| The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | pierce 12:42 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
| In reply to: | Follow-up question - plus Streisand's recording - stevemr 10:31 am EDT 09/10/14 |
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| It's hard to find definitive information about the first "Funny Girl" single (released in 1964). Most sources indicate it was originally written for Funny Girl but discarded almost immediately; it never reached the point where it was staged for the show's out-of-town tryouts. However, it wound up being used as a promotional tool for the production, being released as a single with "Absent Minded Me" - another Styne/Merrill song cut from the score - on the flip side. The single was released after "People" became a top 5 hit; while it never appeared on a Streisand album, it received a substantial amount of airplay on adult contemporary radio stations and became a moderate hit, peaking at #44 on the Billboard charts. More info linked below - | |
| Link | "Funny Girl" - The 1964 Single |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 02:39 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
| In reply to: | The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - pierce 12:42 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
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| what a concise, helpful and informative post. thanks! | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | lordofspeech 04:45 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - enoch10 02:39 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
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| Thank you. I'm left wondering where it might've fit in the original show. An explanation to her mother and cronies about how the Nick relationship might be workable? A replacement for an onstage number? ("Cornet Man"?). To open the second act instead of "Sadie"? Nice breezy song but doesn't seem to fit in the show. Such a wealth of talent, that Mr. Styne. | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | pierce 01:18 am EDT 09/11/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - lordofspeech 04:45 pm EDT 09/10/14 |
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| Your suggestion that it may have been intended as an onstage number - placed, perhaps, where "Cornet Man" ended up - seems the most likely possibility. It would have been a way of establishing (to both the audience at Keeney's and the audience at the Winter Garden) that Fanny Brice's character was happy & proud to be the girl who keeps 'em laughing, but she also had a vulnerable streak. However, I should point out that I also read the song was never intended for the Broadway show; that it was written strictly as a promotional tool - a way of keeping the words Funny Girl in front of the public. If Jule Styne and Bob Merrill were still around, they'd be able to give us more great songs & also the full back story on this one. Then again, I can always ask Barbra; sometimes we get together for sushi on Columbus Avenue. NOT. | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 02:29 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - pierce 01:18 am EDT 09/11/14 |
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| "However, I should point out that I also read the song was never intended for the Broadway show; that it was written strictly as a promotional tool - a way of keeping the words Funny Girl in front of the public." If that's true, it seems incredibly strange to me that anyone would decide it was a good idea to promote a new Broadway musical with a song that was never intended to be in the show. | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:30 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - Michael_Portantiere 02:29 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
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| It does seem odd but Streisand was already becoming a big recording star so perhaps that was why. The song was not on the pre-production demo that was recorded, which had many other cut songs. | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | pierce 05:26 am EDT 09/12/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - AlanScott 05:30 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
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| I always found it strange that Columbia Records didn't issue the OCR of Funny Girl; after all, Columbia was Streisand's label and she'd already released three best selling solo albums for them by the time the show opened. In addition, Columbia released two additional LPs in 1962 that Streisand appeared on - the OCR of I Can Get It For You Wholesale and the studio recording of Harold Rome's Pins and Needles. However, the statement that appears on the Streisand Archives website about Funny Girl and Capitol Records is as follows - Capitol invested in the show (reportedly one third of its final cost), and producer Ray Stark, in turn, negotiated a deal in which Capitol would release the original cast album. Columbia's president, Goddard Lieberson, heard the score while the show was in early development and passed on the cast album. For Capitol's use of Barbra Streisand, however, Lieberson required the right to have her record four singles from the show. However, the statement doesn't make clear WHEN in the show's "early development" Lieberson passed on the cast album. Was it before Streisand became involved? I wonder. Streisand did record four songs from the score for Columbia in December 1963, but two of them ("Who Are You Now" and "Cornet Man") were never released. I can only assume that the "Funny Girl"/"Absent Minded Me" single satisfied the terms of this stipulation. And while its true the "Funny Girl" single sold reasonably well - only three Streisand singles cracked the Billboard top 50 during the 60s, and this was one of them - it didn't come close to selling as well as the Funny Girl OCR, which peaked at number 2 on the charts and went gold. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Cast Recording, perhaps the only time the show took an award from Hello, Dolly! that season. But regarding the "Funny Girl" single, I'd heard the show originally had a musical number that Streisand would perform on roller skates, and that seemed the appropriate place for this long-lost title song. But it turns out that Jule Styne and Bob Merrill wrote "I Did It On Roller Skates (And I Can't Wait To Do It On Skis)" for that moment, so I'm still in the dark about where the song might have been used in the show. That is, if it had been written for the show at all. | |
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| re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 12:28 pm EDT 09/12/14 |
| In reply to: | re: The 1964 "Funny Girl" Single - pierce 05:26 am EDT 09/12/14 |
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| this is covered in the recent biography, hello gorgeous: becoming barbra streisand by far the best i've ever read on her and, i think, i've read them all. it only goes up to 1964 which is great because other than the albums - and, after her return the tours - i kind of lose interest after that. i honestly can't remember whether capitol had made the investments before she was cast or not - i think so. it's a good question. i'm not sure lieberson "passed" on the album, i doubt he had a choice. if capitol invested early they had dibs. though, i do remember his name coming up repeatedly during this time so i could well be wrong. again this is all covered well in the book and it bothers me i can't remember. there was a lot going on when i read it but i suspect it has more to do with finally having all those brain cells i wasted in the 70s catch up with me. it's motivation to read the book again which was as readable as it was informative. | |
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