Barbra Streisand…and Other Musical Instruments

Barbra Streisand…and Other Musical Instruments
Studio album by Barbra Streisand
Released November 1973
Length 34:37
Label Columbia
Producer Gary Smith
Barbra Streisand chronology
Live Concert at the Forum
(1972)		 Barbra Streisand…and Other Musical Instruments
(1973)		 The Way We Were
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Barbra Streisand…and Other Musical Instruments is a studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in 1973. The material on the album was drawn from Streisand's fifth television special, which had aired earlier in the same year, on which Streisand had sung a selection of her best-known tracks and other popular songs with unusual and eclectic musical accompaniments. The album was a commercial failure, and is globally the lowest-selling album of Streisand's career, peaking at #64 on the US charts. It is also one of only three studio albums by Streisand (the others being 1969's What About Today? and 2011's What Matters Most) not to have received an RIAA sales certification in the United States.

Development

AllMusic explains the genesis for the album and television special: "The idea of the special was to have Streisand sing many of her best-known songs and other pop standards over musical accompaniment from a variety of national origins, most of them tied into the Gershwin song 'I Got Rhythm.' 'People,' for example, was sung over a Turkish-Armenian backing as a medley with 'I Got Rhythm,' 'Don't Rain on My Parade' was played on American Indian instruments, etc."[2]

Track listing

  1. "Piano Practicing" (Lan O'Kun) – 2:27
  2. "I Got Rhythm" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 1:24
  3. "Johnny One Note"/"One Note Samba" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)/(Antônio Carlos Jobim) – 3:40
  4. "Glad to Be Unhappy" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:43
  5. "People" (Bob Merrill, Jule Styne) – 1:51
  6. "Second Hand Rose" (James F. Hanley, Grant Clarke) – 0:16
  7. "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Bob Merrill, Jule Styne) – 3:41
  8. "Don't Ever Leave Me" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 0:41
  9. Monologue [Dialogue] – 0:46
  10. "By Myself" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 1:54
  11. "Come Back to Me" (Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane) – 1:38
  12. "I Never Has Seen Snow" (Harold Arlen, Truman Capote) – 5:07
  13. Lied Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Franz Schubert, Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg) – 1:32
  14. "The World Is a Concerto"/"Make Your Own Kind of Music" (Welch, Welch)/(Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) – 4:02
  15. "The Sweetest Sounds" (Richard Rodgers) – 2:55

DVD

  1. Sing/Make Your Own Kind Of Music
  2. Piano Practicing
  3. I Got Rhythm/Johnny One Note/One Note Samba/Glad To Be
  4. Unhappy/People/Second Hand Rose/Don't Rain On My Parade
  5. Don't Ever Leave Me
  6. Monologue
  7. By Myself
  8. Come Back To Me
  9. Look What They've Done To My Song Ma
  10. Crying Time
  11. Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead
  12. Lied Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen
  13. I Never Has Seen Snow
  14. On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
  15. The World Is A Concerto/Make Your Own Kind Of Music
  16. The Sweetest Sounds

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly gave the album a D, writing "Years before the term world beat came into vogue, Barbra globe-trotted through African, Japanese, and other indigenous styles on Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments. Nice idea, but do we really need a Spanish version of 'Don't Rain on My Parade'?"[3] AllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars, writing "While the result was eclectic by definition, it was more gimmicky than inventive, especially when 'The World Is a Concerto' was set against the sounds of household appliances! Barbra Streisand...and Other Musical Instruments was a forgettable misstep that thankfully was erased by the appearance, the same month, of Streisand's biggest hit single yet, 'The Way We Were,' which reestablished her as a contemporary pop singer".[2]

Chart performance

Chart (1973) Peak
position
US Billboard Top 200 64
Canadian Album Chart 80

References

  1. ↑ Barbra Streisand…and Other Musical Instruments at AllMusic
  2. 1 2 William Ruhlmann. "Barbra Streisand...and Other Musical Instruments - Barbra Streisand - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ "Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.

External links

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