FUNNY LADY PT 2

It's a shame that YENTL was her passion project in the 80's instead of GYPSY

I wish she would release a compilation of her singles. She released many songs as singles in the 60s that either never appeared on any album or did appear but in different versions. I also prefer the single version of "The Way We Were' vastly more than the album version, and the album version is the only that's been available since 1973.

What's curious is that even with her avowed desire to direct, she's turned down all offers to direct movies other than her own.

Barbra's best selling album ever? The Christmas Album.

For people who read People...

great photo of the two of them

In a sense, she did what I think most filthy rich business people should do - that is, work only on what interests them. She could afford to take time away from movies to just enjoy decorating her houses, being a mom .... dreaming up plans to build a private shopping mall under her house some day ... WHATEVER!

If she didn't want to do the movies she turned down, then she didn't want to do them. So what? She could afford to pursue what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

And Barbra had her music contract to make an album a year, which could be the only work other singers might do. She wanted to be known as an actress who sings but she was really a singer who occasionally acts.

Funny how both Streisand and Caan have gay sons.

Who are the other Hollywood celebs with gay children? Sally Field, for one.

It's interesting that Barbra cited Butterfly as her least favorite album, because it contains some absolutely thrilling singing. "Crying Time", "Since I Don't Have You," "Simple Man" among others.

I think the best version of Way We Were is the one on the movie soundtrack. The orchestra, the arrangement, quicker tempo and Streisand's voice timbre is at it's peak.

Yes, that one is beautiful and recalls the film so well. But between the single version and TWWW pop album version, I prefer the single version. I don't like the changed note at the climax of the song on the album, and I prefer the phrasing of the single version as well. She does one long phrase in one breath on the single while on the album she breaks it up into two phrases.

It's just a shame because the first five years of her film career were so promising, and then.....fizzle. She could have done so much more.

I wonder why Barbra's voice got so raspy? That's never been explained. It is not a natural progression for a voice. She must have damaged it somehow.

It probably is if you don't use it all the time. Barbra said she doesn't sing at home. She also doesn't do scales or vocal exercises. She used to say she used her first acts as warm ups. So the only time she uses her voice is in the studio or when she's on stage, and not a moment before or after.

She’s still better than that turncoat Andrews broad.

[quote] Funny how both Streisand and Caan have gay sons.

The real truth is everyone has gay sons

Actually R15 her voice was much clearer and almost none of the rasp on her last tour and CD. I think she has been vocalizing. I recall an interview where she said that if she expected to keep singing that she would have to vocalize- She said it with a sigh- recalling other older singers advising her of the same. In any case- a voice cannot last forever and into old age for almost everyone.

The last encore of her most recent tour, "Didn't Know What Time It Was" is amazing. Easy to find on You Tube.

Yes, I love WALLS. She sounds great.

But these were the days when she could really sing.

Here it is-

My friend (a professional singer) and I used to moo/screech at each other "GAYYYYTA MOOOOOWWWWVE!"

She was over the top in her first few albums. Ever seen the tape of her singing "When the Sun Comes Out" from Ed Sullivan? But in person- in cabarets, she sang mostly very straightforward except for a few novelty songs and her between songs patter where she deliberately put on a sort of kooky smarty pants act- it was her shtick, which of course she dropped as she became more famous and successful.

I think the first album is the clearest record we have of what her nightclub act must have been like. And she sounds so young. I love all the weird shit she did in the beginning, like "Come To The Supermarket."

I love all of her 1960s stuff, too. It's brash and vital, with a lot of musical theater selections. She was electric, really throwing herself into it.

She became somewhat boring when she segued into becoming a silky smooth pop singer in the 1970s. Well, I mean, no one with her voice will ever be BORING...but she became so much more conventional. Zzzzzzz

I wonder if anyone who was at the Lion that night is still alive? I can't wait to read her version of her beginnings in her autobiography.

The music industry changed dramatically in the 1970s and she felt the need to change along with it. I think she also wanted to sing more songs written by women.

What a shame GYPSY will never happen. Could have been the crowning achievement of her career.

R26 - my parents, who are both still alive, saw her on broadway in “Wholesale” and, like every other member of the audience, thought - “That girl is going to be a star.”

My old roommate in NYC saw her on Broadway in Funny Girl and sniffed "The movie was better." I'm sure it was, but I'd still love to have seen her live.

Omigod it's on right now.

I'm watching....

It's been a while.

TCM just broadcast this a few days ago I think.