Barbra Streisand’s The Movie Album holds a special place in my memory.
In 2003, a letter I wrote to The Oprah Winfrey Show got me invited to the taping of Barbra’s interview as part of promotion for this album. The taping took place on September 10th, 2003, and the show aired the day of the album’s release, October 14th.
It was the first time Barbra had sung for a small, live, daytime television studio audience since The Mike Douglas Show in 1963. This rare occurrence has remained rare in the twenty years since, as Barbra has only performed in intimate settings of this size three or four additional times.
As crew members set up for Barbra to sing, the “air” in the studio completely changed. There was a different electricity. Although I’d previously seen her in concert, seeing her, one of my primary inspirations, within feet and about to sing live, led me to do several internal “double takes!”
As Barbra debuted her rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” (from the movie, Modern Times), I looked around and just about everyone had tears in their eyes.
I thought, “It’s truly amazing how Barbra Streisand creates such emotion in people.”
Chills upon chills upon chills as the song progressed. When she finished, I wondered, “How am I going to wait a month to hear this again?”
To this day, I hold “Smile” in the same “iconic” esteem as two other Barbra Streisand classics, “Evergreen,” and “People” (although I realize this is probably unique to me, because of this experience).
On release of the album, Ms. Streisand held a contest on her website. Fans would submit reviews; excerpts from each one submitted would be posted on her site. The review Streisand considered the best would win.
While I don’t recall what the prize was, or who won, I do recall that when the contest ended, Streisand said she read each and every review that had been sent to her in full, not just the excerpts.
She also wrote, “Each one I read had true critical merit.” That was impressive.
What follows is a revision of what I wrote and submitted — updated for corrections, time and distance, additional info, and…frankly…because my writing has changed in twenty years. I’m not surprised I didn’t win!
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As a Barbra Streisand afficianado, it’s easy to say that each new album is the best she’s ever done. Her level of excellence in recording is unsurpassed and she has a near indescribable ability to consistently top herself with each project.
The gentle tone of The Movie Album renders each of Ms. Streisand’s vocal performances among the most relaxed of her musical career.
After two albums which were borne out of events in her personal life, The Movie Album sees the return of “the actress who sings,” specifically on four tracks, “Emily,” “Calling You,” “Goodbye For Now,” and the spectacular closer, “You’re Gonna Hear From Me.”
“Emily” (from the underrated The Americanization of Emily, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews), was written to be sung by a man, so two small lines are added at the top to shift the perspective, and Streisand can ‘act the role’ of “Emily.”
It works wonderfully, and Streisand’s love for the melody jumps through the speakers; one can almost “hear” the smile on her face as she recorded it.
“Calling You” is a piece I never expected to hear Barbra Streisand sing. I’ve heard versions by Holly Cole and Natalie Cole, but Streisand, once again, creates a definitive with a passionate understanding of the material (from Bagdad Cafe).
The arrangement is haunting, augmented with the faint sound of wind blowing, suggesting the hot desert and tumbleweeds. I can feel Barbra, the actress, embodying a truck stop waitress in the middle of the Mojave (love her read on the word “fixin’’”, in the phrase “that coffee machine still needs fixin’”).
Adult contemporary radio had changed quite a bit by 2003, but it still surprised me stations didn’t pick up on this one.
“Goodbye For Now” started as an instrumental theme by Stephen Sondheim for Warren Beatty’s Reds. On original release, Beatty wanted Diane Keaton, his co-star in the film, to record the song and possibly release it as a single. She apparently did record it, but it was never released.
Sondheim has been quoted that the song is “an instrumental, not a vocal, and its tessitura was very wide; Diane couldn’t handle it comfortably — nor could many singers….”
Well….enter Barbra Streisand, twenty years after the movie’s release.
“Goodbye For Now” is, arguably, the finest example of “the actress who sings” on The Movie Album. No surprise given the combination of Streisand and Sondheim is generally quite fruitful.
The song plays like one side of a conversation, and Streisand is expert at getting the listener to imagine what is being said on the other side of that conversation.
Listen to her delivery of “I’ll see you when I see you…fine…okay.” Not many can pull off that kind of authenticity within certain confines of melodic structure.
I admit I didn’t “get” the song on first listen; it felt slight and incomplete.
Then, a year later, I decided to move to another city after 34 years, leaving behind my family, friends, and everything familiar. I played The Movie Album on my flight, and had to hold it together when I got to “Goodbye For Now.”
Then I “got” it!
“Wild Is the Wind” is my personal favorite; one of the best matches of Barbra Streisand to material, ever!
The opening moments have an eerie, gorgeous quality, her vocal is sublime, and the orchestration has the most lush “movie score” feel on the album.
Probably more so on the Super Audio CD (SACD) version of The Movie Album, which was released in December 2003. I don’t know if it is still in print, but it features a surround sound mix that’s one of the best I’ve ever heard!
In the case of “Wild Is the Wind,” the woodwinds and a muted trumpet are much more prominent in the SACD mix.
Across all the songs, the intricacies of the arrangements are more distinct on the SACD by comparison to the standard version. The mix is so pristine, Streisand’s tiniest breath is audible, and there were a couple of times I literally jumped from noticing a new sound!
Listening to an album in this format may not be for everyone, but I don’t have words for what music means to me. As much as I love Barbra Streisand’s voice, she chooses such wonderful arrangers, I could easily listen to almost all her albums with the orchestrations alone!
(I’m spoiled now. I want more of Barbra’s albums mixed this way!)
On “Emily,” a banjo, or perhaps a plucked violin or viola, stands out when it’s barely discernible on the standard release, and on “Calling You,” Robbie Buchanan’s percussion pops with more intensity. I also love when the backing vocals (“Can’t ya hear me?”) rise up, as if from nowhere, in the rear speakers!
By far the most improved track, mix wise, on the SACD is “More In Love With You” (adapted with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman from Andre Previn’s love theme for The 4 Horsemen of The Apocalypse).
While a complex, immensely successful selection overall, on the standard CD, when the orchestra swells as Barbra sings “it seems far too wonderful! Impossible!,” it as though the weight of the orchestra is too much for the disc and (to my ears), it becomes slightly distorted.
It’s a completely different story on the SACD. The weight carries and is more powerful. It’s not hard to understand why Barbra, in the liner notes, writes that she considers this the most beautiful movie theme ever written.
The varying horns that are a focal point of “But Beautiful” (from Road to Rio) calls to mind film noir of the 1940s. Streisand’s read on the lyric is equally thoughtful, and I particularly love the closing horn motif, followed by a lovely piano, string and harp glissando.
The arrangement for “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” (from Best Friends) has a more “movie-esque” feel than the “pop” style Streisand used when she first recorded the song in 1984 (this version remains unreleased and features Streisand “in duet with herself” at one point, which I thought she’d re-use here).
One of my favorite things in Barbra’s music are subtle nods to her musical past. They may not always be intentional, but I notice.
The first of these occurs in the opening track, “Smile,” Charlie Chaplin’s eternal heartbreaker, made even more heartbreaking, if that’s possible, with a deeply affecting violin.
In the string section towards the close of “Smile,” I hear a musical pattern that calls to mind the finale of the reprise of “People” on the Funny Girl movie soundtrack.
So, if that “echo” was deliberate, than it seems apropos that the album would come full circle with a more overt homage during the final track, “You’re Gonna Hear From Me,” (from Inside Daisy Clover).
It may seem odd that the huge declaration of “You’re Gonna Hear From Me,” is sitting among otherwise quiet material, but Barbra starts the song just about as quiet as everything else, allowing the song to gradually build towards a “big finish” that uses an orchestral quote from her, and Funny Girl’s, immortal classic, “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”
What a spine-tingler!
The Movie Album deserves to be called one of Barbra Streisand’s finest recordings, both for its consistency, and, challenging material perfectly aligned to her talent.
Thank God for ears; that’s all I can say!
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At the time of its release, some fans expressed disappointment with The Movie Album, citing a “sameness” to the arrangements; very little variation in tempo or mood until the closer. Some called it a snooze.
I never understood the criticism.
There was also a degree of controversy over the album packaging, which largely used photography from a decade earlier. The cover photo was actually shot in 1993, and Ms. Streisand’s hair was digitally altered to represent her 2003 hairstyle.
It certainly looks seamless; if fans hadn’t recognized the shot — no one would have batted an eye!
I was studying Photoshop at the time. In those days, and my understanding of the program, I thought Barbra would have had to sit for a new photo and put her head in the exact same position. Then they would take her hair and morph it to the photo she preferred.
But that didn’t make much sense. If she’d go through the trouble of taking a new photo, why not just use that?
(Of course, I imagine who she used for the cover magic was leaps and bounds ahead of my knowledge; a different tech may have been used where she didn't need to do a thing).
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Ms. Streisand’s long awaited memoir, My Name Is Barbra, will be released on November 7th, 2023.
Additionally, a collection of “deep cuts” personally selected by Streisand called Evergreens, and a 40th Anniversary edition of Streisand’s Yentl soundtrack are both being released on October 27th.
A 50th Anniversary version of The Way We Were, featuring an extended version overseen by Streisand, was just released this past week on 4K/BluRay disc.
I plan to publish a re-edited essay in connection with the Yentl music release, and thoughts on The Way We Were 4K in the coming weeks. Time will tell if I have decent enough thoughts for an essay on Barbra’s book!
