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Barbra Streisand: the Music, the Albums, the Singles
On February 25, 1963, Columbia Records released The Barbra Streisand Album. The first song was “Cry Me a River,” and with that a star was born. Barbra Joan Streisand had a zany personality backed by a talent that Stephen Sondheim once described as “one of the two or three best voices in the world of singing songs,” adding “It’s not just her voice but her intensity, her passion and control.” Harold Arlen, another of her favorite composers, commented, ”This young lady . . . has a stunning future.” With all-male rock groups like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Four Seasons ruling the charts, no one expected a twenty-year-old female singer from Brooklyn to not just hit No. 1, but repeat that accomplishment every decade that followed all the way to the next millennium and become the best-selling female recording artist of all time. Now, for the first time ever, comes the definitive book on the extensive recording career of this towering cultural icon, the Funny Girl considered by many to be the most talented singer of her generation. Barbra Streisand: The Albums | The Singles | The Music takes readers on a journey through every album, soundtrack, and single Streisand has released
- GenresMusic
304 pages, Hardcover
Published April 24, 2023
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17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 23, 2023
Wonderful book covering Barbra's albums and singles. Very detailed information. Learned so much about each album throughout her career.
May 14, 2023
This was a wonderful book about an absolutely wonderful singer! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
June 26, 2023
Matt Howe took me to school!
I've known of Matt for years now. At one time we were both members of a Yahoo Group devoted to Barbra, and a way for fans to interact. It got rather Wild West with the exchanges between members. I contributed to the road rage on the information highway, I must admit. I met Matt once. He got a ticket, and I tried to get into without a ticket, an Oprah show that Barbra appeared on. I have my grievances of the experience. Matt has his.
But this is a book review. So, onward.
I've been a fan of Streisand since the 1960s. Have all her albums and DVD's and VHS's of her films and concerts. So, it was easy to get more educated on her. This book helped. Things I'd never noticed or forgot about came to me.
I listened to every album and read the chapter about the album. Watched the DVD's associated with the album. Sometimes twice for both the recording and the chapter.
One thing I hadn't noticed before was the ruckuses in the audience of "A Happening in Central Park". At the beginning of "He Touched Me", I heard a male voice say, "God damn it!" I shouldn't be surprised. I saw two fights almost break out during the "The Music... The Mem'ries... The Magic!" concert I attended in San Jose in 2016.
One thing I did as I made my way through the book was pay attention to the arrangements and orchestrations of the songs. I will forever associate the sounds of violins with a Barbra song. I listened to her version of "Memory". What a busy arrangement in the section that starts with "The wind begins to moan" to "A new day will begin". Webber puts all kinds of instruments into the mix.
I also, in my pursuit of knowledge, looked up frequent Barbra collaborators.
Matt is right that the "Back to Broadway" album is subpar, and a mess. I've always had some problems with the album. Thanks to Matt, I now can articulate why I have the problems. As for his chapter on "The Broadway Album", I'm surprised he didn't lift up the medley of "I Loves You Porgy\Porgy I's Your Woman Now". I would use it as an example to someone unfamiliar with Barbra's music who wants to know more. Or asks, "What is a superior example of what she does?" It has all the elements of what she does best.
I did have some disagreements with Matt's opinions. One example is the song "My Lord and Master". In our world of women's rights, reproductive rights, female candidates and political office holders, etc, there are still women to go to great lengths to obtain the male gaze. Therefore, they have their masters they need to please.
All in all, I'm glad I got the book. It helped me to appreciate albums and songs that I hadn't given my full attention to. It also helped me to reconsider songs and albums I had written off.
I've known of Matt for years now. At one time we were both members of a Yahoo Group devoted to Barbra, and a way for fans to interact. It got rather Wild West with the exchanges between members. I contributed to the road rage on the information highway, I must admit. I met Matt once. He got a ticket, and I tried to get into without a ticket, an Oprah show that Barbra appeared on. I have my grievances of the experience. Matt has his.
But this is a book review. So, onward.
I've been a fan of Streisand since the 1960s. Have all her albums and DVD's and VHS's of her films and concerts. So, it was easy to get more educated on her. This book helped. Things I'd never noticed or forgot about came to me.
I listened to every album and read the chapter about the album. Watched the DVD's associated with the album. Sometimes twice for both the recording and the chapter.
One thing I hadn't noticed before was the ruckuses in the audience of "A Happening in Central Park". At the beginning of "He Touched Me", I heard a male voice say, "God damn it!" I shouldn't be surprised. I saw two fights almost break out during the "The Music... The Mem'ries... The Magic!" concert I attended in San Jose in 2016.
One thing I did as I made my way through the book was pay attention to the arrangements and orchestrations of the songs. I will forever associate the sounds of violins with a Barbra song. I listened to her version of "Memory". What a busy arrangement in the section that starts with "The wind begins to moan" to "A new day will begin". Webber puts all kinds of instruments into the mix.
I also, in my pursuit of knowledge, looked up frequent Barbra collaborators.
Matt is right that the "Back to Broadway" album is subpar, and a mess. I've always had some problems with the album. Thanks to Matt, I now can articulate why I have the problems. As for his chapter on "The Broadway Album", I'm surprised he didn't lift up the medley of "I Loves You Porgy\Porgy I's Your Woman Now". I would use it as an example to someone unfamiliar with Barbra's music who wants to know more. Or asks, "What is a superior example of what she does?" It has all the elements of what she does best.
I did have some disagreements with Matt's opinions. One example is the song "My Lord and Master". In our world of women's rights, reproductive rights, female candidates and political office holders, etc, there are still women to go to great lengths to obtain the male gaze. Therefore, they have their masters they need to please.
All in all, I'm glad I got the book. It helped me to appreciate albums and songs that I hadn't given my full attention to. It also helped me to reconsider songs and albums I had written off.
July 3, 2023
One of the best books I have read about Barbra Streisand. This just covers her musical output, but the detail is excellent, the photographs are of a good quality and the author certainly knows his subject. He also expresses personal preferences, which I enjoy reading in a review of a person's work, even if I sometimes disagree with the opinion; but as I often say, it would be a dull world if we all thought and liked the same things.
September 22, 2023
I appreciate Howe's enthusiasm; I have been a Streisand fan since I can remember. No one sounds like her. I don't agree with all his opinions, but that is the fun aspect of the book. He does write that Jon Peters and "A Star is Born" made her a movie star, but is that really true? What about all the movies before "ASIB"? She became the biggest woman star in films with her first film 'Funny Girl."
I definitely recommend the book.
I definitely recommend the book.
July 4, 2023
Every artist should hope, pray and wish for a fan as passionate and dedicated as Howe.
As a huge music fan and long time admirer of Streisand, this book is a dream come true. I wish every artist had a collection as detailed and hyper-focused as this look at Barbra Streisand’s discography and history behind the microphone.
As a huge music fan and long time admirer of Streisand, this book is a dream come true. I wish every artist had a collection as detailed and hyper-focused as this look at Barbra Streisand’s discography and history behind the microphone.
July 13, 2023
I got my first Streisand album when I was 12. Needless to say I'm a fan. So is the man who wrote this book - Matt Howe. Thing is she never wanted to be a "singer" just an actor. That singing got her to Broadway and movies. Did she win an Oscar? Yes for Funny Girl (tied with Kate Hepburn). She also won one for her song Evergreen from A Star is Born. Yeah Babs!
April 23, 2023
The design of the book in hardcover is so gorgeous. The pages are filled with great detail about each and every album. Matt Howe is a true Streisand expert. This should be on every fan’s bookshelf and beyond.
November 17, 2023
This large book details everything that Streisand sang, wrote and her collaborations with other famous musical artists. This was just okay for me. At times it just dragged. I can't recommend it. I am looking forward to reading her new autobiography.
May 15, 2023
Covering all of Barbra Streisand's music career (with good mention of Broadway and film), this coffee table book is a treasure trove filled with images, set lists, interviews, and more!
September 1, 2023
4.5 stars.
February 19, 2024
A great book to read after reading her memoir!
So many details and information about all her recordings ! Beautiful 📕
So many details and information about all her recordings ! Beautiful 📕
June 4, 2023
As crazy as it may sound, I have had a lifelong love affair with theater music. In elementary school, when my friends raved about the new singles from the Beatles and the Stones, I secretly wished they would talk about the new offering from Rodgers and Hammerstein (Two by Two) or, perhaps, the exciting work being done by composers like Jerry Herman.
I well remember the day when my sister came home from the movies and told me that there was a score she thought I would love, FUNNY GIRL. I don't remember exactly how I got my hands on the album, but I do know that hearing it changed my life.
Why? Because of an astounding singer named Barbra Streisand.
I played the album over and over again and rushed to the store to buy her greatest hits. I convinced a friend to read the liner notes to me (I am blind and in those years that was the only way for me to read them′ and along with the notes was a list of Barbra's first ten albums. Over the next couple of years, I obtained and fell in love with each one of them. And my passion for Streisand's work has never waned. True, there are a few tracks here and there that I'm not crazy about, and there is one movie in which she starred that makes no sense to me, but every time a new album or film appears that features Barbra, I have the same reaction as I did all those years ago.
It's impossible to be as passionate about Barbra as I am and not be aware of the name Matt Howe. Since the early 2000's, Howe has been the force behind the Barbra Archives website, the most accurate and most comprehensive source for all things Barbra. I've spent way too many hours perusing that site and I always come away with a deeper understanding of why Streisand's work so captivates me.
Even so, I debated about whether I really wanted to buy the book. After all, would it really offer me anything that the site doesn't?
Now that I've lived with it for a while, I can unequivocably state that this is a must have for any Streisand fan, or for anyone who cares about getting the most out of the music they hear. It's true that I knew a lot of what is written here, but having it all in one place, and being able to easily find the little bit of trivia that adds meaning to a given song is well worth the price you'll pay.
I have been going through this book slowly. I read the section on a given album and then I listen to the recording. In addition to information about the album, Matt offers personal insights and opinions which are lots of fun to read; i feel like I'm sharing these albums that I deeply love with a treasured friend, and that makes them even more special.
Matt also inserts lots of other relevant information about Streisand's career throughout the book. his writing is clear and his tone is friendly. Barbra cares deeply about the truth, and so does Howe; so this is a source that all of us Barbra fans can definitely trust!
If you look through my Goodreads reviews, you will discover that I try to offer nuanced and carefully considered reviews. I sometimes go a little overboard with my ratings though; I am so passionate about reading that if I like a book, my excitement sometimes causes me to give five star ratings that I wonder about when I look back at them later on. In this instance though, each and every one of those stars is definitely deserved. Thank you, Matt Howe; fans who read your book are definitely the luckiest people in the world.
I well remember the day when my sister came home from the movies and told me that there was a score she thought I would love, FUNNY GIRL. I don't remember exactly how I got my hands on the album, but I do know that hearing it changed my life.
Why? Because of an astounding singer named Barbra Streisand.
I played the album over and over again and rushed to the store to buy her greatest hits. I convinced a friend to read the liner notes to me (I am blind and in those years that was the only way for me to read them′ and along with the notes was a list of Barbra's first ten albums. Over the next couple of years, I obtained and fell in love with each one of them. And my passion for Streisand's work has never waned. True, there are a few tracks here and there that I'm not crazy about, and there is one movie in which she starred that makes no sense to me, but every time a new album or film appears that features Barbra, I have the same reaction as I did all those years ago.
It's impossible to be as passionate about Barbra as I am and not be aware of the name Matt Howe. Since the early 2000's, Howe has been the force behind the Barbra Archives website, the most accurate and most comprehensive source for all things Barbra. I've spent way too many hours perusing that site and I always come away with a deeper understanding of why Streisand's work so captivates me.
Even so, I debated about whether I really wanted to buy the book. After all, would it really offer me anything that the site doesn't?
Now that I've lived with it for a while, I can unequivocably state that this is a must have for any Streisand fan, or for anyone who cares about getting the most out of the music they hear. It's true that I knew a lot of what is written here, but having it all in one place, and being able to easily find the little bit of trivia that adds meaning to a given song is well worth the price you'll pay.
I have been going through this book slowly. I read the section on a given album and then I listen to the recording. In addition to information about the album, Matt offers personal insights and opinions which are lots of fun to read; i feel like I'm sharing these albums that I deeply love with a treasured friend, and that makes them even more special.
Matt also inserts lots of other relevant information about Streisand's career throughout the book. his writing is clear and his tone is friendly. Barbra cares deeply about the truth, and so does Howe; so this is a source that all of us Barbra fans can definitely trust!
If you look through my Goodreads reviews, you will discover that I try to offer nuanced and carefully considered reviews. I sometimes go a little overboard with my ratings though; I am so passionate about reading that if I like a book, my excitement sometimes causes me to give five star ratings that I wonder about when I look back at them later on. In this instance though, each and every one of those stars is definitely deserved. Thank you, Matt Howe; fans who read your book are definitely the luckiest people in the world.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews