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Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 17:39
Which is Barbra's best or most unique cover version? Name your 3 favourites!
In your opinion, which is Barbra's best or most unique cover version of a song that has already been recorded by one or several artists? If I had to choose three, they would be:
More than you know
You'll never walk alone
Send in the clowns
Replies for this Forum Topic
In my opinion, Barbra's versions surpassed the original:
C'est si bon
Tomorrow
and of course, My Man.
Send In The Clowns
My Man
You'll never walk alone
In no particular order:
1) Somehwere Over The Rainbow
2) My Man
3) It Had To Be You
I agree My Man' and It Had To Be You are fantastic
but for me it's hard to listen to any cover versions of Over The Rainbow after hearing Eva Cassidy's recording of this song. It's even up there with Judy's original, in my opinion.
I did an oil chalk of Barbra from an album in the 70's that was lost when I moved and I can't think of the name.
I can't choose...but I have fallen in love again quite recently with Guava Jelly!
I would have to say;
1. Music of the Night (duet with M.Crawford)
2. The Shadow of Your Smile
3. Close to You (Just for the Record)
Really, three is too short, there are a lot more I could list....
Great choices!
I agree, three is a difficult limit
So I'm adding a fourth: You're the top (What's up doc/Just for the record)
What About Today?
So very sophisticated.
Stony End
It was 1971, this music defined that time in my life.
Happening in Central Park
Amazing! I like to play it for teens today, they are impressed....
I wish there would be another "Classical Barbra" CD. I wore out several albums and audio tapes of this particular music.
i won't last a day without you
send in the clowns
smoke gets in your eyes
"Bewitched Bothered..", she changed it up, and did it better than anyone ever has
"Mother" Barbra doing John Lennon
"Big Bad Woolf" whoi else could make it a song
but i will say its impossible to choose b/c the true cornerstone of her brillaince is her ability to rework songs and bring out thier most brilliant potantial. If You Go Away, Send In The Clowns, My Man, Down With Love, Who Will Buy, Being Alive...and everything she ever did
It IS an impossible choice.
The narrowing down to three was just a way of getting a feel for people's first choices
Every song she performs becomes an entire musical in itself, always evoking an underlying story or message in my opinion. Whenever I listen to a Barbra song, movie scenes appear in my head.
She once said, while recording The Movie Album, that she approached every song as a director while she performs as a singer in the studio. Most likely, this is what shines through in the end result.
1. Smile.
2. Being Alive.
3. In the wee small hours of the morning.
I smile everytime I her Barbra sing this, excellent.
Was hard to choose between smile and being alive, to me this is the best version
EVER of Being Alive.
My number 3 choice as far as I concerned could never be sung by anyone other than Frank Sinatra, but Barbra has now made it her own, really impress by her version, its' beautiful.
Barbra's recording of Being Alive is stunning and so uplifting.
I believe the true measure of a performer's talent lies in exactly the task that Barbra has undertaken with her new album. Recording standards and still managing to add her own sense of style, not copying any existing arrangement.
Smoke gets in your eyes
Music of the Night
My Man
Barbra's version of Music of the Night is beautiful, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs are notoriously difficult to sing because the original recordings are so perfect in themselves, quite impossible to surpass
I just remembered another personal favorite...her version of You'll Never Know, recorded when she 13 years old. That early, scratchy recording showed a maturity and beauty that most experienced adult singers never achieve. Stunning.
Yes, and how remarkably well that song was combined with "Papa can you hear me" in the Timeless concert 2000. Genious arrangement!
1.) The Boy Next Door
2.) Make Believe
3.)Come Rain or Come Shine
Most unique:
C'est Si Bon
Mother
Splish Splash
'Can't help Lovin' that man' - sooo different from the original!!
'Lover, come back to me' - the original is soo slow! lol!
'Cry Me a River'!!! LOVE IT!!!
SO many times i've found sheet music for a song that i know through barbs and when i go to sing it im always like 'that's not how it goes' and they would always be like 'no, that is how it goes'. I soon discovered that no song that she sings is like the original!! Which I absolutely love! I'm doing a 5000 word case study on her for my degree in Musical theatre, and i'm going to do my presentation on her artistic integrity, and how she can change a piece of music! I LOVE HER!!!!! xxxxx
Barbra truly has the unique talent of creating her own version of each standard she records. She has never recorded a "cover" in her life, she always reinvents the song and the arrangement.
Come Rain or Come Shine ('Wet' version...mostly known as a jazz song, Barbra gives this a great groove)
I Won't Last A Day Without You (Shame this song has not received more attention over the years)
We've Only Just Begun (Only made it onto Just for the Record, but a great verison and very different to The Carpenter's version)
Lazy Afternoon, Tomorrow, for the surprise and I don't know where I stand for the gentleness.
Lazy afternoon is clearly one of her favourites as well, since she included it in her concert (was it 1994 or 2000, can't remember suddenly?)
I can't choose three!! It's so hard! Haha.
(In no order)
1.You'll Never Walk Alone
2.Music of the Night (with Il Divo!)
3.Watch Closely Now/ Are You Watching Me Now
For me her most unique are:
1. David Bowie's "Life On Mars" (BUTTERFLY)
2. John Lennon's "Mother" (BARBRA JOAN STREISAND)
3. Randy Newman's "I'll Be Home" (STONEY END)
I reckon,
Send In The Clowns
Come Rain or Come Shine
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
I agree with you, BabyBabs - Barbra's pop version of "Come Rain Or Come Shine" definitely gives the song a different feel, and contemporizes it. A great Harold Arlen song and a fun arrangement of it on WET.
The number of song suggestions listed in this topic is truly a testament to Barbra's talent when it comes to making a cover version her own song.
Gee, just 3 ?? (ha). I'd say "Since I Fell for You" from BARBRA JOAN, "I Won't last a Day without You" from BUTTERFLY and "the Nearness of You" from SIMPLY STREISAND...coming up a close second are the 2 love songs on the BROADWAY ALBUM from "the King and I", put together so miraculously...and then there's a real treasure in hearing her sing "Silent Night" on both her 1st Christmas Album and again, from her concert in Central Park. This question has inspired me to check out my collection for OTHERS ; it seems once Barbra puts her signature style to a song, it nearly obliterates the fact that someone else may have performed it FIRST !! I remember reading somewhere that it is the sheer strength of her personality, in addition to her obvious musical gifts, that make Barbra's versions of each song so distinct, making indelible impressions in our minds and on our souls. Very good topic, folks ! Have a nice day , Fran from NJ
Gee, just 3 ?? (ha). I'd say "Since I Fell for You" from BARBRA JOAN, "I Won't last a Day without You" from BUTTERFLY and "the Nearness of You" from SIMPLY STREISAND...coming up a close second are the 2 love songs on the BROADWAY ALBUM from "the King and I", put together so miraculously...and then there's a real treasure in hearing her sing "Silent Night" on both her 1st Christmas Album and again, from her concert in Central Park. This question has inspired me to check out my collection for OTHERS ; it seems once Barbra puts her signature style to a song, it nearly obliterates the fact that someone else may have performed it FIRST !! I remember reading somewhere that it is the sheer strength of her personality, in addition to her obvious musical gifts, that make Barbra's versions of each song so distinct, making indelible impressions in our minds and on our souls. Very good topic, folks ! Have a nice day , Fran from NJ
I agree; Barbra's cover version in so many cases BECOMES the "new" original version.