concert was 2 1/2 hours long and we're still only getting the 50-minute broadcast version? I know Barbra has the entire thing in her archives. It's about time all that cut footage got liberated.

Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments (1973) - The other forgotten special, the soundtrack album to this one is one of her worst sellers, not even going Gold. (One of only two studio albums that still hasn't done so.) This one also was never re-broadcast or released to home video until this set was issued. Again, I wouldn't place it on the level of the first two and Central Park, but it also has its gems and some great concepts, including a medley of standards, including "People" and "Don't Rain On My Parade" done with various genres from all over the world, as well as Barbra singing with electronic accompaniment and with a symphony of household appliances. The highlight, however, is the duet of "Cryin' Time" with Ray Charles, which was not included on the album but has since been released on her Just For The Record box set and Duets compilation CD.

I give the set five stars for bringing these classic specials to DVD with good audio and video quality. It's not always perfect, and issues with both pop up here and there, but these are old videotaped programs - only so much can be done, although I can't help but wish they'd turned the saturation up a little on Color Me Barbra - the other three color specials seem to have a gorgeous color saturation, while CMB seems a bit washed out at times. But that's just me being nitpicky. MNIB, CMB, and AHICP are all presented with Barbra's video introductions from their 1987 CBS/Fox Home Video releases, which is a great touch, although it'd have been nice if she'd filmed new introductions for the other two as well. Great box set, especially if you can find it somewhere for cheap. So little classic TV of this kind is available on DVD.

[carolinakid]

Joey, just wanted to say thanks for your thoughts on The Television Specials. I really enjoyed all Barbra's shows, but I'd have to say My Name Is Barbra is my favorite. I love the Poverty Medley and my favorite performance on that special is When The Sun Comes Out. On Color Me Barbra I adore Gotta Move, Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home and Starting Here, Starting Now. I love the concert in Central Park, and I agree, I'd love to see the whole performance on DVD. I think Barbra looks absolutely gorgeous in "Musical Instruments" as I think her "70s look" is stunning. But then Barbra in any decade is beautiful to me! It's nice to see another Garland/Streisand fan on this board!

John

[Lazario]

I don't know very much about her but I did love her 2-hour Inside the Actors Studio interview a lot.

That wouldn't happen to be on that TV-specials DVD set, would it, Infected (even as a bonus feature)? You've probably seen it but if you haven't, you really have to just buy it on DVD.

Anyway, based on ItAS, I really want to check out her TV specials. They look awesome. I'm not very into her movies- other than What's Up Doc? Which I've seen like 3 times. Great farce. But I tried to watch Prince of Tides once and gave up because I was bored and On a Clear Day twice and just couldn't get into it. I might try again later.

[UmbrellaFish]

Personally...

I don't know much about Barbra Streisand, either. Except the only way I can remember to spell her name is to know that's it's never how I think it's spelled.

Out of her work, I've seen Funny Girl, which was good, but I wasn't crazy over it. I've also seen a little bit of Hello, Dolly! and Yentle. I wouldn't mind checking out On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (simply because I looove the title song) and her version of A Star is Born.

I will say she's definitely an interesting figure, and I love to hear her sing. I don't collect any CDs yet (busy with my DVD/BD collection, but I think I think I'll slowly move ahead with collecting more CDs), but I would certainly buy some of her albums if I did.

[my chicken is infected]

Lazario, ITAS isn't part of that DVD set, but it IS available on DVD. I'll have to see it - the Amazon Marketplace has copies VERY cheap.

I've yet to really get into Barbra's movies. I've only seen three - Yentl, which I thought was good but not an all-time great; A Star Is Born, which despite being shorter than the restored version of Garland's movie is far more overlong, overblown, and far less rewatchable than Garland's (in my opinion of course) and works better as a soundtrack album; and The Mirror Has Two Faces, which I found amusing and charming, despite obviously being a vanity project. (Lauren Bacall's Oscar-nominated performance is worth the price of admission here.) I do have Funny Girl and The Way We Were, though - I've just yet to watch them.

As for her CD's, she has a lot of them, and I do mean a lot. I currently only have 7 of her CD's so far, and I'm not even really trying to own them all, as there's a lot out there. However, if you really want to get the ones I find essential:
The Essential Barbra Streisand - 2-CD (or 3-CD if you find the limited edition cardboard sleeve) set featuring all the essential tracks - all of her top 10's except for "What Kind Of Fool," plus many classic tracks.
A Christmas Album - Yes, the Jewish lady made a Christmas album, and imo, it's one of the best ever.
What About Today? - Her first foray into contemporary pop from 1969 has mixed results, but overall is a good and underrated effort. One of only two studio albums not to go Gold.
Love Is The Answer (Deluxe Edition) - I love this album for the simple jazzy arrangements. The standard album features orchestral overdubs but, for the most part, they don't stomp all over her and drown her out. The deluxe edition features a second disc that includes the original jazz-quartet versions of 12 of the album's 13 tracks. The album features none of the drippy synths and overblown orchestral arrangements and overproduction that have plagued most of her material from the past 25 years. (Well, more like her entire career, but it's only been within the last 25 years that her voice has been less and less able to compete with it.)

[UmbrellaFish]

As for her CD's, she has a lot of them, and I do mean a lot. I currently only have 7 of her CD's so far, and I'm not even really trying to own them all, as there's a lot out there. However, if you really want to get the ones I find essential:
The Essential Barbra Streisand - 2-CD (or 3-CD if you find the limited edition cardboard sleeve) set featuring all the essential tracks - all of her top 10's except for "What Kind Of Fool," plus many classic tracks.
A Christmas Album - Yes, the Jewish lady made a Christmas album, and imo, it's one of the best ever.
What About Today? - Her first foray into contemporary pop from 1969 has mixed results, but overall is a good and underrated effort. One of only two studio albums not to go Gold.
Love Is The Answer (Deluxe Edition) - I love this album for the simple jazzy arrangements. The standard album features orchestral overdubs but, for the most part, they don't stomp all over her and drown her out. The deluxe edition features a second disc that includes the original jazz-quartet versions of 12 of the album's 13 tracks. The album features none of the drippy synths and overblown orchestral arrangements and overproduction that have plagued most of her material from the past 25 years. (Well, more like her entire career, but it's only been within the last 25 years that her voice has been less and less able to compete with it.)

Wow, I didn't realize she had that many CD's! Am I correct in thinking she got her start as a recording artist? I believe I read that somewhere.

[my chicken is infected]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbra_Str ... iscography

A big part of this is that she got her start during the days where artists often released two, sometimes three albums per year. Definitely a far cry from nowadays where some artists take several years between releases.

She really got her start in nightclubs - her debut album was supposed to be a live recording of her act from the Bon Soir club, but instead, it was a collection of studio recordings. (Eight of the recordings intended for that album surfaced on Just For The Record.) She also did a Broadway show, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, in 1962 before the release of her debut album.