Streisand: Her Life (121 page)

“Who knew?” That was the general reaction when Barbra, being interviewed by Katie Couric on her new talk show, said that her son Jason had a beautiful voice and would be singing with her on an album of new duets she had in the works. Streisand fans were a little skeptical until they heard excerpts from a five-track EP of Jason’s for sale as an MP3 file. His voice was indeed fine, he sounded nothing like his mother, and his song selection was eccentric and in some ways autobiographical: “Nature Boy,” a song made famous by Nat King Cole and, although not written as such, embraced by gay men as something of an anthem (“There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy...”); “This Masquerade,” Leon Russell’s oft-covered composition; “Hello,” by Charlotte Martin, Eric Owyong, and Ken Andrews; Irving Berlin ‘s “How Deep Is the Ocean?” and his own composition, “Morning Prayer,” written with Liz Vidal and Marsha Malamet.

So when did Jason decide to be a singer? He told Broadwayworld.com, “I was a kid who always came up with little melodies...That was one of the first creative things I was drawn to.” He was afraid to make his interest in singing public until now. “I was
very
insecure about my voice... My mother has set a very high standard so it wasn’t like I was just anybody opening my mouth. I knew I was following in the footsteps of someone who has affected as many people as my mother. It can be a little daunting, you might say.”

To him, deciding to go public with his singing was “a sort of second coming out... because in the same way gay kids have to face their own shame and fear about whether they’re going to be accepted, it’s very parallel to that in some ways. (It’s) like ‘finding one’s voice.’”

Jason has written a number of other songs that he plans to add to this MP3 EP for a CD release sometime in 2013. But for his initial foray into recording he wanted to sing songs that he didn’t write—as long as they weren’t songs that Barbra had sung. “So that drew me to ‘How Deep Is the Ocean?’, ‘Nature Boy,’ songs that are great songs and that I could identify with (and) thought maybe I could bring something new to.”

Barbra knew that Jason had dabbled in music, just as he had dabbled in acting, directing, and interior design. But it wasn’t until her 70
^th
birthday in April of 2012 that she became aware of Jason’s new seriousness about it. “For her birthday I made her a film montage of our life, our relationship together. I was recording ‘Nature Boy’ at the time...so I used that song and on her birthday it was shown as one of the multiple films that people show at birthday parties.”

How did Barbra react? “I think it sort of shocked her. I don’t think she quite knew that I could sing.” The reaction of Barbra’s fans (and others) has been positive. Many feel that Jason could very well carve out a recording career for himself, if he sticks with it.

For the first time since
Just for the Record
, Barbra treated her fans to a collection of previously unreleased recordings with
Release Me
, an eleven-track album shipped to stores on vinyl on September 25, 2012 and on CD on October 9.

The tracks were recorded between 1967 and 2011. “Being Good isn’t Good Enough” from the Styne/Comden/Green musical
Hallelujah Baby!
was originally recorded to open
The Broadway Album
but was set aside in favor of Sondheim’s re-worked “Putting It Together.” It might, like “I’m the Greatest Star,” serve as an anthem of Barbra’s desire to be the best she can be.

Barbra always loved Jimmy Webb’s haunting music and lyrics to “Didn’t We,” and she recorded it in 1970 for her planned album
The Singer
. When that album project was superseded by
Stoney End
, “Didn’t We” wound up in the vaults. Barbra performed the song on
The David Frost Show
in 1971 and at the 1972 fundraiser for presidential candidate George McGovern, which can be heard on the album
Live Concert at the Forum
. This track is the studio version.

The classic 1932 torch song “Willow Weep for Me” by Ann Ronell was supposed to appear on
Simply Streisand
but didn’t make the final cut. (As with most of the songs on this album, it’s hard to fathom why not—it’s a stunning performance.) In his liner notes for
Release Me
, Jay Landers writes that “there is an undeniable Gershwin-esque quality” to the songs and theorizes that this is so because “Ronell was romantically involved with George Gershwin when she wrote her most famous song.” He also adds the interesting fact that Ronell also wrote “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?”

While Barbra was learning to play guitar for
A Star is Born
, the song she most often played was country star Larry Gatlin’s beautiful “Try to Win a Friend.” A year later, she recorded it for
Streisand Superman
. Her voice and the arrangement reminds one of her
Barbra Joan Streisand
period as much as it does the mid-seventies period.

The one-take performance of Randy Newman’s lovely and aching “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” resulted from a rehearsal session with Newman in 1970 for three of his songs Barbra planned to include on
Stoney End
. The other two, “Let Me Go” and “I’ll be Home,” made the album; this one had to wait until now.

“With One More Look at You” is one of Barbra’s most beloved songs, having been such an integral part of
A Star is Born
. She recorded it live for the movie, and then again in the studio, which is the version on this album.

Barbra has recorded just a few songs with the Bossa Nova beat that became so popular in the mid-sixties. One of the most famous of its composers was Antonio Carlos Jobim, who had a huge hit with “The Girl from Ipanema” (parodied by Stephen Sondheim in the hilarious “The Boy from...”). In 1968 Barbra chose a lesser-known Jobim composition, “Lost in Wonderland,” perhaps for
What About Today
. Landers notes: “When it came time to record ‘Wonderland,’ Barbra was still trying to learn the phrasing intricacies of Marshall Barer’s rapid-fire lyrics. All the more remarkable, then, how her vocal on this take was recorded in a single pass.”

In 1988 Barbra decided to record as a medley two lilting songs about fictional Irish villages, “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” from
Finian’s Rainbow
and “The Heather on the Hill” from
Brigadoon
. Produced and arranged by Rupert Holmes, the medley was intended for the sequel album
Back to Broadway
, but that was put off, and when it was released in 1993, the medley was not included.

“Mother and Child,” a contrapuntal lyric between a girl and her mother, was written by Michel Legrand and the Bergmans for
Life Cycle of a Woman
,an album that Barbra, of course, has never completed. She recorded this and four other songs by Legrand and the Bergmans for that project in 1973.

After Barbra completed work in 2011 on
What Matters Most
, her album of songs with Bergman lyrics, Alan and Marilyn told her about a song they had written with the young Irish composer Brian Byrne. Barbra loved “If It’s Meant to Be,” but it was too late to include it on
What Matters Most.
It took just a year for it to appear here.

Barbra recorded “Home” from
The Wiz
for her Broadway album in 1985, but decided that record should comprise more traditional theater songs. When she listened to the tape again for this release, she decided to re-record the drums, piano, and bass, and she brought back the three musicians who had played on the original.

Upon first listening,
Release Me
seems an uneasy mix, with its widely varied arrangements and song choices. After repeated listenings, however, the beauty and passion of Barbra’s vocals unifies the whole. The subtle differences in Barbra’s voice, as well as the arrangements, serve as a pleasurable reminder of the many periods of Barbra’s recording career. One thinks of Barbra’s albums
Simply Streisand, Stoney End
,
The Way We Were, A Star is Born
and others as the songs progress on this album.

Allison Waldman, author of
The Barbra Streisand Scrapbook
, raved about the album on examiner.com, saying in part, “Using her utterly unique musical instrument, a voice that can caress a lyric with tenderness as well as belt an emotion with passion and conviction, Streisand’s genius is more than simply the physical beauty of her timeless sound. There’s artistry in her ability to render tears for ‘I Think It’s Going to Rain Today’ or to evoke a smile of sadness for a song about the end of a relationship like ‘If It’s Meant to Be.’ It’s apparent to me that Barbra Streisand’s essential gift is more than her ability to create a sound. It’s the mind behind the artistry to create that make her so special. It’s the way she can take every ounce of talent she has and infuse it all into the music. There are many, many singers with voices that are appealing and unique. But there is only one Barbra; only one Streisand in song. It’s the sound and the mind in combination, and
Release Me
offers a chance to hear that alchemy in all its glory.”

Release Me
debuted at number seven on the
Billboard
chart, making Barbra the only artist to have multiple albums in the Top Ten for six consecutive decades. At the same time, Amazon announced that Barbra and Jason were the first mother and son ever to debut at number one in their respective categories on Amazon: Barbra on the Broadway & Vocalists, General Vocal Pop, and Contemporary Vocal Pop charts, and Jason on the MP3 Broadway & Vocalists chart.