On a Barbra kick....the greatest voice in the history of mankind.

Not really a Streisand fanatic, but I was blown away the first time I heard this

Simply stunning R1. I actually have never heard that one before. That’s a keeper!

It was a great voice in her early years. Everything from the 1960s is wonderful. Her voice started tightening a bit around 1980. The Broadway Album is stunning, though. The kind of material she should have sung a lot more of instead of wasting her talents trying to be 'trendy'.

i'm gay as a goose but didn't get the barbra gene.

My equivalent is Grace Slick (solo and group) and Stevie Nicks (solo and group)

let's rock

[quote]I love all of her movies too,

Even "Nuts" and "The Mirror Has Two Faces"???

Not “Nuts” I guess R5. I feel that was a weird choice of a movie for her. But definitely “The Mirror Has Two Faces”!

I semi-disagree R3. While I definitely agree with you about her 60s work, I feel that although her voice definitely matured, it continued to be quite a marvel until the mid-nineties I’d say, for me at least. But her 80s stuff are some of my favorites. “Somewhere” from “The Broadway Album” is nothing short of otherworldly. It was when she released “The Movie Album” in 2003(?) that you could really tell a lot of the magic was lost. And now....I just saw some clips from her Netflix special...the magic is completely gone. So sad.

Love both of them R4!

True, OP, but now the show is over. Sadly

Sad but true R9.

No, that would be an Italian singer called Mina, especially from the late ‘60s through the mid-‘70s.

Her later films took a nose dive. 'The Guilt Trip', 'Nuts' and 'The Mirror Has Two Faces' are TERRIBLE!

She is magnificent in 'What's Up Doc?' and 'The Way We Were' but her ego became monstrous and is still growing.

Now she lives in her luxury Malibu ocean front estate with an army of dolls and staff whom she bosses about and a private shopping street displaying her 'things'. She is decadent and disgusting.

There's a lot to get crabby about when considering Barbra, but it all comes from frustration with how much talent she had and how little taste. Still, the talent is always there, pulsing and alive.

Classical Barbra. Stunning singing there. It gives us a peek at what she might have done.

[quote]There's a lot to get crabby about when considering Barbra, but it all comes from frustration with how much talent she had and how little taste.

R13, that is a very wise statement.

I've only liked three of her albums, Funny Girl, The Way We Were (not the soundtrack), and The Broadway Album.

Live in Central Park FIFTY YEARS AGO. No lipsynching here. Early Barbra has no peer!

Yeah R13, I know what you’re saying....I really can’t make sense of some of her decisions musically, especially in the 70s. I think an artist always has that pressure of trying to appeal to everyone to keep their career going, and perhaps some of it was done at the advise of managers and executives...who knows. Her recent album of duets with the likes of Melissa McCarthy and Seth MacFarlane—I was like WTF? I’m positive that was not something she herself thought of. But I just like to focus on the good stuff.

Simply stunning R16!

Only if it was true....still those 3 albums are great.

OP, the day we lose Barbra will be the darkest day indeed, thank you for the thread.

Remember this, DL.

I'm so glad to have experienced her in my own lifetime, that's a rarity for me. I have a legacy of loving singers long passed. I have a million thanks to hand to Barbra while she is still alive.

She was so unique, even for the early 60s. The hair, the eye makeup, the thrift shop look. But as soon as she opened her mouth to sing all doubts were cast aside. She was awesome.

I'd also like to add my kudos to R13, who summed things up very nicely for now.

I wish I could go back in time and be in audience for Barbra on Broadway.

24th reply and not a single troll!

Nobody not nobody will rain on your parade, OP.

Her best years were from 1963- 1973. Her rise to superstardom was fantastic and the work she put out was top quality. She was a groundbreaking, and single handedly changed standards of what was deemed acceptable in terms of beauty. She was one of the biggest stars in the world. There was nothing like her at the time. 80- 85 then 91-95 weren't bad for her either.

That being said. Love is the Answer is the only album she's made post Broadway Album that can stand with her classics. Both duets albums were obvious cash grabs, and Movie Album and Guilty Pleasures were major letdowns. She fell headfirst into schlocky ballads and she traded quirkiness for middle of the road banality. She forgot how to take chances and plays it safe with everything.

Oh, Lord. R25 had to spoil it with a dare.

Not a dare, R27.

And even if a troll interferes tonight , they can't succeed, she is just that good.

Thrilling

I have to switch to my laptop, my iPad isn't very good for links and linking. She did some amazing covers of that short blond man, Paul Something, back in the seventies. "The best thing you've ever done'" does that ring any bells?

R29 it's a perfect arrangement, thank you. Yes, it was thrilling.

Paul Something...

Yup, Barbra Streisand is the great singer/voice of our time. I have all of her hit singles. One song I particularly like by her is her rendition of "Free Again" - both plaintive and joyful.

Barbra's hit song "The Way We Were" was the #1 best selling hit single of 1974. ("Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks came in at #2).

Babs and Robert.

I like the gown.

Paul Williams,

Williams! Paul Williams.

She did elevate an otherwise B list songwriter.

Sure, go ahead. Make fun. I still love it and can't help wiggling.

Streisand's "gift" is astonishing, indeed. But ultimately her uniqueness and her inescapable confidence leaves each recording after 1966 seeming like an airless production, polished and honed and glammed but inevitably all about her, and therefore lacking in human connection. It's not that she's an insincere singer. But she is a monster, indeed, in the showbiz sense: a perfectionist spectacle that in the end just obliged one to look at her.

Garland projected emotional authenticity. Streisand doesn't, and can't.

But the real point of posting this is to reflect on what that says about someone who would say "the greatest voice in the history of mankind," or even "they can't succeed (a troll "interfering"). In terms of gay culture, gay-sanctified divas seem to fall into three groups. Camp bitches, vulnerable pathetiques, and indomitable life forces. Bette Davis, Piaf, Cher. Joan Crawford, Garland, Madonna.

Babs would seem to occupy the third group. But there is a sub-category there, because being indomitable can represent a heroic spirit who has overcome adversity or someone who is caught in her own universe and whose zest is all about her. The last would include Mae West. And, yes, Miss Streisand.

And her hardcore devotees are the types who groove on that, either because they enjoy such robust self-absorption or they lack the taste and discretion to recognize the difference between the Grande Anima and the Mostro Brillante.

In terms of performers, that means the crucial difference between the woman who sings for others and the one who sings for herself.

Rather a cold deity to gush over. And her dubious taste makes for a very Vegas form of perfection.

OP I was ten years old when my mother played this on repeat, my mother was a musical swami for me!

R40, I won’t necessarily disagree with you. I acknowledge that Barbra has quite the ego, and some of the things I’ve heard come out of her mouth over the years have disappointed me a bit because you can tell she is rather self-absorbed. I remember when she was on Oprah promoting her Movie Album, she was using a white microphone and Oprah commented that she didn’t know she they had white microphones at Harpo. And Barbra said something to the effect of that she had the microphone specially made because she was wearing a white outfit and didn’t want to draw attention away from her. And she was serious! So I don’t necessarily WORSHIP her as a person and think that she can do no wrong.

But her talent was just so extraordinary and no other voice gets me like hers does, so because of that I can’t help but be a fan. Plus I think that her larger than life personality does add to the mystique a little bit.

R41, I just listened to that like two minutes ago!!! Love it!

It’s okay R39, I love it too ;-)

You’re welcome R20 ;-)

OP, how did I ever miss this call-in from Barbra?

I'll share it with you.

R46–wow, thanks for sharing, this is awesome!! It gives you a glimpse of her in a candid moment, and honestly, I don’t think she’s quite as much of a diva as people may think. I don’t know...some people on here seem to be irritated by people being fans of her, but I don’t care. I’ll always be a fan.

I saw her in 1994 at Madison Square Garden...twice. I called her a human Stradivarius back then. You simply cannot believe that such a beautiful, powerful and emotionally gut wrenching sound could come out a human being. This clip is sublime and gives a taste of that.

Also notice all the white gay males in the audience.

Another incredible live take, never released.

The Release Me CD has some pretty good songs on them

Never noticed it before R48, but she screws up the words to Silent Night! She says wild instead of mild. I backed it up . to make sure. "Holy infant so tender and wild" She gets it right the second time but that was awful. And I frankly a not of the mind that Silent Night should be improvised on. The scat variations in melody ruined it.

When she sticks to the script she is sooooo much better. R13 had it right on so many levels but especially in regards to Classical Barbra. THAT album was truly beautiful

The Best Thing You've Ever Done

Listen to the classic Barbra ending...spectacular.

R50, she doesn't say wild. If you can't hear it, look at her lips. Mild is said very differently from wild, she is saying mild.

From the beautiful cord progressions, I'm guessing this was a Peter Matz arrangement. He was a gift to her.

I saw Barbra at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on Saturday, June 4, 1994. It was unforgettable perfection.

Another favorite from my all-time favorite Barbra Streisand album:

Summer Me, Winter Me

I've Never Been a Woman Before

Gorgeous song. Her voice has never sounded better. She belts and holds the note at the end that blows me away.

Great song, Caitlyn.

When Babs dies, I hope I'll be able to say "I didn't know she was still alive." Which means she'd be retired for a couple of decades. She needs to retire NOW - but she won't.

One of the greats...

She sang live in your lifetime?

You know you win it all.

R53 did you go to Disneyland afterwards? That would have been an amazing evening ;-)

You know, I wish she had retired after "Love is the Answer". That would have been such a brilliant sign-off to a brilliant career. Her voice cracks and strains but conveys the weariness and wisdom of age. Really, one of her best.

R61, her voice and face convey all the weariness and wisdom of age in this clip, especially the Ice Castles, Through the Eyes of Love, section at 6:00.

She should have been brave and not had work done or push the envelope anymore. She should have bowed out gracefully after this concert and simply said, I'm done. I've said all I have to say.

I saw her in Brooklyn last year. So sad. People left early. None of it is still their. She had no class. Too preachy. Actually said the word "fuck" for no apparent good reason.

^^there not their

Wow R62, that’s really strange and sad. She just randomly blurred out the F word? Speaking of her having work done, I do find it strange that she didn’t mess with her face most of her life, and then in her 70s decides to start. Her face looks bloated and weird now.

oh my, remember her duet with don johnson? LOL

I am alive for a legend.

To this day I listen to her records and wonder how did I get so lucky to get to witness this.

R42, I don't think that's how the microphone story ended. The show was just about to end, and when Oprah asked about the mic, Barbra said she had had one of Oprah's mics painted white.

There was maybe one second of Oprah being NOT PLEASED and then the picture went out.

I'm speaking from memory of long ago, so I could be wrong.

R67, the whole mic story is nonsense created by Kathy Griffin. It was one of those very funny and insightful stories that never happened. I could be wrong.

R67, with all due respect, you’re wrong because I recorded that episode of Oprah and saw it for myself. It definitely happened. In fact I think it might be floating around on YouTube.

R68, it definitely happened because I saw it for myself. What does it have to do with Kathy Griffin? Did she talk about it or something?

R64, she was on a political jag about Trump (I despise him but find the white woman Trump jagd tedious). I looked it up, it was May 6th. Hillary and Bill were in the audience. She did a song about global warming, said the word fuck for reasons I can't remember but it was a turn off, and bragged about enjoying telling people what to do. Her voiced sucked. The tickets were very expensive (I paid $200 dollars a seat and bought 3 because I wanted to bring two family members who had never seen her). At the end she was supposed to exit and come back for a curtain call but didn't do it, admitting she was too lazy and what the hell.

I'm sorry I went because it was so sad and such a turn off. I've come to believe that she never really grew out of being a poor, uneducated, unclassy Jewish girl from the projects in Brooklyn.

R54 that video is sublime. The way her voice climbs, then falls...

R67, my original comment about recording that episode was meant for R68. Yes, that’s basically how it happened but I don’t remember Oprah being not pleased, just surprised and maybe even amused. During that whole episode, you could tell that Oprah herself was pretty starstruck. During one song, the camera cut to Oprah and she was sitting there as if in awe with her mouth hanging open. Lol

Does anyone really think Oprah gave a shit about a mic being painted white? The woman shits money and there must have been mics all over the place at Harpo Productions before it was demolished.

The video is on Youtube. I wasn't a big fan but it was definitely and end of an era. I was sorry to see it go.

Wow R71. That’s really disappointing. I’ve seen some recent clips of her singing...it’s sad but her voice really is gone. As for the swearing and the political talk....based on that and some other recent things I’ve seen of her, I think she’s desperately trying to stay relevant and appeal to younger people. And I really think she should just retire and settle for being a living legend.

R73, I think I accidentally conflated what I saw on Oprah with Kathy Griffin's interpretation. It was she who said Oprah was not pleased, and over the years I came to believe that I saw Oprah's displeasure myself, when she might simply have been surprised. After all, it's sort of absurd to paint a mic just because you're fussy about how it will clash with your outfit. Nobody looks at the mic when Streisand is singing.

I think we sometimes imagine we saw a particular expression just because--maybe--we would have felt that way about something. This will sound bizarre, but the same thing happened on NYC's cable strippers show hosted by Robin Byrd. She had on porn star Blade Thompson, and called him a "virgin." She meant that he'd never been on her show before, but he didn't know that, and resented the notion that a big hot guy like himself would still be untested.

"How do you know?" he asked, with some anger. Or so I thought. Later, I saw a repeat of that show, and in fact he was not angry, just curious. I think maybe I would have been angry (at the invasion of privacy, and, yes, porn stars are entitled to it) and I substituted my own reaction for his.

Sorry for the length. Porn buffs who recall Blade will be amused. He was really sexy in a "big overgrown boy" way, and actually had a good personality--playful and zesty.

Yeah R76, I know what you mean...I often do that. I have certain memories about something being a certain way but then when I go back and revisit it, it’s not like that at all...it’s funny what your brain does.

Yes, and it was really unnecessary. If she had just sung, even with the state of her voice, it would have been great. I think she also bragged that she does concerts to buy paintings. Well, fuck you too.

She needs people around her to tell her the truth.

R76, you need to start listening to me bitch. R68

Is her pussy still in good shape?

Go to bed R80.

OP - That was a stunning choice! This is mine....

I was a huge fan of La Streisand in college. Would have people to my dorm room and show them her singing My Man at the end of Funny Girl.

Got to see her in Anaheim in 1994. Amazing evening. It was my birthday, and I share a birthday with Marvin Hamlisch, who was her conductor. So she sang Happy Birthday!!

Back in 2011, I started watching Judy Garland vids on YouTube. I remember crying seeing The Man that Got Away from her TV show. Since then, I'm sort of less impressed with Barbra Streisand. She is technically brilliant, no question. But she doesn't put the emotion in her songs that Judy did. For someone who has always claimed to be an actress first and foremost, her singing is pretty sterile.

I agree that Babs early stuff is best. She WAS best when she only sang standards very rarely. Later on, she became too concerned with people pleasing. Though, I do love her duet with the Gibb brother, and I love the Broadway Album.

Babs is okay but she's no Linda Lavin!

The probably bumped pussies in the 60s...

R83, I think this video is from Anaheim '94. It is an extraordinary live piece. Her notes from 3:00 on are beyond words,

Babs behind bars.

I never thought I would see her singing live because I live in Europe and was too young in 1994 when she performed in London. I don’t live in England. I was very happy seeing her later. Her voice wasn’t the same anymore but hearing her singing all her greatest classic hits was an event for me. Today her voice is gone. I thought she would give up singing when her voice begins to decline but she didn’t. She will sing till 2021 to get her 7th decade of #1 albums. Her voice broke when she spoke at GG. It made me sad.

R86 One of my favorite. Her last note is longer in MGM version and is even better.

This is the old lady that's responsible for the "Streisand Effect".

I'm pleasantly surprised to see she also had a singing career.

She talks so much during concerts because her voice cannot handle as much singing as it used to - soon (if she continues) she'll be talking THE SONGS too - just like Rosemary Clooney did toward the end. I wouldn't pay a dime for that shit.

She's become just like Frank Sinatra, who should have retired in the 1970s yet continued to sing publicly for a couple decades after he lost his singing voice.

Why is she touring anyway? She should have done it in the 80s when the voice was excellent.

Cant believe no ones talking about how great R40 post was !!!!

I hope youre writing and making lots of money doing it!

We all benefit from your brilliance

SO GREAT!!!

She definitely now has the body of an old Jewish lady shopping on the Grand Concourse in the 50s.

Dressing up like Callas in Pasolini's Medea is not hiding anything.

And the voice sounds like Sherrill Milnes at the end of his too long career.

I love Barbra Streisand, but I hate having to be ashamed of liking her. I feel like I have to hide the movies when friends come over. I love her most during her Star Is Born period.

If you like Barbra during her during her Star is Born period you should be so ashamed you shouldn't even be posting it anonymously.

OP: Glad you're having a good time, paw-paw!

R97 It was the Barbra I grew up with.

I just ordered a copy of the DVD set of all her television specials. I haven't seen any of them yet.

R40 is spot on.

What's Up Doc, A Star is Born and Owl and the Pussycat.

Oh honey, OP, no. Just no.

So much hatred for Barbra. I don't get it.

Because you are a bit dim, R104. Any star who collects the kind of purple prose stanning of the OP, here, deserves a heaping load of DL snark. It's irresistible to shoot down such low-brow trollery.

R96, I ALSO liked her during her Star Is Born period so youre not alone.

I liked her better before-esp. Clear Day- but Star had a great score for what it was.

Just WAIT till the Ga Ga score comes out!

THEN we'll really appreciate the creatives that Streisand's talent drew her way.

R106 Truly the ultimate star of the 70s.

R107 you are why I love this place!

Just WOW!!

Never saw that before.

What a time that was!!!

She was amazing!!

And youre the best.

oh barf how emotive

Go barf somewhere else.

And who can argue that this wasn't a great time for this woman?!

and for our friend at R109....

That one is good at R111. The hyperbole of OP however is vomit inducing and quite stupid.

My single favorite Barbra recording. Released in 1974, it was recorded in 1967 as part of the aborted "Belle of 14th Street" album. Flawless Peter Matz arrangement of course.

Streisand at her most Garland.

At her prime. Love the credits: Joe Layton...Dwight Hemion......Peter Matz.......Fred Glazer......Tom John

From 2:04 on........musical orgasm.....

Fuck you, OP.

Wow again R114! Imagine knowing you have that inside you! And I disagree about the OP R112--Havent you ever loved so??

Even this minor song is amazing-

and her breath control!!!!^

Her last movie, The Guilt Trip, in which she played a mature woman with a grown son. I believe she didn't sing a single note in the movie. It was an okay comedy.

r61: I'm another big fan of "Love Is The Answer". I wish she continued in this vein and became a jazz singer, becoming "the actress who sings" all over again. Depending on her choice of material, the limitations of her voice would not have mattered much if at all. But she had to return to over-produced over arranged shlock.

"Simply Streisand" (1967) is the best album she has ever done.

"You Wanna Bet" is one of my fave BS recordings.

Mine too, r121. Pure Vegas. Don Costa arrangement a la Eydie. Barbra Swingin' Sassy!

And it has one of her trademark long-held notes at the end. Remember that interview when she was asked how she holds a note so long, and she replied, "Because I want to."

R118 Not good enough to get Gypsy done.

Clip at R114 is spectacular. I used to watch "Color Me Barbra" (on laserdisc) all the time when I was in law school. That is my favorite of her TV specials.

Yes R125. I'm so glad OP started this thread!

THANKS OP!

Although it seems they get no love, I have always been a fan of her disco hits from the late 1970s/early 1980s:

"The Main Event/Fight"

"Enough Is Enough (No More Tears)"

"Promises"

"Emotion"

agree 100%

And because it was her, the disco hits were better than most

You cant deny it

Perhaps she could figure out some way to restore her voice?

In a sign that I am a huge homo...

I remember buying the soundtrack album for "The Main Event" and being so excited when I saw the theme song was over 11 and a half minutes long! (R128)

Same for "Enough is Enough", another 11:44 song!!

No , a sign youre just a lover of art

R129 is there some way we can all be 20 years younger?

She had her voice when she needed it: when she had something important to say.

She doesnt need it now.

Not that she has nothing to say. But not like back then when she was a first and an original.

For, as great as her voice was, almost as great was her personality,style and message to the culture.

Never again.

R128 Amazing. The movie wasn’t as good as their first one What’s Up Doc

How was she in NUTS?

'Remember that interview when she was asked how she holds a note so long, and she replied, "Because I want to."'

There's also EDITING. Babs looooooves to have recordings put together from numerous takes. Many long notes (which are not an indicator of good singing, btw), are manufactured in the recording studio editing room. Sorry.

I've always been waaaaaaaay behind the times, so while I grew up with her being a silky megastar on the radio, I just wasn't that interested, because I wasn't that interested in anything current. But I really liked her first albums when I started listening to them. They were kind of...angry. And wacky. She was definitely a New Yorker, in there was something brutally immediate about her. And then she'd do very smooth, beautiful ballads where you knew she had tender, unique interpretations.

As you got into the 70s and god forbid the 80s work, she began to sound controllingly finished...to the point where it almost made you feel bad about yourself because you were not B!A!R!B!R!A! S!T!R!E!I!S!A!N!D! It's like Heavenly elevator music. "Airless," as a posted shared above.

I honestly think she's a spectacular actress. Her music I can take or leave, aside from the early stuff. I definitely admire her, but I'm not drawn to what she became.

Why hasn't she directed any more films?

R133 Purple purple purple prose

Who is writing this shit? 103 year old J.J. Hunseckers?

R139--stay on topic. If you disagree for heavens sake ADD SOMETHING OF YOUR OWN instead of attacking posters.

I'm 17 and write what I feel.

Wish you'd do the same ABOUT THE SUBJECT. Otherwise, its all just a bore and contributes nothing from your heart.

Add some purple

and in that vein, here's another contribution to the topic

[quote]R140 stay on topic. If you disagree for heavens sake ADD SOMETHING OF YOUR OWN instead of attacking posters. I'm 17 and write what I feel.

No, you're a controlling little bitch no one likes.

Hmmm alright then. You're 17, your only posting history is 13 posts to a Barbra Streisand thread, wherein Babs is argued to be "the greatest voice in the history of mankind", AND you write like a tin pan alley publicist of the 1950s. Well, fuck me!

R143-I post all over this site and have for 2 years with multiple devices. And when they tell me Ive reached a limit I clear my cookies and post again. For one supposedly so learned about publicists from the 50's you could learn the workings here on this and other sites instead of spending your time looking up posters to see how many posts they write. And then writing posts just about them.

Streisand is a favorite I was introduced to by my grandparents. Just because Im young doesnt mean I dont have access to the greats.

And for one so bothered by others use of words R139, maybe you could refrain from the use of "shit" in describing them!

AND ADD SOMETHING RELATED TO THE TOPIC. What a waste of a slot.

(Unless youre a woman. Then I understand your concern with personalities over topics.)

BACK TO TOPIC:

Another great song

R144 I honestly don't think I could stomach La Babs singing something called LULLABY FOR MYSELF...

There's a limit.

Does anyone else like "How Does the Wine Taste" best? Also, the People album (minus the song itself, which is tiresome) and the...what was the name if the amazing, astounding thing she did in the museum? Who could do that now?

But its so enjoyable to troll you. I'm heartened that you have "access" to Streisand seeing how she is the greatest voice in the history of all mankind. Imagine being deprived of that. For, as great as her voice was, almost as great was her personality, style and message to the culture. Never again.

That you find enjoyment in trolling is telling

I'll find my enjoyment sharing joy over the topic

Enjoy this over trolling.

Youll be happier that way.

And now knowing your intent, you shall not hear from me again.

But you will from the lady of the hour.

Wonderful to experience all these songs again.

I'd probably have more respect for her if she simply directed GYPSY. I honestly think she's a better director than actress. She can impart her vision of the character to someone who could do the role justice. Even in her younger days, I can't picture her as a Rose. She cares too much about what people think and would probably try to make Rose too likable. Her voice never really seemed the right type for it either. I guess that's completely dead now. A shame, too, because the script I read for it was incredibly terrific.

“Kiss Me In the Rain” and “Coming In & Out of Your Life” are two underrated lite rock bangers. Hard to pick all time favorites but those two are adult contemporary perfection.

As much as I loved her growing up, followed by her “Broadway” album, I have to say NO, she is not all that. A treasure most definitely, but even La Streisand knew there was one woman that bested her. “With a voice like that, it is sad she couldnt be happy with what she had,” said Babs about the passing of Whitney Houston. I salute Streisand but she was not the greatest of all time by far.

"lite rock bangers"? Please, don't make up terms. And Barbra never sang a rock song in her career. Disco, yes. Pop, yes.

She tried rock....[italic]Stony End,[/italic] and some other tunes that weren't particularly successful, by rock standards.

She was my mother's favorite (my father's was Ella) and as a child of the 60's and 70's I heard a LOT of Barbara. The cool thing about Streisand was that she stayed very current; her music was for the most part contemporary and modern. During her heyday, there was still something called "pop" -- mainstream music that most people listened to, and that's the type of music she sang. So you had this beautiful voice singing these uptempo hits and wonderful ballads like the way we were and she sold millions of records and sold out concerts because she was mainstream. The great female singers of that era with a few exceptions (Aretha for example), weren't singing pop hits; Ella was doing the American Songbook, Sarah Vaughan was singing hardcore jazz, etc. Barbara stayed very mainstream and very commercial -- nothing wrong with that since her voice was heard by the most people, and she did have some really great songs.

I personally don't think she's even the greatest female singer of the 2nd half of the 20th century, but it doesn't bother me that OP does -- she had a spectacular voice. But she wasn't the best when connecting to her audience or even "putting over" a song.

One of Bab's wimpy attempt at rock:

Another half-hearted stab at the rock canon:

Professor Cheesehead- “Lite rock” is an FM radio staple and perhaps the addition of the word “banger” tripped your wire a bit and offended your effete, snobby sensibilities. henceforth no one is permitted to “make up terms” per Prof C. Let’s quietly mourn any attempts at originality on the DL. What a curt prig.

[quote] As much as I loved her growing up, followed by her “Broadway” album, I have to say NO, she is not all that. A treasure most definitely, but even La Streisand knew there was one woman that bested her. “With a voice like that, it is sad she couldnt be happy with what she had,” said Babs about the passing of Whitney Houston. I salute Streisand but she was not the greatest of all time by far.

Whitney probably had a better vocal instrument but Streisand has superior technique and artistry -- so arguably Streisand is the better 'singer.' Whitney herself told Barbara Walters that she was influenced by Streisand.

Her sister Rosalind beats her on all fronts.

Babs blackballed and starved her out of the industry, and she had to end uo working in a bakery.

Irrepresible Rosalind....the star that never was.

And the ultimate test.....

I like how Roslyn would always talk about how much she loved Shirley Bassey. . .just to get under Barbra's skin.

Thread just got more real.

With all of her trillions, she should have just bought her sister off with a decent life. But Babs is too petty, and short sighted, for that.

R138 - I think part of the reason she hasn't directed again is that her career ambition was lessened once she married James Brolin. She kept making records because she has a contract to do so, but otherwise Barbra has admitted to being lazy about working. I think Sue Mengers commented when she was her agent that getting Barbra to work was very hard.

It was not eazy being a gay male in the long ago past. She made it eazier. You could escape somrwhere in her music. She has a place in heaven or whatever she believes in waiting for her...

On a meaner note that private, New England, historical, upper crust village she built outside of LA, on a clif overlooking the Pacific is way too much. It must have been built to erase the nightmare Jewish ghetto she grew up in Brooklyn - when Brooklyn was poor.

She has many times in interviews said her 2 best summers were spent in Detroit in the late 50 's. My current hometown, wow how things went downhill in the D.

It would be SO FUNNY if she sang at Streisand's funeral! Then she could dance on her grave.

And when Streisand doesn't leave her a decent inheritence, she can write the nastiest tell-all [italic]evah.[/italic]

Sistah better get wise...

Who is sistah? Remember Jews dont believe in hell.

I'v heard some things of James Brolin's long long ago past in SF that involved a sli.. and many men. But, he is so handsome Babs can forget any of this if she might have heard.

R170 She likes the gays. I just hope he just doesn't run off with her son.

Or Rosalind....

171 comments and not a word about the Guilty album?

Here: I LOVED the “Guilty” album, it remains a secret pleasure, “Woman in Love” was so much fun. But this comment “Streisand has superior technique and artistry” is truly absurd. Streisands song all sounded like the first after the last with varying lyrics - but she certainly could soar with her ballads. Houston varied her musical performances with every performance - each time she mixed them up to near perfection. She was called “One take Houston” because she could literally provide the PERFECT interpretation that would last decades on her first take. THEN she would do the same song with a different rhythm in her liver performance and still bring the audience to their feet.

They were very diff artists - Streisand in her constancy - Houston in her elegant free style thrilling every time. Whitney became a much much bigger global success - Streisand had the longevity without the burden of race, class and sexual politics. Houston would still be dominating the charts today if she had actually had support, more than one loving source of forbidden intimacy, in her very conflicted personal life.

Her son is oddly handsome. I've always though his dad was handsome in his younger years and I can see him in Jason, especially the eyes. Has anyone here at DL ever met Jason?

R174 He also has big dick face.

[quote]Her sister Rosalind beats her on all fronts.

R160 = Lorna Luft.

Yeah, she had one incredible voice. And she also was great at choosing songs and arrangements that worked for her.

A personal fave, that I remember hearing as a kid, was her medley of "Sing" from Sesame Street and "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (made popular by Mama Cass Elliot).

Not til I was in college and getting politicized did I learn Babs recorded this live at a fundraiser for George McGovern, running against Nixon in 1972.

Barbara Streisand Fans =.A YELLOW

Creepy Timothée Chalamet DL Stans = C BLUE

90% of posters on this thread = GREEN

I'd like to know how exactly the OP knows that Streisand's voice is the greatest in the history of mankind.

Or has he just become seriously deranged from seeing A Star is Born more than once?

[quote] Houston would still be dominating the charts today if she had actually had support, more than one loving source of forbidden intimacy, in her very conflicted personal life.

I disagree. I am a huge Houston fan and she was a phenomenal talent but the legacy she left as a recording artist is not indicative of the depth of her talent. And it does not compare to Streisand's at the same time in her career. Houston has nothing like the first 10 years of Streisand's recorded catalog -- unique, daring, thrilling. There was really no one like Streisand before she hit the scene and when she arrived she was peerless. As a recording artist, Houston's sound was so staid and homogenized that lesser vocal talents like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion could make comparable recordings and sound like peers even though (in her prime) Houston could have easily sang them both out of the room.

Other than them both being spectacular vocalists who enjoyed commercial success there is almost no basis for comparison between Streisand and Houston.

AGREE 100%--GREAT POST R180!

[quote]R172 Not a word about the Guilty album?

OMG....I never listen to anything of hers from that tacky Muzak period....

Oh come on, Guilty was great!

[quote]R179 I'd like to know how exactly the OP knows that Streisand's voice is the greatest in the history of mankind.

I like when she was braver, tougher, not afraid to make a borderline ass of herself.

I mean, this is grand, but also a little crazy!

On her second album, her enunciation on the vocals of this song are even more...snappish.

A friend of mine who's a singer said, "Wow, she really attacks those lyrics like a pitbull!"

"GOT'TA MOOOOOOOOOOVE ! ! ! "

R185 -you are so right: nothing like her then.

Amazing!

Can you imagine being at the Bon Soir when she made her debut on the Village scene? Swoon. That is a privileged group of gays. Kind of like the group that saw Judy live at Carnegie.

Can you imagine walking out into the night afterwards on a cloud??

R189 Um... sure... you needlessly caustic beeyotch.

I don't like a lot of her stuff, but her voice was incredible. Somewhere is my favorite.

FUN FACT: In the filmed concert from Anaheim '94, when she cuts to Jason in the audience, it was actually shot the day after the concert in an empty storefront in an Anaheim strip mall, with extras sitting on folding chairs around Jason on a makeshift bleacher. I know this because my dad is sitting behind Jason and to the right. They were short a few extras/seat fillers, and one of the PA's approached my dad (who was a few doors down) and asked him to be in the clip. Barbra directed it. At first she looked at my dad and said "No, he's wearing a white shirt, it will cause too much glare in the shot, we can't use him." But a fast-thinking PA grabbed a dark dress jacket from someone and told him "Quick, put this on!" Barbra was OK with it and dad made the final cut.

I have a polaroid of it somewhere. Dad's presence is very Zelig-like for me. Tried to find it on youtube but couldn't find it.

R180 Streisand was on the scene 15yrs before Houston - so truth there was no competition. Houston live however, not her chart toppers, easily surpassed Babs. Houstons range was much bigger, her voice far more powerful, her Interpretations never required the extemporaneous use of head voice for effect. There is truth in what you say on the first point. Not so much the later. Also the “greatest voice in history” is kinda gross and over the top in a totally untruthful way.

IMO, nothing"" gross about it. Maybe not true, but not gross. But I like what you said about Barbra and her head voice. And with very few exceptions, this has turned out to be a great thread with lots of love for these singers . Who says this place is nasty?

There is a lot of irony here: Babs best was from a studio production that she tweaked endlessly. Houston’s best without a doubt was LIVE and in one take. I wont take anything away from Babs I loved her music forever and there is a reason she recorded with tons of lessor talents except Donna Summer - but she totally stayed away from Whitney.

R195 here, I imagine that is a duet Whitney would have LOVED to do - no doubt about it. Whitney sang with all the best, Aretha, Natalie, CeCe, Mariah - she would have jumped at the chance to sing with the Diva Streisand.

hate to say it but someone has to R195,

Its the difference between white surface and perfection and black depth and soul

Thank you, Exactly 197. Exactly. Which is why Whitney was very judicious with flourishes that other women kept in as stock and trade. She could sing Opera in a riff - it would have been amazing to see these two side by side.... alas.

Streisand is technically very good. But I feel absolutely nothing when she sings. On the other hand, Patti LaBelle sings like a nightingale, and I feel it.

Roslyn Kind has an outstanding voice, but when it comes to singing a song, she's dull and unoriginal. Barbra probably has the better voice, but she is definitely the better singer.

But if Barbra was unavailable to come to the studio to fix a few moments in a soundtrack for a film in production, her sister could do it and no one would know the difference. Speaking or singing.

[quote] Houstons range was much bigger, her voice far more powerful, her Interpretations never required the extemporaneous use of head voice for effect.

I don't understand this. Houston used her head voice all the time. Her most memorable performances were punctuated with trills or belts in her head voice. Shirley Bassey has a more powerful voice than Houston or Streisand, it's not all about power. Aretha had as great a range as Houston. It's how you bring it all together. It's about the art. For the record, I'm not OP and would not say Streisand is the greatest voice ever but I think someone could make a reasonable argument for it.

R201 he said her interpretations never "required" the "extemporaneous " use of head voice "for effect"

He didnt say she never 'used' her head voice.

[quote] There is a lot of irony here: Babs best was from a studio production that she tweaked endlessly. Houston’s best without a doubt was LIVE and in one take.

You need Youtube. Check out any of her live TV specials from the 60s. Streisand is a live performer who became a recording artist. When she was in her 20s she sang live all the time and she was spine-tingling perfection. As she aged she became less sure of herself and developed a reputation for being a "perfectionist."

R202, IWALY, ATMTIN and GLOA all required Whitney to use her head voice during the climax. Streisand used her head voice as required too, she was not going to head voice because she couldn't manage notes with her chest voice. It was a choice she made for her expression and interpretation.

I dont need YouTube, I was there. I am very aware that Streisand performed live - yes at Village clubs and later the St James in “Funny Girl,” most memorably with Garland on her show. Whitney did years of live performances - fewer albums. Can’t dispute one was principally a live perfomer and the other dominantly studio - a very big difference there.

[quote] Its the difference between white surface and perfection and black depth and soul

Chile...let's not take it there. Where were you in 1988 when Whitney was called "Whitey" for her perceived lack of "black depth and soul"? Talk to Aretha, Gladys, Mavis, Bettye Lavette or Anita Baker about singers with depth and soul and they would NOT cite Whitney.

[quote]R192 I know this because my dad is sitting behind Jason and to the right. They were short a few extras/seat fillers, and one of the PA's approached my dad (who was a few doors down) and asked him to be in the clip. Barbra directed it.

And a star is BORN ! ! !

[quote]R194 this has turned out to be a great thread with lots of love for these singers . Who says this place is nasty?

Well, I got somethin' to say....

[quote] Whitney did years of live performances - fewer albums. Can’t dispute one was principally a live perfomer and the other dominantly studio - a very big difference there.

Whitney had only as many good years as a live performer as Streisand. Streisand stopped before her instrument began to show wear and tear. If Whitney stopped when her voice began to falter then she'd have had about 10 good years too. I saw Whitney in concert for three tours -- Moment of Truth (1985), The Bodyguard (1994) and My Love Is Your Love (1999). By the MLIYL show her power, tone and range had profoundly deteriorated. I just saw Streisand a few years ago at age 69/70. She sounded closer to her 20 year old self than 36 year old Whitney sounded to hers.

Just an observation, we'll never agree. I love them both.

Oh my Chile R206, in 1988 I wast born yet.

And I wasnt sighting Whitney exclusively nor as an interpretive artist but the intrinsic difference between the nature of the races and i stand behind that-with very few exceptions. (Winehouse anyone?)

And speaking of flourishes R198,

can you imagine Whitney ever singing "but a chayah is not a house and a house is not a home when theres no one theyahh to hold you tight." This Brooklyn girl singing at times with an English accent took me out of many a song. {But only for that second.I still loved her to death}

And Roz over at R208, your sister felt pains you never did and could bring that to her singing.

See, being the "prettier" one can be a curse.

and now may I introduce her long lost youngest sister,

-closer to my generation

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]R10 And Roz over at [R208], your sister felt pains you never did and could bring that to her singing.

I worked before-dawn shifts in a f-ing BAKERY for years while my rich b!tch sister roller in her billions.

THAT'S pain!! I was ROBBED!!

Roz was adored by her father jerk though he may have been.

Streisand's father who by all accounts was a learned compassionate man who was concerned about children died when Babs was only months old. No doubt he would have adored her and she never recovered from this loss.

By a dirty trick of destiny even having to work the early shift in a bakery Roz wins.

[quote]R214 Roz was adored by her father, jerk though he may have been.Streisand's father...died when Babs was only months old.

[italic]Not[/italic] my fault! [italic]I[/italic] didn't do it!

PS: does anyone here have my sister's phone number?

Yeah I have both her cel and her landline for every home on my smart phone.

Sorry Roz , I only have the number of the information desk in her basement mall. PM me if you want that.

R193 has no idea what the word "extemporaneous" means. The misuse of the word tells the readers here everything they need to know about anything R193 has to say about singing, in particular, or performance, in general.

Roz must have the most annoying giggly girlish personality I have ever witnessed. Is she high all the time?

R218--anyone who judges all that another has to say based upon grammer tells you much of what you need to know about what that person values.

Does spelling count at all, r220?

done on purpose to see if you'd growwn

and the answer is still no

So move on to things of true value

[quote]R224 So move on to things of true value

Yeah. Like the Ellen Burstyn thread.

Houston was as dull as Melba.

High notes for days which seemed like months.

Live on The Tonigth Show 3 years ago

When will Babs perform in Europe again?

Discuss!

I don't know why she prolongs every note of every damn verse @R1's link. She has a good voice but is a very stiff interpreter. That's how it is when you just have the voice but not the talent, when you're a studio singer but don't have it in your guts to make a song your own.

Give that song to Whitney in her prime and she'd added layer and layers of personality.

She was a great interpreter until she got into 70s schlock. Then holding notes and glissandos and shouting takes it's place because that's what the people who pay big bucks want. When your ears are blown out you can't hear anything else.

Now that she has a voice as low as Zarah Leander her repertoire sounds ludicrous but she could bark on stage and people will pay hundreds to be in the same superdome with her.

Agree with r230. I tip my hat to you for mentioning the divine Zarah. I love Barbra....and I love Zarah Leander!

Zarah with a "Z"!!

OK, last Zarah I'll post.

Back to Barbra....

Histronic, overwrought and painful to listen to.

I am as gay they come......but I have never understood the love for her. Judy Garland, yes. And, for me some of the greatest voices - non-operatic - include K.D. Lang, Patsy Cline and Trisha Yearwood.

K.D. Lang’s voice is so rich, honest and has lots of beautiful overtones. Lush.

If Streisand ever plays Germany again maybe she does a virtual duet with the great Zarah?

Oh,wait.....

Love it when her taste is questioned- yes she wandered into pop and even rock, classical and disco- with more than a little success- can you blame her? But her most consistent and prolific recording has been of the great songwriters of the times- from show to other wise. You name them, she has recorded them. The amount of recorded material is astounding. For anyone interested in great singing- listening to her is a must. So say Audra McDonald, Marilyn Horne, Rene Flemming, Donna Summer, Barry Gibb. etc on into the great songwriters of our times who have fallen all over themselves when she recorded their material. She knows the power of her voice, and I think it has intimidated her all her professional life. She cannot top herself, she worries about the expectations. She has been most likely to sing in public when for a cause, rather a straight concert.

I've seen her live 3 times- '94, '01 and 2016 at a Clinton fundraiser in NYC. I was reticent about the '16 outing (vocal decline) but it was for a good cause. She was in good voice and she made a crowd of about 1500 cry- whoop and holler, and otherwise retain a memory of a lifetime. She is one of those artists and talents that comes once in a lifetime. And for me- her use of her great fame and talent for political activism and philanthropy is a potent sign of her essential character.

Live, in concert, she is mostly shy, funny, witty, and very gentle- and yes she is reticent. But that voice and her manner of delivery live up close made people put down their forks and stop chewing.

Charlie makes me throw up in my mouth. Streisand is not the world's best singer or pop music's greatest voice. And she's an asshole.

Everything Streisand did after 1970 is schmaltzy, lifeless, sterile, whimsical garbage.

Her 60s period had a rawness and lack of inhibition to it. The problem with Streisand is that she got in her own way and in her desperate attempt to be 'highbrow art', she completely lost her ability to relate a song to an audience. Lowbrow was her true style and she turned her nose up at it once she got the success she'd craved.

R235, you've never heard great voices like Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney or Lainie Kazan?

who's charlie

'charlie' is our resident Streisand worshiper, R241. And I do mean WORSHIPER (see R237). He also, being from NYC, has meet every celebrity that's ever stepped foot on Manhattan island. Not only that - he "knows" most of them and has a hundred stories to tell. And don't EVER call any female celebrity gay, because he KNOWS they aren't. Other than that, he's entertaining.

Okay, so her voice is in decline. She’s like 100 years old. I think she sounded great on her 2001 Christmas Memories álbum and the 2014 Partners album. The latter is one of my favorites. She sounded awful on the Encores album—that was a truly ridiculous project. Saw her in LA 2016, and the voice was wrecked; but, again- she’s like 100 years old!

Barbra was born when we were still fighting WW l?

you sound like a very unhappy (angry?) camper R242- further:

"And don't EVER call any female celebrity gay, because he KNOWS they aren't." huh?

For the record, Aretha, Judy, Nat King Cole, Leontyn Price, Pavarotti, are also "the greatest singers ever".... in my subjective opinion- lots of agreement from experts. If you know so much about my posts, you know I don't necessarily put anyone at the very top. The two of this bunch- including Streisand -who I never saw in person were Judy and Nat. All the others yes. Aretha could be brilliant, and at times dreadful due I assume to substance abuse, instability or whatever. The others? Sublime. I do admire Streisand in particular unrelated to her career because I know what she does as an activist (I am liberal) and with philanthropy. Much of her giving is anonymous- in substantial amounts. I know of this from people I have known or know who sit on boards of organizations she has given to.

Yup, I've had an interesting life in NYC- but then I know many people of my generation and relative background who have similar experience. Nothing I have posted is untrue. That and my MetroCard will get me home at the end of the day.

Hands down , Streisand was the greatest female singer of all time! All the others,still living and mentioned, can just bow in reverence.

I'm gay and didn't get the appreciation for Barbara either. It's funny friend of mine - he wouldn't let on to it in the day but he's gay. He did let on that he was a Babs lover though. Should have known.

Me, Madonna, Whitney.

I watched that godawful Netflix special she did called Barbra: The Mem'ries, whatever the fuck that spelling means, and it was an absolute SNOOZE FEST. This woman may have a 'voice' but she is not an artist... she has done nothing innovative in music.

The persona of the woman is infinitely more fascinating than the singer. People remember this interview particularly because she met her match as far as egocentric, bullying assholes go:

She's a homewrecking bitch, pure and simple.

Streisand isn't fascinating. She's an asshole. Mike Wallace usually was too. Barbra has always been an asshole. That is her personality. It's not deep.

But she had a sweet voice once and before that a unique one. Great vibrato, beautiful tone. Yet she ruined most songs with her diction and overly long vanity notes. She made songs serve her voice, she seldom served the song. The idea that she is the great inpreter of the American Songbook is preposterous. She can sing some Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Barbra wants a pop hit. She over modulated and oversung most of the great classic songs. See Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra or Rosemary Clooney or Nat Cole if you want to hear the American Songbook sung right. Sarah Vaughan if you want it fancy.

Listen to Whitney if you want to hear the most seismically beautiful and powerful pop voice of the last 50 years. Too gorgeous a voice to talk about here and too loving a communicator as a singer to be mentioned in the same sentence as BS.

Barbara had that warm haze, beautiful tone, gorgeous vowels, pretty resonance and planet spinning vibrato. A dedication to her idea of excellence, most often wrong. Long before I was born she nervously sang spectacularly but never for a full song and never got all the way through without dropping her breath or phrasing. She is good at those endnotes because she is wanting to end. Terrible to sing that way. Barbra liked perfection. She's as dull as that, a little interpretation along the way. She is most like Sinatra, she is after a cetain sound and a mood. But he imbued his style with real feeling and personal pain and he liked to sing for PEOPLE. Streisand just wants the song to sound pretty. She's much worse when she attempted an adlib or riff or run. The closest she got to gospell or soul was to deeply embarrass herself with Ray Charles.

I think it's strange that she does Christmas albums when she's Jewish. I mean, isn't that a little off?

okay I might not agree with everything you say R251 but DAMN that's one intelligent, insightful response.

LOVED it.

Stick around. We need you!

Well, Bob Dylan did a Christmas album too (and it was hideously awful).

Thanks R253. But you don't need me. Datalounge hates knowledgeable dissent. Does Streisand look like she knows what she is doing here? Aside from the sound of her voice which is often kind of flat during this to be honest she has no sense of what is the right harmonic chords to create complementary sounds to Ray Charles soulful singing. Whitney, Aretha, Dolly Parton or Eydie Gorme could do it in their sleep and if not they would take a back seat and not ruin the song. Look at Streisand's eyes. Do you think she has any connection to the words she is singing? No, no no. She has a concern about the camera and no understanding of the song. She looked down on this kind of singing and only a few years ago mocked one of her best recordings, Stoney End. She said the lyrics were dumb and she didn't know what in the hell it meant. Millions of people love that song by Laura Nyro and it's one of the few Streisand (then) contemporary songs that sounded like she imbued it with some emotional guts. The song is very easy to understand if your're not on the spectrum. She probaly doesn know what Gordon Lightfoot's song If You Could Read My Mind means either, because although she sings it beautifully, she over enunciates it to oblivion. On the same album. Okay, so here now is Barbra and Ray Charles. She's an egomaniacal pig. And she can't handle this material. Is it great material, not really. But Streisand lovers present her as some kind of purist when she was the biggest whore who ever whored for a hit record. She's gross here even if she hits some beautiful notes. She could always do that, but is she singing the song? No. She can't do it. Whitney and Aretha and Gladys could sing any Streisand song. They know how to sing - to phrase the lyrics with breath and feeling and come up with a plan within their vocal dynamics to deliver the melody. Streisand only had two approaches to a song. But when she tried to be soulful or rock or rhythmic - You embarrass us Auntie Barb.

Keep up R253. Now watch a MUCH more modest singer not only find a way to sing WITH Ray Charles but from her genuine appreciation for just sharing the space with him, she is elevated. She sounds the same as always with that crazy wayward vibrato and her Elvis timbre. Yet it's beautiful and warm and soulful even with the terrible arrangement. They are singing together and to one another. Perfection isn't necessary to create pleasure. Genuine feeling and spontaneity count. Two qualities that Streisand lacks as a performer. There will be many negative posts tomorrow directed at me. I know what I know about music and singers. Haven't said so in a while.

I think her Fu-Manchu fingernails are borderline gross.

I mean...ick. Who told her this was a good look?

R256 No, I agree with you. I never thought I'd say I found Cher to be a better singer than Streisand, but in that clip she's toned down and marvelous. (She still sings like a stroke has pinched half her mouth shut, but that's another matter.)

My sense is that Babs is a SOLOIST. She doesn't connect with other singers, and she really doesn't connect with other people, in general.

She's in her own lane.

[quote]She made songs serve her voice, she seldom served the song.

That's a good description, you can see that when she sings live too. Streisand is like 'the audience comes to hear me sing'. People like Whitney Houston or Gladys Knight are like 'I came to sing for you'.

Big difference.

Whitney was an amazing interpreter of song, melody and lyric. Streisand just sings some notes.

Why does any thread about any singer have to devolve into another goddam Whitney Huston thread? Start your own threads. I'm sick of these tired trolls shoving her down everyone's throats.

Because this R260....

Agreed, r260. My favorite La Streisand songs are Evergreen, Songbird, and My Heart Belongs to Me. Honorable mentions: The Way We Were and All in Love is Fair. Still like Stoney End as well.

Whitney's okay. I never got the adoration for her, tho.

I think she used her voice well, but it wasn't a really remarkable sound, to my ears. It's very vanilla.

I saw Ella, Frank and Lena when they were in their 70s. They husbanded what vocal resources they had at that point in their life and completely and gloriously served the music. Unforgettable evenings.

Barbra is singing the same Mama Will Bark shit that made her rich decades ago without a touch of embarrassment and is attempting to sing them if she was still in her 30s.

For someone who is a perfectionist on the Netflix special she has turned into a complete slob who sings like filth. I had to turn it off.

She can still match her indoor cut flowers to her outdoor flower beds but anal is never meant as a complement. life is too short.

As pretty as her voice is on it, Barbra's version of All in Love is Fair is curiously and purposefully just out of time. Listen to it - once again she takes a soul ballad and sings it like a soaring Broadway show tune. She avoids the beats completely so she can e l o n g a t e every damn thing and then soar and modulate on the chorus. Stevie's version is blissfully sexy and right in the pocket of pain and longing. Y'all may hate her but when she calibrates her vocal JHud is a great singer too. Her tone will never be Streisand or Whitney pure but her voice and ability are stellar. As she proves here. She makes the words and the song mean something....listen to those drum brushes. You won't hear that during Barbra's orgasmatron.

Is Zarah a transtesticle?

Thank you, r263. No doubt Whitney had a great voice. But it's an uninteresting one, devoid of personality.

R250 = the homewrecker troll

Whitney? Meh. Give me Phyllis Hyman.

Whitney? Give me Amy!

oh wait...

And R252 you DO know most of her leading men were not Woody Allen types and that she married "outside the faith" right?

But I do love how,when she sings, she pronounces chahhhr (chair) theahhhr (there) with that lovely British lilt!!

TOTALLY immersed in the song.

But her "Where Am I Going" from the Color Me Barbra special is great!

Still loves me some R255 though.

Burn Burn Burn!

Great voice- Whitney- but what did she sing? Mostly pop and silly ballads. She did not sing 5% of the catalogue of great composers and song writers that Judy, Ella, Lena, Sinatra, or even Aretha sang. Celine D has the same problem. Whitney most sang what was handed to her- and not for very long because he problems overwhelmed her.

I don't think R253 knows the breadth of the Streisand catalogue. Most people don't. And I doubt he has seen her in person- if he believes she more or less "ignores" the song, the lyric...

not ignores but ACTS and lets her need for beauty supersede truly FEELING the emotion

A chayah is still a chayah even when theres no one sitting theyah

She sings pretty or aggressively,often with little in between.

Yet with her instrument, thats enough. Thats enough for me. Cause I believe in StreiZand!

I am an elder gay seeing the film Funny Girl as a boy when it came out to the suburbs and never in my life have I ever heard any one say StreiZand.

BARBRA has

And will punch your eye out if you dont give her her soft S

[quote]r270 And you DO know most of her leading men were not Woody Allen types and that she married "outside the faith" right?

What does that have to do with her personal faith? Are you saying it should be subjegated to any many she's with, onscreen or off?

She's non practicing, you nitwits.

Whitney Houston had one of the great voices of our time. I have all her music and really like and admire her.

But when push comes to shove, she was the almost total creation of Clive Davis. He purged her of any lesbian tendencies, pushed her black roots aside, and turned her into a glamorous looking woman singing classic pop songs, and she came off much more white than black. She was almost a complete packaged deal. And her catchy, pop confection songs would probably have been hits with someone else with a half decent voice. Her biggest hit single "I Will Always Love You", in retrospect, is pretty much a screaming dreck of a stereotypical pop tune. Not a real classic by any means. Just a big, popular hit.

When things got very tough for her, the drugs, losing her voice, etc. Clive Davis once again took her under his wing and produced her last album and her last big hurrah, I Look To You. It sold well but wasn't nominated for anything. Without Clive Davis, Whitney Houston would probably have gone unrecognized as a singer.

On the other hand, Barbra Streisand had real, raw talent that didn't have to be manufactured by anyone. She was her own creation and kept it that way. No man or person had the upper hand over her - it was Streisand all the way. Real talent, a force of nature, and her own iron will has carried her through to this day. A once in a lifetime talent/singer/actress. The real deal.

[quote]R276 She's non practicing, you nitwits.

You would be comfortable telling Streisand to her face she's not Jewish?

I'd love to see [italic]that...

YouTube has her 1967 Happening in Central Park! Can’t wait to watch it. I think she had amazing vocal control and interpretation for a 25 year old. The into to the concert is interesting as well with her recollections of performing in Central Park.

this clip of her winning for Evergreen is telling, especially compared to her co-writers words

What do you notice guys?

Her acceptance speech doesn't acknowledge a singe coworker, associate, or anyone else who may have impacted her life or work.

She's always had inssuferably bad manners.

exactly R281---and with all her other gifts, THAT was not one of them.

Its almost shocking her having it be all about just her esp. after her collaborator even mentions the arranger!

You KNOW a second later she kicked herself in the butt

But I still love her!

But Barb!!!

I hate when stars just churn out a long list of agents, managers and publicists to thank...but surely there's a second grade teacher or SOMEONE deep in the past she could have dredged up.

Or did she home school herself, too?

She's an asshole. She's always been an asshole.

I like her 1960s recordings.

She had more personality in the 60s. After that, she became too silkily stylized (her fantasy of herself) and it got very muzak-y.

Yes R286. Listen to Starship Barbra murder a simple song of time and regret. She emphasizes all the wrong sounds and the words seem to have a different meaning to her than for most. It's a song already painting an image but Streisand has to get very literal and goofy with it. She sure never won any great taste battles after the 1970s. The recording studio was the best place for her after that. Even then she didn't really understand music but she had a hell of an instrument. There are only two songs in her vast catalogue that others haven't done better. My Man and Don't Rain on My Parade.

How a real singer takes on Have I Stayed To Long at The Fair? Exquisite, sad little song. Subtle. Divine singing and phrasing, a little rasp...great subtlety. Rosemary Clooney.

I agree that Streisand is a studio singer, engineers could get the best out of her voice, her star power could dominate the producer so she could sing the song her way and not with more depth and meaning.

I always felt her interpretations were dull and colorless. She knows how to (over)sing a note, but she has no feel for the melody or the lyrics, the meaning of the song.

There is no thru-line to her "interpretations". The general [italic]sound[/italic] of her voice is always mesmerizing, but the songs themselves never go anywhere.

The secret to Barbra's appeal is only realized on a subliminal level. Goes against some universal rule re: attractiveness. Theory of confidence, chutzpah & charisma went out the window w the memory of being a young child captivated by her face on an album cover. Those gorgeous bright blue eyes were born to sport the 60s lash & liner. A rare top lip. She is an authentic beauty. An odd beauty but a beauty.

I feel this way about a handful of celebs. 2 Graces, Gene Tierney, Shalom Harlow, Poriskova

You can fake sincerity but you can't fake feeling. Gladys Knight has been singing this song hundreds of nights a year for over 40 years. Her version is still much more beautiful and meaningful AND moving than Streisand's humming. Gladys is putting on a show too, she's a studied old pro. But she's invested in the song and singing from her heart. Soul. It's a schmaltzy song but Knight gives me the feels with it. Great singer, great voice too.

A lot of people (including Barbra) are in love with the "sonic sound" of Streisand's voice. I get it. Meh.

R292 La Streisand would never let an orchestra assert itself (or participate) that way, either. The sound of the cymbals at 02:16 would have got an immediate GLARE, and pink slip.

I remember in some concert footage (from the 90s?) she showed off an instrument she was so proud of, that could sound like four different instruments; an obo, a woodwind, etc. She was so pleased with this, boasting she could now hire less people, and I was like, "Great, so now you enjoy putting musicians out of [italic]work??"[/italic]

She's a bit of a foul person.

Ummmmm, this is one of the most brilliant interpretative takes on this stunning song. Streisand is a spectacular musician first and foremost.

Ummmmm, this is one of the most brilliant interpretative takes on this stunning song. Streisand is a spectacular musician first and foremost.

R280 Lord, she was a fatty in that clip!🐷

Yeah but R292, sorry but Gladys Knight just doesn't have "it". Not sure what "it" really is but I do know La Streisand and a Miss Ella Fuckin Fitzgerald possess this "it".

R295 delivers. Blah song but she surpasses this magically. I got chills.

R278 = the nitwit who doesn't understand what a 'non-practicing' Jew is

I think this interpretation from her second Lp is beautiful, but there's too much yelling on everything else. Streisand once even characterized her singing as "yelling." She was always putting down music and singing in her 20s and 30s.

I always thought the best thing she ever did was He Isn't You. She sings it simply and directly with great beauty. Non of the fancy schmancy stuff which she considered passion in her later years which was such narcissistic indulgence.

Listen to her duet with her son from one of her concerts Berlin's gorgeous How Deep Is the Ocean.

Honestly what the fuck are they doing to that poor song.

Here's my choice for the best thing she's ever done. Recorded in 1967 for the aborted "Belle of Fourteenth Street" soundtrack LP, but not released until 1973 . Deeply felt, it is the ultimate expression of the "actress who sings:". Incredibly delicate, sensual and melancholy. And that "You'll FIND somebody new, but what am I to do" is a perfectly placed cri de cœur. Flawless arrangement by Peter Matz.

I love Eydie Gorme, and think she is severely underrated. But her "How About Me" doesn't come close.

Gorme still beats her with What Did I Have. Because she sings the song. I don't know what Streisand was attempting to do.

And, whatever else is true, her take on Cole Porter's "You're the Top" from the closing credits of her film What's Up, Doc, with a little help from Ryan O'Neal, is a gem.

Admit it, admit it's a gem!

You're the Top over the titles is better than at the end with flat-prone O'Neal.

The best track from her best album

and the second best track

You're the nose (watch it) on the great Durante (huh, that's better)

Babs and Ryan were lovely in the closing credits version of You're the Top.

Plus, a glimpse at all the great supporting cast.

R306, is that the first time you heard that song? I'd wager it is, because her version is N/G

Yeah if only she had sung so much more of the classics from the great American songbook. Like Frank, Ella, Lena and Rosemary. As noted above: Rodgers and Hart, Porter and Romberg.

Of course she wouldn't be nearly so rich if she hadn't been singing muck for decades.

She had the taste to record David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" but sadly she rushed through it.

Way back at what r66 said, I'm shocked that I'm alive for a legend in my day. They always died before I had a chance to love them.

I missed so many legends. How'd I get so lucky to live while Babs has too?

I like the OBC album of "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" partly the songs are so good. But, also because. I saw the Boston out-of-town tryout of the new musical. It was a week-day night, The theater was only 60% full,. But, Barbra did stop the show twice even though she was not a complete unknown. Few people had seen her in person.

I highly recomment the "Wholesale" CD.

Streisand stole as much as she could from Eydie Gorme and Garland. She certainly was never a fine enough singer to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ella Fitzgerald.

Eydie's vibrato above is a tad slow and a bit rough. Do you not hear that R314? But she's nice enough, but Barbra has more emotions and humor.

Or DID!

She's a show tunes singer, she could hit some fine notes, but she doesn't have the interpretive skills to make a song her own, give it body and soul, meaning. Quite frankly lots of good singers could do what Streisand has done. But to be among the singers of note you need to so more than just sing the notes and the melody. Streisand had good agents who pushed her career, but as a singer there are dime a dozen who can do it just as good and even better.

I always found her terribly overrated and not deserving of the fame she had.

Mary r316 is correct. Babs could never express anything like this, for example:

Everyone knows that in "the valley of the dolls" Helen Lawson is Ethel Merman and Neely O'Hara is Judy Garland, but a Big gold star for whoever knows the name of the Barbra Streisand character who is mentioned very briefly toward the end of the book!

It's Bubby Strident, r318!

I am a fan of her Belle of 14th Street TV special. I really like the live concert act and the closing song "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey" is spectacular.

R314, don't forget Lena Horne. Most of you probably think of Lena as an extra in MGM movies, but she was the biggest female night club headliner in the 1950s-60s, and she starred on Broadway twice. Lena was an "actress who sings" long before Streisand. Many reviewers commented on Babs' appropriation of her style early on - even friend to both, Arthur Laurents.

Does Barbra have suggestions or directions? Too move, will she go away? Is she blown or alone?

You anti-Babs people are hilarious. Momentarily amusing. Away, insects!

You don't have to be anti-babs to be pro singing. There are many better singers than BS and some equally good voices. A few are even superior...

The song and vignette posted at r320 for instance. It is not spectacular. Babarbra sings it like she sings everything. Cut up and cutes, over enunciating and holding some words way too long, some weird rushed phrasing to prove that one inhalation takes her a long way, a gorgeous bel canto quickie just to prove she can, then she modulates (key change) twice for a big finish. Extended high note, gorgeous vibrato that makes the note sound bigger and higher then it is. (Her golden yelling) Barbra sings every song the same way. Somes she'll finish on a quiet note, but not unless she's shown you what she can do in the middle of the song. Fuck she's annoying. That really is the word for her singing. She's annoying. And tacky.

Some other ladies sing. And they can sing anything. But they only sing one song at a time. They respect the song and the listener. And they still get to be brilliant.

Streisand is like Pavarotti. A talent with a magnificent voice and unerring taste at the beginning whose ego grew larger than the Milky Way and ended up a joke. An Ed Sullivan circus act.

And no she is not at the top like Ella, Judy and Lena who were pretty consistent throughout their careers. Even Gorme held onto her self respect as well.

“Didnt Know What Time It Was” last encore of the covert referred to by a basher above. At age 74, singing and vocal artistry as it’s best. Find it.

“auld Ang Syne” during her 2000 NY Eve concert- she sings it like s quiet hym.

Believe it or not “Some Day My Prince Will Come. 1994 NYEve concert sung to her god daughter. Sublime.

Literally 100s more over the decades.

Good phrasing and delivery. Tends to the schmaltzy but stops short of going over the edge. Unlike Celine.

Those on this thread who say she has sung schlock- hasn't recorded the "American songbook", well she essentially has her entire career along with modern songwriters and a bit of her own and some schlock- yes. She has recorded Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Rodgers, Kander and Ebb, Styne, Bernstein, Sondheim, Legrand, the Bergmans, Bacharach, Maahhhvin, a slew of classical composers, Lennon and McCartney, Mitchell, etc on more than 50 albums. Most "fans" of her music go for the albums not the "hits" or the standards she is perhaps known for. It is on these albums and buried in between the "hits" on the concert CDs you find gems like Since I Fell For You (Lenny Welch), I Remember Spring, Never Has Seen Snow, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, Lazy Afternoon, Didn't Know What Time It Was, Falling Leaves, Tell the Man in the Street, Taste of Honey, I Loved You (on her Classical Album). It's worth checking out. My favorite of her own compositions is My First Song (Ma Premier Chanson) on the french album from the mid 60s.

sorry but R328 is right.

And as a Jew she held on to and revered the past.

Thems just the facts.

I always wonder if people that say "good phrasing" know what phasing really is.

God, Barba's voice is awful. Some lead up, then belt out something through her nose, then close the song.

AWFUL

I wish she had recorded "American Songbook" albums by composers in her prime with Peter Matz doing the arranging.

When you see her sing you always get the impression that she has no connection to the lyrics. She's terribly insensitive to the material she's given. Her tendency to prolong notes just to show off gets really tiring after a while. She's like the elephant in a porcelain shop.

No to mention that she has a very unpleasant personality.

And who knows the name of the Barbra Streisand figure in James Fritzhand's roman a clef Starring?

Sondheim's in it, too.

She’s the greatest female singer of all time!!! That’s a fact

It's only your opinion R335, far from being a fact.

Barbra never could do this. Communicate real feeling with her singing. Whitney the voice Houston. Her heart was there for all to see, that astounding talent and imperfection....

R330 Yes we know what phrasing is. BUt what is phasing?

The resonance or "ring" of Streisand's voice was matched by Whitney. Sounds like church bells going off. That is where some of the thrill comes from the best voices - see also Aretha and Sinatra. RESONANCE. We are moved by sound. There are many more subtle things to appreciate too. A great singer can do more than show off their vocal plan for a song, they feel it and deliver it. Whitney was so beautiful and graceful that even her worst live performances look cinematic. The gorgeous TV specials that Streisand did at the beginning of her career, where she was still a bit scared but her talent and daring were at their zenith is the best Barbra to watch and listen to. That was Whitney every night. She only knew one thing, how to sing. So she had many bad nights and years but she always gave what she had when she performed. Her voice was thrilling in a million spots and ways. For a decade she was the greatest voice of all time. Streisand honed her sound to perfection and lost her love of singing. Whitney's superhuman voice declined incrementally as she became a more sensitive and most beautiful singer. She sang some soul arias live that weren't allowed on her records. The great BIG voices are too much to listen to all the time. Bells going off. We need good singers too.

R334 - is this the 70s or early 80s novel about 4 performers who become famous doing a revu together, then go their separate ways? One's a female comic, one's a Lenny Bruce type, one's a brash Streisand type singer....and I forget the other one?

...and for that one who keeps talking like a kid about technique and vibrato....Whitney's singing here and for the first 10 years of her career was superhuman in all the art of it. She's closed mouth smiling while singing an operatic G5 with perfect vibrato here! The woman was a vocal freak of nature. With time and too much work her voice deepened into a few pockets and nodules where she became less perfect but more powerfully resonant and thrilling. Her second decade was the height of her fame and artistry. The last years were a long sad decline into drug addiction and vocal destruction. Whitney is the one to compare to Garland, (though Houston didn't have the genius interpretive ability of Garland) the unique sound of her voice, combined with incredible vocal power and delivery continually thrilled people LIVE. Plus Whitney made some great new music after her voice had peaked. She accomplished in 5 albums and 2 soundtracks what it took Streisand 50 years and 70 albums to do in terms of sales and popularity. awards. Just sayin.

Yes, R341--and you have the cover art. I don't remember the plotting anymore, so I don't know if they were all in a revue together. But I vividly remember that Streisand (as one Suzan Jaffe) was in it, and Sondheim (I forget his name) was as well. There were two other leads, but I don't recall who they were supposed to be. But Fritzhand developed equivalents for everything that Streisand (such as Wholesale) and Sondheim (such as Company) had done.

It's not great writing, but it's a cute idea. When that Sondheim book came out last year, Starring was mentioned, and the price on Amazon shot up to ridiculous amounts. Now it's back down where it should be.

Why are the DL sisters obsessed with Whitney? We listened to her once and could bear only a few seconds of it, likewise for watching her on the screen.

The whole world is interested in Whitney. No one under 60 knows who Barbra is unless they are a singer or vocal coach because her music is hideously dated and what she has done in the last 10 years is embarrassingly bad and in very bad taste. Whitney gains more fans every day. Tens of millions of people around the world love her voice, her music and her beauty. There are many singers who sound like Streisand but no one sounds like Whitney. Her voice is the one remembered from the last 50 years in recorded music and concert halls, not Streisands. There is a theatrical release coming out on Whitney's life and music that will fill theatres everywhere. Whitney is loved.

Streisand belongs to the ancients. Glenn Gould was obsessed with her and he was NUTS. Barbra receives reverence here on DL, but she has less twitter followers than Bette Midler or Cher or Greta Van Susteren. Nobody cares who she is, she is almost forgotten. Nancy Sinatra is more popular.

Erna is that shit eating racist HIV denying ancient white f@g right?

OP how exactly would you know hers is the greatest voice in the history of mankind?

How long have you been around?

Mary r345 = serious anger issues!

I love her, too, and can forgiver her her crazy excesses and narcissism because shers great. But "Nuts" really sucked. Appallingly bad.

Let me fix that:

I love her, too, and can forgive her her crazy excesses and narcissism because she's great. But "Nuts" really sucked. Appallingly bad.

r345 is an idiot and a crazy Whitney fag.

"Why are the DL sisters obsessed with Whitney?"

Just one crazy DL queen. He's Whitney's version of "charlie." I'll name him Charlene.

r345 is a hysterical queen and a troll.

I was not a Whitney fan, but this is one of the best performances EVER by ANY female singer, IMO

UNREAL!!!

Fine, dear r353. But even on her best day, Whitney was no Babs.

Something else Babs has: ego. She's a winner who never succumbed to trashy lures like drugs or even booze, really.

Sweetums, Im a Barbra fan. But i can appreciate a great vocal. Did you not like what I posted at R353?

Barbra will always be my main squeeze.

Lets spread the love

Baby doll, Babs and Whitney should not even by on the same thread.

Maybe--but lets enjoy them both while they are

There are some crazy people on this thread. Streisand has long been considered one of the greatest singers of our time, most recently on her latest and last tour, despite the aging voice- and yes, so has Houston been called great,, and Aretha, and Garland. Aretha, Garland and particularly Streisand have left large catalogues of work- not Whitney. For some reason her problems overwhelmed her I guess. Flashes of brilliance and some catchy pop hits, but not much else, including on tour where even before she lost her voice to drugs she could not sustain a concert- vocally. Classical singers study Streisand- as do all serious vocalists. Marilyn Horne and Rene Fleming are on record singling Streisand out as a consummate vocalist. Sinatra called Garland and Streisand the greatest singers he’s known. Donna Summer called Streisand the greatest popular singer of her time. She gave a great interview a couple years before she passed away about working with Streisand. Most of the nuts on this thread don’t really even know her music. To each his/her own. But there are some really screwed up posts on this thread- angry! There are a handful of truly great singers- Streisand is definitely one of them.

charlie alert @ R358! I'd like a source/link for the Sinatra quote, I doubt it exists. He surely would have mentioned Billie Holiday before Streisand.

Unfortunately, Babs will always be seen as "better" than Whitney and a lot of others because of the successful movie career. Same with Sinatra. I prefer Tony and Nat Cole (or as charlie calls him, King Cole) who are far better than Frankie imho, but the masses think he towers over everyone else - because of the movie career.

Will people stop using words like 'ever' and 'in the history of mankind.'

You sound like you're over come by fangurl hysteria.

Ben Platt is the greatest star in the history of the stage! Ever! And will somebody get me a straightjacket right away!

Streisand she puts on a good show, but she is nowhere in the league of women like Bette, Liza, Diana, Cher, Patti, Tina and Madonna. Those women give their all on stage and interact with their audiences in such a way that their shows transcend a simple concert experience. With Streisand, the wall is partially up. Its clearly a chore for her to mingle with the public. And comments like "I only toured to buy a painting" don't help matters. She does deserve some credit for ditching the bloated trappings of her previous tours on her most recent outing, but the voice just isn't there anymore. For her to charge such vulgar prices for decent, but not extraordinary works is cheating her fans.

As for Whitney, she was able to sustain a whole concert on her first several tours. The vocal problems started with performing the demanding songs of the Bodyguard on tour along with the escalating drug abuse. But at her peak, her voice was in top shape. Whitney had the benefit of performing at her vocal peak. Streisand all but didn't at hers.

Did she buy the painting? How much are Modiglianis going for these days? Can we get a picture to see if it was worth it?

Does she have a security guard in every room in her house and do they change stations every 45 minutes?

R362, another idiotic post- Streisand says those kinds of things because she knows her fans love to hear it- she doesn’t dance etc., rather she sings- like Garland, like Aretha, like Nat, like Sinatra, like JF Lang. On stage she sings. Have you ever seen her in concert R362? She most certainly does talk to her audience both scripted and unscripted. Her concerts have won Emmies and her reviews tend to be over the top- her audiences go crazy- like Aretha on a good night. In smaller venues her shows are incredibly intimate. Have you seen her perform at a small political event? When Sinatra presented her with the Peoples Choice Award he made that remark- I don’t like to say there is one best singer- but there are a few (and Liza and Bette and Cher and Madonna are not nearly among them) who are- Garland, Aretha, Nat, Ella, Sinatra and just below them KD, Billie, Sarah, Maybe Bassey (way too camp for me, but fun)- Eddie Gorme was harsh, Lena, Peggy Lee. I consider Whitney vocal road kill. One of the reasons her concerts were so mediocre was that she had so little to sing. Streisand had the largest repertoire of any popular singer ever! Garland was more of an addict but somehow her artistry and blazing talent always came through.

Do her fans adore the thousand dollar ticket prices as well?

Live performance wise, she's not up there with the best. Many of her peers know how to put on an entertaining show and charge their fans FAR less money. Bette's last tour was her on the stage for two hours. She didn't sing four or five songs and pad out the show with family members and boy bands like Streisand has done in the past. Diana gets people up on stage and dancing to her hits. Streisand can't even fart on stage unless it's on the teleprompter.

Okay, thats funny

Have you seen her in person R364? Ever wonder why Streisand’s venues sell out? She does get top dollar- but then why shouldn’t she if they sell out- and she gives millions to charity every year- the major reason she tours. How do you think she funded the women’s cardiology center at Cedar Sinai?

I got to know Diana a bit in c. 1980. She was close friends with Danny Zarem my boss at the time. Diana thought Streisand was, as the over the top OP post, the greatest singer ever- she would carry on about it- drove Danny crazy.

My brother is a musician and sound tech. He says musicians consider sessions with Streisand or touring with her to be highlights of their careers. (My brother has toured with Ross- long ago- among many others.)

"Her concerts have won Emmies"

That's Emmys. WHAT "concerts"?

She's grotesque. In every way.

What a lot of horseshit posted in this thread. Babs was gifted with more vocal talent than almost anyone ever receives. She was given so much raw talent she never figured out how to use it all. As big as her career has been, it should have been a more important career. But her father died when she was a toddler and her family was thrust into poverty. Poverty cuts deep and leaves marks.

The big tragedy in her life, after her father's death, was that she did not go to college. She is a brilliant woman and college might have held ground some of that brilliance in some wiser choices. It certainly would have helped make her more secure about herself. Even a music school would have helped. I've been watching her since I was a child. Her repertoire has long been poorly chosen. However, it is also true that you can't fault an artist for what does not interest her. It does. Or it doesn't. What interested her was often not important enough. But she came from poverty and she was never in it only for artistic success. She has done well for a woman with a high school education.

But when the stars aligned, her work was magnificent. She sang "Evergreen" on the Academy Awards, live, and broadcast around the world. Nailed it. As a performance, it astonishes. The voice is not enhanced, produced, or polished in any way. Out to the world. Live. From a singer with stage fright who did not like performing live. Some of the people posting here might not care for Classical Barbra, but none of her colleagues in pop music ever tried anything like and no less than Glenn Gould reviewed it favorably. Of course she does not sing any of it as a classically trained singer would, but her innate musical talent is clear in every selection. A friend who did go to a conservatory told me that one of the professors made the reed players study her recording of "Silent Night" to learn about shaping a line.

I find her frustrating, maddening, thrilling and disappointing. When she's acting, or trying to, I often roll my eyes. But her's is still the most compelling performance in a film as large as "Hello, Dolly!" and the score has never been sung better. There are so many ways to find fault, but there is no legitimate argument to make that her talent is not enormous and her work product is often unbeatable.

okay thats GORGEOUS!

And Im not talking about Streisand, but your post R369!!

R362 here. Gee all I asked about was which Modigliani she got and how much she paid for it and I get ripped to shreds and accused of never seeing her in concert.

Well I did and it was at the Garden the opening night of her first public concert in NY since what? the Central Park concert?

She was in great voice. I was surprised. But the psychoanalyst crap was tedious bullshit. But it gave her something to hold onto because she seemed very frightened.

Streisand is a great musician with a great ear. Less great tastes in the later years.

THAT^ is a true statement

I knew she was touring to buy a painting but I never heard what painting. A Modigliani? How do you know and which one? And how much?

She said it. But it's not been announced which one. A private bidding only available to a few private bidders?

Our father once described the Fabulous Miss Peggy Lee as "a musician's singer".

A few tears later when we were seated in Miss Lee's living room under all those paintings. conversing with her, we mentioned that descriptia and she replied " Well, I've always tried to hire jazz musicians".

years later

[quote] R355 Sweetums, Im a Barbra fan. But i can appreciate a great vocal. Did you not like what I posted at [R353]?

The thing is, Miss Houston is so bland, I don't even want to click on that vid and watch her. Her (hidden) life was [italic]so[/italic] much more interesting than her actual music.

[quote]Will people stop using words like 'ever' and 'in the history of mankind.'

Such words should never be written or uttered again by mankind, ever, for the rest of history

Yeah when they refer to singers unless of course they've heard everyone ever in the history of mankind.

[quote]Some of the people posting here might not care for Classical Barbra, but none of her colleagues in pop music ever tried anything like and no less than Glenn Gould reviewed it favorably.

Linda Ronstadt did opera on Broadway in La Boheme. and sang classical pieces on her Holiday album. She also recorded with Phillip Glass.

And Linda was far more pop and rock and roll than Streisand was.

Yeah, Whitney Houston was so bland she set the world on fire. Streisand disappointed every time she sang live. You were supposed to believe her instrument and temperament were so fine that she just couldn't be expected to sound like she did on records. But man she sang flat or raspy or without proper breath support, whimpering away until she could grab a high note. And she never sounded close to the same live because her recordings were famously patched together a few notes at a time. Whitney in her prime surpassed her excellent recordings in all her live performances. Her songs were far more challenging than Streisand's, requiring more range, power, emotion and soul. Whitney sold more records in her short career with only 5 original albums and 2 soundtracks than Streisand did in her whole 65 year career and over 70 mostly lously albums. Whitney was the real "musician" recording her songs in 2 or 3 live takes. She also played the piano and knew how to sing. That she destroyed her voice is a different matter. Even on Awards shows Whitney's performances were tour de forces evoking huge standing ovations. Barbra sang live ok, only under the most controlled and heavily edited circumstances. She's a studio singer. With bad taste. Whitney could have more great songs to to sing but she had plenty of pop hits and a few everlasting great songs. To say she had nothing to sing in concert tells more about your advanced age than your ignorance. Whitney's songs made much more impact than anything Streisand ever produced, over than "Guilty." She has Barry Gibb to blame or thank for that. Streisand isn't even the best Broadway style vocalist around. She wasn't a pop star. Adult Contemporary. She was always for the older crowd. Unique voice and performer - yes she started that way. The greatest voice or singer - Hell to the No.

"Streisand disappointed every time she sang live. You were supposed to believe her instrument and temperament were so fine that she just couldn't be expected to sound like she did on records. But man she sang flat or raspy or without proper breath support, whimpering away until she could grab a high note. And she never sounded close to the same live because her recordings were famously patched together a few notes at a time."

Totally fallacious bullshit. I saw her in 2006 in Las Vegas and sat very close. She sang, full out, full quality. I was prepared to accept that I had waited too long and that she would be marking it throughout. Did not happen. The singing she did was remarkable. Clear. In control. She gave the Full Streisand.

That her recordings were 'famously patched together' is utterly absurd. What a dumb ass thing to post.

I know everyone pretty much hates the film Funny Lady, but I enjoyed it when it played on cable in the 1980s all the time.

"How Lucky Can You Get," after all?

R382, more people would read your posts if you bothered to use the enter key to create paragraphs.

If you go on the tennis threads posters trash Roger Federer (the greatest player and talent of all time most certainly). If Einstein were alive DLposters would be telling us how dumb and self centered he is. And so Barbra Streisand cannot sing. Lol.

R378--I'm posting the song you didnt listen to again.

If youre going to comment, do so having been well informed.

This is a glorious performance sung by a woman who felt those lyrics down to her bones.

Bland often? Maybe.

Show YOU have more in you by listening.

Then get back to us.

Houston might have the most beautiful boring voice I have ever heard.

I have never gotten through more than half of one of her recordings.

I keep thinking the voice is fabulous but why is it nothing more than uninvolving sound.

Maybe because it has absolutely no texture. For me. Clearly many others disagree.

Thats wonderful! But, gently, I can post a couple hundred examples of Streisand performing at least at that level over the past 5 decades.

I totally agree R389. But i wanted to give one to Whitney. She was so real and loving in her facial expressions as well.

And R388- love that post

Its the holidays--Lets just be grateful for women who S A N G !

The majority of the world think of Whitney as the best voice EVER in popular music. A few 80 year olds on DL (hey charlie) have some fond memory of the 23 year old Streisand being kooky, looking ugly but sounding divine in a very undisciplined way. Her movies are laughed at other than Funny Girl and she had to haul that tugboat by herself. Vain, ridiculous overrated in everything woman. So many here confuse the quality of her tone and technique with good singing. She didn't, she doesn't, she can't. There are at least 50 female singers who sing better than Streisand. You may not like their voices as much. Oh well.

The greatest voice in recorded POP music history is Whitneys.

R391- do you like her catalog as much as her voice?

Her voice is better than Lena Horne's? Dinah Washington? Sarah Vaughan?

You have officially entered into cuckoo land territory.

Is there a straight jacket available?

No I don't, R392.

"The majority of the world think of Whitney as the best voice EVER in popular music."

Have you a citation for that? I suspect the majority of the of the people in the world never even heard of Whitney Houston.

R394 see, thats my problem.

Had she a more extensive catalog some of the people here might like her more. Because Barbra-for all her embellishments and indulgences- had a great catalog.

ESPECIALLY earlier on. And inspired the greats to write for her. I'm not sure if it was to the same extent and of the same quality with Whitney.

Dont kill me here. I really dont know and would love your take.

Granted, Whitney was more pop but I think she KILLED "There is Music in You " from Rogers and Hammerstein in a way Barbra couldnt.

But I loved Barbra's songs more.

Maybe even more than Barbra.

But I'm really too young to have known either well.

All of Streisands recorded and released catalogue is available. A tour through it is a tour through the great song writers of the 20th century. For anyone interested in vocal artistry- it’s a motherlode- much more than belting big notes. Frankly there is no singer dead or alive with anything remotely close to it in its breadth. Almost all the composers who were or are alive have stated that to have her record their music was the reason they wrote it- from Rogers to Styne to Sondheim to Legrand to Gibb (that’s right, a Bee Gee). Ditto musicians, arrangers, conductors, and producers who have recorded and toured with her.

and thats my point.

She was a collector, not just of paintings but great songs.

This thread is weirdly compelling.

I TOTALLY agree R399. So many knowledgeable people along with those just coming from the gut.

LOVE IT and all the song suggestions I never heard before.

[quote]I, like every singer, always wanted to be just like her. Her voice was perfect. Strong but soothing. Soulful and classic. Her vibrato, her cadence, her control. So many of my life's memories are attached to a Whitney Houston song. She is our queen and she opened doors and provided a blueprint for all of us. Beyonce

[quote]There is not a word that describes my reaction. It doesn't exist in the English language. This was the voice that record producers dreamed of working with. I got butterflies - She was pure magic. She was iconic. I had the pleasure and privilege of having an up close and personal front row seat to the greatest of them all. David Foster

[quote]You're going to remember where you were when you heard the news. It's that significant. She was undoubtedly one of the greatest superstars of all time. One of the greatest voices we're likely ever to hear. Simon Cowell

[quote]Whitney Houston, the singers' singer and voice that inspired the world. Many emulated, but there is only one Whitney. Marc Anthony

[quote] Are you frickin' kidding me? I know every Whitney Houston song. I wanted to cover one of her songs at our shows as a tribute, but it's impossible to cover her! Kelly Clarkson

[quote]Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms. Whitney Houston. My heartfelt condolences to Whitney's family and to all her millions of fans throughout the world. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth. Mariah Carey

[quote]To me Whitney was THE VOICE. We got to hear a part of God every time she sang. Heart is heavy, spirit grateful for the GIFT of her. Oprah

[quote]It’s a tragedy. Whitney Houston was the greatest singer I’ve ever heard and she will be truly missed. Tony Bennett

[quote]She had everything, beauty, a magnificent voice. How sad her gifts could not bring her the same happiness they brought us. Barbra Streisand

[quote]This is a sad day today, all I want to talk about is her music. She was the most beautiful woman I think I ever saw. Thank you for giving us your talent, and one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. Elton John

[quote]She's paved the way for every single singer in the music industry. Iconic, legendary, innovating, amazing, humble. #1 the best in the world. Toni Braxton

[quote]It’s Whitney Houston. She was the full package on 10: She was beautiful on 10, she could sing on 10, she was charismatic on 10. You see people who have one or the other or whatever — she had all of it. She’ll be remembered for looking like a model who sang as good as she looked. India Arie

[quote]I know that family, Dionne and I have been close since we started in the industry. I knew her mother, Cissy. I remember the day Dionne told me, 'Wait till you hear Nippy!' It's part of life, and it's God's plan. Her star was so bright. Even though it burned for a short while, boy, did it burn. There will never be another voice like that. Hers was unique to the world." Gladys Knight

[quote]She was so revered, so loved, and so respected for her talent. There’s never been a better singer in the whole world. You get into that caliber of someone who can sing like Whitney and there’s just a handful. People like that, they are just anointed. They are blessed. If everyone were the same, it probably wouldn’t be near as interesting , but when somebody comes along and is gifted beyond measure, like Whitney is and was, it’s so refreshing. Vince Gill

[quote]Some people can't hear anything but technique, so they think: "Oh, it's about virtuoso singing." Are they mad? Why do they think a person would be a virtuoso? So she can tell the story properly. Why else? Diamanda Galas

[quote]I used to stand at the top of that staircase and sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ every day after school. I would stand up there and I would study her. I thanked her at the Grammys when I won because she for me is the greatest of all time. Lady Gaga.

God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there? Whitney Houston

My point isn't that she is a great singer, she is. But live and in concert, she doesn't go from the gut like others with lesser voices do.

Comparisons to Garland. Listen to the two versions of the Man That Got Away. Garland's at Carnegie Hall is a full throttle rendition that makes you feel like she wrote every single word of that song. It's Garland the patient and the audience the therapist. Sublime.

Now Streisand's.

It's great rendition, but can you honestly say it packs the emotion that Garland's does? Makes you feel the same way? It's technically beautiful and stunning.

Rex Reed wrote of this tour that she was great, but the wall was visibly up, where with Garland, she gave her all to the audience.

Over the Rainbow.

Patti at Live Aid had celebrities in tears when she performed this.

Again, compare to Streisand's lovely but simplistic rendition on One Voice.

With Patti, she reinvents it so you get the struggle of a woman trying to get over that hurdle.

THANK YOU R403 AND R404--that was an education!

Barbra over-enunciates and does that affected British accent thing "no mooah that eager call--and nevah a new love will be the same" shit

She calls attention to the notes.And her shaping of them. Garland wont have it: for her the emotion is all.

Streisand's ego is both her curse and her greatest gift.

Here it was her curse; choppy, disjointed, and both too much and not enough all at the same time

It's why I think Live at the Forum is her best work. Something about being on the bill with the other big names made her go all out. Not since her early days was she so uninhibited vocally.

Her My Man on this album is even better than the movie version. But the whole album is a tour de force.

THIS is why she should have toured more at her vocal peak.

Rodgers and Sondheim said they wrote their songs to have her sing them?

Why do I seriously doubt that?

Preposterous dreck, she's the least soulful singer of all time.

Considering how limited her vocal resources are at this point she should start thinking about performing on cruise ships. Or she and Julie A can do a tour of Legends.

Or Arsenic and Old Lace.

R385 But that would make them all even longer...

The greatest voice was Sarah Vaughan, if we're talking pure vocal talent. Any discussion of the greatest voice that ignores her is not a serious discussion.

And Sarah SMOKED and drank big time and did cocaine galore! My kind of chick.

Sass high as a kite -still nails it:

The most gifted singer ever is the incomparable Barbra Streisand!

Once a certain generation die off, Streisand will no longer be a mainstream name. She will be forgotten except to a minority of fans.

It's true. You might as well look for a Maureen McGovern record or Elaine Page. Streisand is a bland and ordinary singer with a once pretty voice. Kiked up goy dreck.

Streisand had a point to make and made it.

At the perfect time and place.

She cant be judged by her current output.

She will NOT be forgotten. Lets at least try and put feelings aside for facts.

You might not like her and make many valid points, but she is/was an original.

Once in a lifetime.

Fact.

Everybody with intellect, sophistication and taste knows that Streisand is the greatest female pop singer of all time. It's not even close. Aretha is her equal in the R&B category.

Whitney and Celine had fantastic voices, but they didn't possess the intellect and talent to build a catalog anywhere near as impressive as Streisand's. It's not even worth arguing because it's so obvious.

Streisand is not for the intellectual or sophisticated tastes. Neither is she for the proletariat. She's as bougie as they come. Stop talking about her catalogue. Any fine song she's sung from the American Songbook, Broadway or spirituals have been sung much better by others with better taste. The only catalogue Streisand can boast about is her tacky side ventures. She's bougie as hell. Her music is 97.8% dreck. And she's an asshole.

Resonance you say?

Heather Headley

Whitney would often take a breath in the middle of a sentence or phrase. Unbelievably ignorant and poorly thought out. Streisand understands long lines and phrasing.

Ha, Ms. Streisand's talent was modest compared to the power and beauty of Houston's vocal and communicative abilities. Whitney did it all better and LIVE!!! We'll never see anything like her again.

Too bad she’s an insufferable Cunt

What does the DSM-5 have to say about Unfounded Whitney Houston Obsession?

I think early on Babs was a great singer but by the 70s she knew that dreck was going to make her very rich and that was what was most important thing to her. Not performing which the greatest singers are driven to do.

That's why no matter what anybody says she'll never be at the top of the heap no matter what her fangurls say. She would have been traveling and performing throughout her career like all the truly great ones. Sinatra, Garland, Vaughan, Horne, Fitzgerald, Washington, Cole, Clooney. She's not up there no matter how much you say it's so. I'll put on a Blossom Dearie album before Streisand because her love of the songs come through in a way that Streisand's rarely do after '70.

r382 really is a laughable troll, delivering her silly rants, which are akin to saying, "What do you mean the sky is blue? Of course it isn't and never was. It's a nasty shade of gray all the time." Really, cunty, you're such a joke.

Too bad for who, huh, r423, you silly twat? She's done JUST FINE.

I agree with most of what you wrote, R425, but the fact is - if Streisand had not gone contemporary, musically, she would have been a 1960s footnote. Clive Davis was calling the shots at Columbia and appealed to her vanity ("you're only 28") to get her to do modern music. It put her on the charts in a way she'd never been, then Streisand was in a league with Dionne Warwick. I'm sure Babs didn't know or care differently since she knows so little about music or other singers.

Of course she's one of the greatest singers who has ever lived. Fifty-plus years of albums, tv specials and movies, and hundreds of live concerts, have proved that. It's a documented fact.

She's soon to be 76, and her voice is not what it once was, because that's what happens with every great singer. But her greatness was established decades ago. She is as great or better (almost always better) than any other singer mentioned on this thread, with a genius for interpreting a song that put her in a class by herself, with the exception of when she's allowed overblown orchestrations, etc. to get in the way. The proof of her unmatched brilliance exists in every medium.

That's it. And if you don't like her, sorry, but your opinion simply doesn't matter.

[quote]because that's what happens with every great singer.

Uh, no.

Gladys in 2012

Chaka Khan in 2017 still hitting notes that she sang in 1984!!

I don't get the need for Streisand fans to have to bash every other female artist because people think she isn't the be all end all of every other woman out there.

And it's an insult to these women who have been working their asses off for decades in concert that they're all inferior to someone who didn't perform for thirty years and who didn't take of her voice in the interim.

On a good day she is still quite something as she was August 2016 at a Clinton fundraiser in NYC. She sang a changed lyric version of Send in the Clowns- mocking Trump- and in general brought the house down. She was warm, funny, even shy- as Winston Churchill once said- it was a great hour to be alive.

Gladys Knight was 68 in 2012, Chaka Kahn is significantly younger than both Knight and Streisand. The voice will eventually start to be less than what it was, for all of them.

*Khan

Could those with the knowledge post videos of singers-male or female- who kept their voices into their 70's?! Are there/were there any??

You think Streisand kept her voice, R436? Very funny.

Op this is 2018, enough with that cunt. Could you eldergays now cut the crap please ? Enough with the Streisand /Garland /Andrews/Cher/madonna/Crawford BULLSHIT We love MEN

I always find it interesting that when these threads spring up, (i.e. Whitney vs. Mariah, Barbra vs. Whitney etc.) that there doesn't seem to be any rabid fan base for male singers and no match head to head competition threads for them. Are there no male singers worthy of such discussions?

Exactly R439. And that is because these self loathing queens prefer to pretend they like and admire women. Men on men desire is nasty isn't it, you homophobic queens? Isn't adam levine disgusting, queens? Isn't ricky martin vile?

R440 = all alone on Easter Sun and without meds

r440, I think Nurse Ratched is sending the men in the white coats around for you.

Not to be all kumbaya, but why does it have to be Barbra vs Whitney? Let me say- I’m not sure I could love either more. Both are so iconic and meaningful in their individual way. And their respective catalogues are amazing. Granted, Babs is more prolific but I can’t imagine not being able to call up their greatest works when the mood strikes. They god for both.

Oh yes we are music lovers now, aren't we fancy?

I wasnt saying Barbra kept her voice: just the opposite.

i ask my question again----who in their 70's kept their voice?

Anyone?

Marilyn Maye. She still has a lot of her vocal chops in her 90s.

Barbara Cook was singing beautifully until about 80. I saw her a 85 and she had smartly revised her repertoire. With that new repertoire (not just reduced, actually a lot of new work,) she sound awfully good. At 85.

Again, Babs is uneducated. She sees herself as an actress and a director. The voice was just gifted to her and she used it to get what she wants. But she rarely identifies as a singer and she never identifies as a musician. She never took care of her voice, save for just not using it for long periods. She didn't study. She doesn't even like to warm up. She never bothered to learn to read music. Of course her voice did not age well.

With Streisand, more than almost anyone, it is important make a clear distinction between her gift and what she did with it.

What about discussing this one's gift and what he does with it old bitches ? (screaming) STOP LYING TO YOURSELVES ELDERKWEENS, THIS IS WHAT YOU LIKE!!!

Isnt the web great in that it lets people release their own pent up emotions R448? No really. Doesnt it feel good? What an invention to heal.

Barbra fan here now watching the new Whitney documentary "Can I Be Me" because this thread has inspired me because I feel I never gave her a real chance.

"Now youre living. You know why.

Now theres nothing you wont try"

Watch her face singing those lyrics---I keep posting this song because I really cant believe how perfect a moment it was and seeing the documentary, how deep was her love and challenging to share. It seems she cared so much about how she was seen and what people thought of her. There was more to her than I knew. I'm only 25 minutes in and its riveting!

Whitney was more than a pop princess. She had a beautiful sad weary soul. And a big drug problem.

Is she still trying to get Gypsy made? That, right there, is Streisand in a nutshell. She's so delusional to think that anyone would believe an almost 80 year old woman as the mother of two young children. Not to mention the fact that, unless she recorded that score in secret 20-40 years ago, her voice is nowhere near up for it even if pieced together from multiple takes in a recording studio.

She's also not a good enough actress to pull it off.

and that is true

But can you blame a gal for trying??

[quote]R449 Barbra fan here now watching the new Whitney documentary "Can I Be Me" because this thread has inspired me because I feel I never gave her a real chance.

I watched that last night because I've exhausted about everything else on Showtime, and had to skip through the vocal parts. I just find her voice to be colorless. I'm not saying she's untalented or anything...(I mean, obviously)...it's just her sound and style don't speak to me in any way, aside from a few as purely peppy dance tunes.

What WAS interesting was how the show had people acknowledging she was lesbian (or some in it hedge by saying bi), and that her life REALLY fell apart at the point where her longtime friend and lover Robyn Crawford left the scene. Maybe Houston and her drug use would have imploded, no matter what...but it's sad that choosing a heterosexual marriage seems to coincide with her undoing.

The "I Can Be Me" documentary proved how overrated Whitney was as a vocalist. Except for maybe the first 2 years of her career, her live vocals didn't live up to the recorded versions.

Whitney could sing live, unlike Mariah, but she had problems hitting the high notes. She relied heavily on her backup singers.

This is her recording I like best.

R447, she started in about 1960 and her last tour was in 2016- sold out- promoting her latest CD that went to no 1. That’s 56 years working with the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world. She most certainly does identify as a singer, and other things too. She actually can read a bit of music, learned over the years, but like many vocal geniuses she did not really learn- like those other two lousy singers Aretha and Pavarotti! R447, you’re a bit ridiculous.

I Could Have A Contender.

What started out as a great singer seeped into a dreadful drug addict, lost her voice and her fortune and drowned in a bathtub, her body filled with substance abuse.

Her legacy will be overshadowed by the tragic junkie/person that she became.

No matter how many times she went into Rehab, including at her mother's insistence, nothing ever worked. She couldn't be saved and didn't seem interested in saving herself.

Inside her crack den when her great singing days were gone.

Did Houston actually lose her fortune? She left her daughter 20 mil.

Maybe you could say she endangered her earning capability (if she did), but I don't think she became exactly poor (?)

The cruelty of old white fags as they near death is limitless. Streisand fans? That's not what you are.

Re: R449 God, that sounds like some awful, trite Disneyesque ditty.

She should have picked better material. But, she was marketed as a pop star, and that's what she stuck with.

And BTW, Aretha would hate being lumped in with Streisand. In her biography, Aretha attributed Streisand's success to having good management and resented Streisand getting better treatment than her when they were both at Columbia Records.

And when someone brought up Barbra recording one of the Joni Mitchell's songs, Joni dismissed it and said "I am not a fan!" So Miss Mitchell was not enamored of Babs either.

Barbra's music is so twee and inoffensive. That fucking Evergreen song.... it stuns me she is a gay icon because her music is catered for housewives in Middle America.

[quote]Aretha attributed Streisand's success to having good management and resented Streisand getting better treatment than her when they were both at Columbia Records

Streisand's success is mostly due to good management. Judy Garland's band manager always complained how Judy had to tour with just basic equipment and personnel while Barbra got all the shebang.

Why are so many of you hell bent on tearing down these great singers. Yes Huston had terrible problems- but for awhile she was a tremendous singer. Aretha And Joni are notoriously sour personalities- but great great artists. And so is Streisand who has never uttered a bad word about any fellow artist (just a few politicians). Sheesh. Leave it alone ladies!

465- lol

I've just never understood people's fascination with Barbra. I'm a Bi man, that prefers female singers, I'm down with Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Aretha, Liza, Bette, Cher, Dolly, Reba, Whitney, etc... but I just cannot stand Barbra. Maybe that's how I know I'm Bi, you must have to be completely gay to love Barbra. I will say her movies are ok, I just can't stand listening to her sing.

R466

People just don't like Streisand being named in the same category as Aretha, Whitney or Judy. She had a pretty good voice, but she is nowhere near in talent compared to the really great singers of our times.

Her popularity is based on good management, not exceptional talent. She doesn't have a voice like Chaka Khan or Donna Summer (she never sang Enough is Enough live on stage with Summer who still was able to hit those notes in her 50s), even Celine Dion had a way better voice than Streisand.

Streisand doesn't deserve the fame and fortunes she has.

[quote]you must have to be completely gay to love Barbra

I think it's less about being gay but more like having mediocre taste and being easily impressible.

Amen R469.

Her voice is too nasal.

Take it or leave it, the greatest singer of our time.

Raw talent with a mass following and popularity like no other. A goddess.

Down throughout history the Jews have created some marvelous wonders for mankind - and La Streisand is another one of them. She reigns.

^That's for those beyond-delusional types like r469 who rant bitterly about Babs.

[quote] I love Eydie Gorme, and think she is severely underrated. But her "How About Me" doesn't come close.

Chile, we ALL love Eydie Gorme

The problem with Babs movies was that they all needed to be directed by William Wyler.

Only a man who could direct Ben Hur could handle her.

Stop the fucking nonsense. Handle Barbra Streisand? A woman who deserved to hear NO and ENOUGH all of her professional life. She became rich and powerful quickly. Her narcissism ruined her career and pissed away her talent. She didn't work very hard for fame, but many others made sure she kept it. Her singing was pretty. NICE. Ridiculous. That's all. She didn't really know how to sing and was too successful to learn. That is one definition of success. But it won't be lasting because her vocal affectations now make people laugh and more thrilling voices surpassed her long ago. The internet let younger people explore the great voices and songs from the past. No one listens to Streisand but old white f@gs and some uncool jews. Even in her industry, she was feared and loathed - never respected. Now she must be tolerated but no one signs up for that unevolved old bitch no more.

We never got the chance to see Babs live, never got the chance to pay an obscene amount of money since she and ourself were never in the same city at the same time. Now we might spend perhaps $30 to see her and hear what remains.

This is nice singing with pretty crescendos and a clear focused voice. Barbra shaped notes to the point of silliness but on some songs it worked out fine. Barbra always lets go at the end, because her mixed chest/head voice w vibrato was her money shot. Sounds beautiful here when she was still only 30. You can hear charlie screaming so loud from the audience!

Just 16,000 views and 3 comments for this video. No one knows Barbra much now. She must have seemed special and great back in the sixties. This is from the Johnny Cash Show I think? She should have kept up her singing.

^Sorry it has only 1,760 views. Barbra at her best. 24 people liked it!^

"No one listens to Streisand but old white f@gs and some uncool jews."

NY Jews for the most part were NOT Streisand fans. She was deemed "too Jewish."

Everyone considers Funny Girl her best film. So yeah Wyler was the only lion tamer who knew how to handle her. To say 'no' and 'enough!'

Even she said it's the best thing she's ever done.

And if so many in Hollywood didn't hate her so much she would have had an entire Oscar not half. I mean Hepburn had just won the year before!

But then didn't she win an Oscar for her lyrics to Evergreen? Have you ever heard those lyrics? It's like the shit a classmate would write in middle school English class then read aloud and you'd feel so embarrassed for them. Especially because they thought they were good!

R483 William Wyler stated that on the set of Funny Girl, Barbra frequently made suggestions to him which he found annoying at first - then he implemented some of her suggestions, listened to her more carefully - and said that she was right!

Bless you, R483. No one could have put the Barbra-haters in better perspective than you did.

Paul Williams wrote the lyrics to Evergreen. Streisand wrote the music.

Streisand can't write music. She hums.

Babs with one of her young straight fans. His name is Ryan, you know what I mean?

Whitney was a warm beautiful person, a very beautiful woman and a gorgeous singer. Unlike the fake Celine and Barbra "video" this is actual live footage of Whitney & Mariah recording lead lines and harmonies for When You Believe. Whitney is past the prime of her voice here but she sings confidently, soulfully, beautifully. Far different inflections are used by them both than what's in the finished product. Mariah ain't quite all there yet.

Barbra and Celine never sang "Tell Him" together once, not even in the recording studio. Everything about Streisand is falsely presented, including her "duet" videos. I love Celine though. Celine, Mariah and Whitney aren't called the Holy Trinity for nothing. Their amazing voices and enormous successes changed the world of music. They all surpassed Streisand in every measurable way, like it or not.

R488, Mariah sounds like a dying cow in that video. Whitney's voice was still in better shape at that point, despite the drug abuse.

Mariah is so overrated, which explains why she's so insecure about other female singers.

R458 She wrote the music?!!

Then she's less talented than I thought! It's even worse than the lyrics!

If Wyler thought her ideas were so good why is The Mirror Has Two Faces the worst film in the history of the cinema with an ending that has to be seen to be disbelieved?

I'm late posting to this thread. I used to love Streisand and think that she gave her best performances in Funny Girl, The Way We Were, and Up The Sandbox. Like Pauline Kael, I started turning on her when she made A Star Is Born. That clip at R110 of "With One More Look At You/Watch Closely Now" really reinforces how godawful that movie was. The first half of the medley isn't bad, but when she brings out her "rock" and, even worse, her "funk" stylings it's beyond laughable. Those funky head nods she makes during the instrumental breaks are just ludicrous. And notice how she had to dub in the final "Watch closely now" lyric, which is quite obvious since her mouth doesn't even move. Interestingly, I guess, she wasn't THAT much of a perfectionist to do a retake because the version of the song that she released on the soundtrack album is quite different...and much better in my opinion.

Forgot that she gave a superb rendition of "If I Love Again" in Funny Lady. Just her and a piano. It's one of her finest recorded moments, and I think it's the best version of that song, even better than Tony Bennett's

Oh, I am not a fan, but THAT is really beautiful singing @ R493. Streisand sounds like a person there. Her voice is magic AND melodic and she displays an appropriate legato and subdued dynamics with phrasing and breath that make sense for the lyric and the character's mood. She is feeling that song and not destroying it with her enormous vocal egotism. It is simply not the way Babs usually sings though. Pity because it's very beautiful.

"It is simply not the way Babs usually sings though."

That's not true.

"... appropriate legato and subdued dynamics with phrasing and breath that make sense for the lyric and the character's mood." That's what she so fucking famous for. She is so good at just that, that all the pop/rock/schlock that she has foolishly wasted her precious voice recording just falls from consideration.

Exactly what you pointed out is exactly what every leading musician of the 1960's recognized immediately. In a 20 year old. While she was still young and taking direction from the leaders in the field, she put down recording after recording after recording that showed off those gifts. Largely because of her singing, she was a white-hot star on Broadway by the age of 22. And she only got better from there. Except, of course, when she was chasing a big pay day singing pure shit.

One can legitimately dismiss much of her work product, but to dismiss her ability or her gift is nonsense. All those things you pointed are things she entered the business instinctively doing better than anybody else.

r495 is 100% correct.

There its another version of "If I Love Again" (on the Quadrophonic soundtrack to FUNNY LADY) that is the best and most delicate one of all. It used to be on YouTube but I can't find it - only the 'regular' soundtrack version is on there.

Here she is in performance at the age of 18 and 19.

This is her, on her own with her talent, long before she became famous and had the best in the business coaching her.

Ed Sullivan Show. She's 19 years old.

R497 R498 She really doesn't need any of us shilling for her.

She really was only good that once at R493. Her version of Memory is tolerable because she just sings the actual fucking song. The score of Funny Girl belongs to her too, though she exhibits many of her worst traits, no one else is interested in singing those songs. Everything else she ever sang she ruined, including Silent Night.

R498, she was 20, almost 21, not 19. That Ed Sullivan was broadcast in Dec 1962. Lots of polish needed.

What 20 year old could't use polish? All of them.

Which ones start with that much raw talent? Damned few.

Poor r500. Babs will always be a rich, beloved legend, but you'll always be you.

Barbra could never.

I can't stand Streisand's mawkish music. It's not listenable... period.

The OP is Barbra Streisand's gay son.

We all know Jason Gould posts on Datalounge -- he announced it years ago and posts these pro-Streisand threads every few months.

Let's work on self-absorption and narcissism, mmmkay?

Ms. Streisand would like to dedicate this number to Late Whitney Houston.

Take a seat Babs. In your wheelchair.

[quote] Barbra Streisand should have gone to college. She graduated high school second in her class of several thousand.

Guess who graduated first?

R508

Thanks for posting this, amazing!

Babs is better than any bitch on this thread. Sorry, dumb fuckers.

The enormity of her vocal talent cannot be over stated, but her use of it can be disappointing. She frequently displays poor taste in her choices. That is a deeply ironic coming from one who sees herself as a perfectionist.

A perfectionist with great talent and poor taste. That's a tough place to occupy.

There's a lot of truth in what r512 says. Great talent but often very dubious taste. And I love her, but.

This thread, approaching max-out, is weirdly depressing.

Cheer up and put on some Babs, r514! I suggest...

r512: Sadly agree, especially as most of her post-Star Is Born recordings up to The Broadway Album is MOR schlock. Her vocal prime was wasted on garbage.

Peter Matz was a major factor in the excellence of "The Broadway Album". From the start he knew how to showcase Streisand vocals better than any other arranger. Sadly, he had a falling out with her over money and/or credit on "The Broadway Album" and never worked together again. To best appreciate Matz' genius , compare "The Broadway Album "with Barbra's subsequent "Back to Broadway" album. The latter is ruined by bad song choices and overdone and overblown arrangements.

Whitney loved to sing - she knew what her great gift was. She has a real cold here, not the crack flu. If it's not a vocal extravaganza it IS beautiful soulful singing, growing in intensity and intimacy with her dope band and fine background singers. Her heart was on display for all to see, always. Beautiful.

Just got my Simply Streisand CD. I like it. It was I think one of her last recordings before she started to go "mod".

Streisand is the best singer of all those mentioned.

R508: nice, but Streisand is better.

^Streisand is much better. Sorry, r508.

R502 What 20 year old could't use polish? All of them.

I was [italic]BORN[/italic] g-damn ready!

Don't be sorry. Streisand excelled at a few things for a few moments. She spit out the lyrics to Don't Rain on My Parade and people found her great I guess? I wasn't born but I think of her as the lady gaga of her day. An ugly girl who could sing pretty with nasal intonation, was quirky and confident. Young sad gays loved that then and now, I guess. But she is not untouchable and far from the best at anything. Her range is surpassed by many singers, her timing by most of them, her resonance and dynamics by many on this thread and her interpretative abilities by all good ones who came before and after her. Streisand's appeal is about some unique and lovely qualities of her voice, not about her singing.

Celine, Whitney and Aretha all have better voices than Streisand and many others have more power and range, real clarity, better pitch, beautiful interpretation or a more pleasing tone.

Streisand is never in the conversation of who the best female singers of all time are. Only here, on Datalounge. She is largely forgotten or rolled eyes at by most people under 65. I know how good a voice she was born with, but that's quite different from what she did with it. She should have learned how to sing or at least listened to some others. Her sound was created for herself alone and it's mostly dreck, most always dreck. She would be fired from any show but her own. She ran the fucking show for 50 years and buried her talent. Congratulations but leaving behind better album photos than musical content.

*Congratulations for leaving behind better album photos than musical content. That is her legacy as a singer and actress. Supreme ego and vanity, endless self indulgence, fake humility. Laziness. She dismissed her only talent because she didn't want to have to sing. Not because she was afraid. She didn't want to. She calls herself an actress - evaluate that. She's not tolerable to modern audiences and she's not even dead yet. Barbra is far from the best at anything. Her own sister sounds exactly like her.

Meh, I find Aretha’s shrieking unbearable.

That was quite a long, dumb speech from r523, followed up by the idiot at r524. Of course, none of is it true or accurate, but you believe whatever nonsense you want. Nothing including your dime store analyses changes the fact that Streisand was the very best there was and now she's 75 with naturally a diminished voice but still deep and beautiful. Oh, and she's rich and loaded down with awards and fans.

I was alive and paying attention and there's no denying that Streisand was a phenomenon in the 1960s. EVERYTHING about her was different from the voice to the look to the attitude. Her singing style was different, there was generational crossover appeal. Besides LPs, there were those highly acclaimed TV specials. Then movies and an Oscar. You had to be there to truly understand this, her fans ranged from teens to elders, gays and straights.

She survived and thrived with the change of style in the 1970s, but it started to wear thin - by the mid-70s, the music and the movies were awful imho.

Now? I make fun of her. I hate her singing, hate her Botoxed appearance, the weight gain, the age. I wish she would retire. Badly.

What I find sad is that with all her money, the great talent she surrounds herself with, and her strenuous efforts to be otherwise she looks at times like a 75 year old jewish grandmother.

Time and tide wait for no man or woman.

r527, I appreciate the honest perspective you offer of her huge stardom in the 1960s and 1970s, her appeal, and that she reached across many generations, not just "sad gay" men as idiot r523 tries to make other dummies here believe. But to say you hate her "weight gain, the age"...really? Do you hate your own weight gain and age? That's kind of ridiculous. You sound like one of the silly dumb young queens here on DL, and you're too old to sound like that.

Some people, whether entertainers, actors, other performers, public officials or even just private citizens, decide to retire and are rarely seen or heard from again. Others, when they keep their faculties and can still work, even if not at their top form, keep doing so.

Grace Slick and Tina Turner are among those who packed it in. Aretha, Barbra, McCartney, Jagger and Richards, and actors like Ian McKellan, Maggie Smith and Judy Dench keep working, and still pull it off successfully. Judge as you will.

[R523], you talk like someone who has never experienced the majesty that was and is Streisand live. She is simply magic. Seeing her replicate and surpass her recordings was and is unbelievable. Her recordings can be hit or miss and sometimes sound sterile and artificial. Whitney’s never did because of the overall excellent production. Streisand in the past as her own executive producer doesn’t always get the best results. Look what ALW, Barry Gibb and recently Diana Krall did with her. All exceptional recordings. For her fans or anyone who listens it is an amazing one of a kind talent that can do what she has done and to some extent continues to do. It wasn’t just the general public that were blown away by Barbra, it was the best in the business of theatre and music that did embrace her talent. Only Aretha had a greater voice because she could reach those higher notes with the quickness. They are both great and we will never see the likes of them again.

R529, I hate seeing her in public acting like it's 1974. She's old and fat and cannot sing anymore - she'll be 76 fucking years old next week. RETIRE. None of this has a thing to do with my weight or age, do you ask those that say they dislike Streisand's singing if they can sing better?

I know, like Buppie at a Bat Mitzvah R532. With her old lady body and flat, raspy voice, she's embarrassing.

"None of this has a thing to do with my weight or age..."

Of course not, r532, you just feel completely entitled to tear into somebody who's been a unique and amazing talent all her life for getting older.

Joke's on you, r533--she makes millions at her age with her "raspy voice." So you can go fuck yourself. Hahahahaha!

She's not any good is she? Sad that she's so deluded now. She's long before my time but there are lots of better singers around than Barbra Streisand. She was unique looking with a pretty voice in those old clips. Too self indulgent to be a good singer though. RIP.

"She's long before my time but there are lots of better singers around than Barbra Streisand." "Too self indulgent to be a good singer though. RIP."

Oh my sides. You do realize she 's very much alive, still is in high demand, makes millions of dollars a year and could buy you?

Oh the folly of the young and the stupid.

The mistake is in thinking r536 is young. Just stupid.

More people on this thread dislike Streisand's singing style than not. She won't be remembered as one of the great artists. She seldom even ranks in the top 10 lists of great female singers. She died at the right time. Nancy Sinatra has a larger following.

R537 mistakes sales for quality

Barbra Streisand was the greatest singer in the history of the world! I swear no one, not even Whitney nor Mariah, could compare! Anyone that says differently is a bitter frau.

Barbara Streisand would be 90 years old today. She was born in Brooklyn but worked her way to Malibu!! RIP Babar. You made yourself proud. Over and over you were proud of yourself. You touched you.Q

R541 = key word: WAS

Study this, non-believers. Heathens, every one!