Like I said, today's a special day for me--Barbra Streisand's 69th birthday. I will be physically taping my ass to the couch and watching Yentl on repeat, reciting all of Mandy Patinkin's lines in an attempt to pretend that Barbra is wooing me and not him. I mean what?
People are very strange these days.
Anywho, I'm sure you're expecting some sort of massive essay that sums up exactly why I love La Streisand. But I'll tell you a secret. I plan on writing said essay someday, but I'm saving it for when I've got a real downer on my hands-a car wreck, a family emergency, a big ol' argument, etc etc, because I know writing it will make me so damn giddy that I'll stand on the nearest piece of furniture and belt out "Happy Days Are Here Again". In the meantime, I must do something to honor the woman who is my wife...I mean life. So, here are THE TEN BEST BARBRA STREISAND SONGS EVER. Listen to these and you'll begin to understand what makes her the single greatest vocalist of our time. If you love me, you'll check out at least one, fool. Listen here. Then read about what makes 'em great!
10. Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered (Judy Garland Show)-In a time when the epitome of pop music romanticism is Bruno Mars, Streisand is more important than ever because she represents the last Traditional Songbird-she opened for Benny Goodman, crooned with Louis Armstrong, and, of course, spent a precious thirty minutes on The Judy Garland Show. A walking repository of pop music history, Streisand almost singlehandedly carried the American standard into the rock era. To watch her alone in the spotlight in the midst of the British Invasion, delivering a limpid, full-bodied rendition of one of the world's greatest showtunes, is to realize that, were it not for Barbra, we might have already forgotten Rodgers and Hammerstein, Arlen and Berlin, Merrill and Styne.
9. Don't Rain On My Parade-Of all Streisand's hits, this is the one that comes the closest to being a part of our common cultural lexicon-those ten or eleven songs that are so well-known they make up a common frame of reference for every civilized human on the planet. As such, the thing's been covered hundreds of times, but, even moreso than with her other oft-redone recordings, Babs's rendition is the only one that counts. I mean, c'mon-Jule Styne literally wrote the song for her, retooling his entire Funny Girl score once Barbra came aboard so as to capitalize on that voice. It's a rather strange piece if you think about it-the tempo lurches all over the place, strange words receive rhythmic emphasis, and it's far and above the wordiest entry in the Broadway Belter's Handbook. But Barbra makes it work--listen to the way her Brooklynese diction turns "putter" and "butter" into full on verbal assaults, the teasing, almost sensual bend she puts on the first "I march my band out", and, of course, the sheer intensity with which she builds to that final phrase, letting that last "PARAAAAAADE" continue even after the music stops, just to show who's boss. Lea Michele, have a seat please. Watch how this song is really done.
8. How Does the Wine Taste?-Barbra Streisand's wanted all her life-wanted a glamorous appearance (her stepfather used to punish her for "being too ugly"), wanted approval (her mother belittled her singing abilities), wanted true romance (she didn't fall in love until her mid-50s). Babs knows yearning as well as anybody alive, its that "I want-I need-I must" urgency that electrifies her vocal delivery, giving shape to her words and life to even the simplest melody. At first glance, this cut from her People album is a simple, almost charming reflection on the mysteries of the adult world; but as Streisand builds, her voice crescendoing along with the reeds, it becomes a towering anthem of sexual curiosity, adolescent angst, and human frailty. By the time her voice breaks on that final phrase, her wants have become ours, and we share in her beautiful but broken world. All in two and a half minutes. I need to change my pants now.
7. I Believe in Love-The early 70s were a tough time for Barbra-for the first and last time in her career, she deep-sixed standards singing and released a barrage of rock-cover albums in an attempt to appeal to the Woodstock generation. Listening to her too-low, spacey arrangement of "With A Little Help from My Friends", or her strained, insipid take on "Life On Mars". Only once did Streisand successfully bridge her rock-singer dreams with her cabaret-classy talents; in this disco piece, written to order for her A Star is Born remake, the beat is so emphatic that she has no time for the excessive vocal improvisations that mar all of her other rock efforts, and she takes full advantage of the lyric's almost theatrical build, something you wouldn't see in any of the songs from her What About Today? or Barbra Joan Streisand albums. When she lets that final riff rip, with the band tearing it up behind her and her face backlit to perfection, Streisand is, for a moment anyway, the sexy pop artist she always dreamed of being.
6. A Piece of Sky-What is there to say? One of the greatest Streisand hallmarks is the Really Long Note. There's a Really Long Note Song on just about every album she's ever done, in every TV special she's ever headlined. This is the king of 'em all. Composed as the Yentl finale, but doubling as an ode to Streisand's father (who died when she was still a baby), this recording contains some of her most emotional singing-when she sings "There will always be/more to question yet more to believe", her luxuriant decrescendo gives the lyric a poignancy the songwriter's could never have anticipated. And then there's that final note, clear as bell, high as the sky, held for 20 seconds. But Barbra isn't just showing off. It's not how long she holds the note, it's how she sings it as an affirmation, how it speaks of total belief, inner strength, of overcoming life's hurdles. This is what great singing is all about.
5. When the Sun Comes Out-Streisand's voice, with its contrast between purring vibrato and piercing belt, was meant for the torch song, and she's never sounded better than on this Arlen-penned heartbreak ballad. She reels you in with that delicate opening, giving each word of the title phrase a precise, gleaming spin. Then, as the lyric compares loves to bad weather ("Just when everything seems bright and sunny/suddenly the cyclone came"), she grows in volume and intensity, and by the time she's shouting "Let it rain, let it pour!", her emotions are so intense they border on parody. Top it off with that whopper of a final note, with Streisand sliding up the scale to match the white-hot work of the brass musicians. Damn. Uh.
4. Avinu Malkeinu-In an era where a new-agey belief system is almost a requirement for celebrities, Streisand has stuck to her religious guns, always an open promoter of Jewish ideals and laws. It is this steadfast belief that shines through in her flawless arrangement of one of the most beautiful Jewish hymns. Sung in the days leading up to the Jewish New Year, "Avinu Malkeinu" asks God to help us renew ourselves as we renew the Hebrew calendar. Singing with flawless diction and Hebrew pronunciation (what CAN'T she do?!), and backed by a massive choir, Streisand forgoes all vocal ornamentation and eschews conventional belting, turning in a simple, direct reading that allows us to focus on the beauty of the text, and of her ageless voice, one that time has only burnished.
3. Somewhere (2000 "Timeless" Version)-Streisand's Timeless tour was a failed and unnecessary attempt to pair the the Great Diva with Vegas-style pyrotechnics and multimedia integration, but it did have one shining moment-a re-tooled rendition of Streisand's 1985 hit single "Somewhere". Freed from its electro-pop chains and garnished with the sound of a full orchestra, the song can finally soar, and Streisand with it. As she duets with Lauren Frost (a 13-year-old belter meant to represent the Ghost of Barbra Past) on the final chorus, her top notes still readily available at age 59, we get the indelible and moving impression of a great career come full circle.
2. Emily-The sheer purity of Babs's singing voice is her greatest asset, but her phrasing is a close second. This old movie theme, re-written especially for Barbra, features the name "Emily" sung at least twenty times-hell, it's basically the entire chorus. But every time she sings it, its different-breathier or beltier, longer or shorter, ecstatic or filled with melancholy. This is not just talent. This is genius.
1. I Had Myself A True Love-The concept is simple-a scorned lover sitting on the porch, waiting for her man to come home. From this, Streisand creates an entire world. She starts off clipped, crisp, behind the beat, almost conversational. As the full orchestra comes in, she relaxes into the piquant melody, making the word "time" a self-contained gem of glimmering legato. Then, the bridge-the orchestra pulses, alive with a Gershwin-esque bluesy throb--Barbra builds. Barbra belts. It all builds to "No!!! That ain't the way that it used to be!", a phrase she socks over with all the fiery abandon of Mahalia or Aretha. Then the orchestra stops. That voice. In the clear. She yanks all of the sound into the back of her throat, delivering the next few lines in a raspy, wounded whisper we've never heard before. Finally, she reaches the last word-"love." The thing she sings about. The thing she conveys to us, the listener. She starts it small, builds, builds, builds, and for a few seconds, she is in full cry...that is, until she stops a few beats ahead of the orchestra, leaving us on the edge of our seats. Thrilling-there's no other word for it. The best recording of an American standard. Ever.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!$$
Also;
I'm pleased to welcome bread back in my life. Passover 2011: No Regrets.
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