The Essential series consisted of compilation albums released by Sony BMG and Legacy Recordings from its artists' back catalogs (The Essential Johnny Cash, The Essential Neil Diamond, etc.)
Columbia's Press Release for The Essential Barbra Streisand:
The Essential Barbra Streisand brings together for the first time all of Streisand's groundbreaking pop hits, classic recordings, and fan favorites on one breathtaking two disk, 40 song collection. Beginning with 1963's "A Sleepin' Bee" and culminating with a stunning new studio performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone" (the song she performed at the 2001 Emmy Awards ceremony), The Essential Barbra Streisand is an indispensable gallery of career highlight performances--from one of the most successful and enduring artists in recorded music history. Featuring including two performances--"You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come"--previously unavailable on CD, The Essential Barbra Streisand is in stores Tuesday, January 29th.
Mail order T.V. commercials for this album began airing in mid-January.
Columbia supplied a free, limited edition collectible Barbra Streisand magnet (of the U.S. album cover) in some stores.
Barbra Streisand was interviewed in the Costco Connection magazine about this album. When asked how she chose the songs to appear on this collection, Barbra responded: “Some were obvious, like ‘People’ or ‘The Way We Were,’ and others were simply favorite songs of mine. The funny thing is I've never been all that aware of things like ‘the charts’ or which records of mine did better than others.”
Barbra further explained: “I was drawn to each song for a different reason. Some came from movies, and they expressed something in the story or in the character. Some were by favorite composers of mine, such as Harold Arlen, Jule Styne or, later on, Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Stephen Sondheim. It's moving to hear a great song by a really gifted writer and then to discover what you can add to the equation to try to make it your own. That being said, I've always loved ‘A Sleepin’ Bee’ by Harold Arlen. His melodies have always just spoken to me. And, of course, ‘Evergreen’ is special to me because I've written a few songs, but I've never really thought of myself as a songwriter per se. So it was thrilling when the song became as popular as it did, and then to receive an Oscar and a Grammy for ‘Best Song’ was just something I'd have never dreamed of. It's also great when I hear that it was used for someone's wedding or anniversary party. It's nice to know that my music, especially something I wrote, could touch people in a very personal way.”
International Release Dates — many of the CDs released in European countries featured the alternate Greg Gorman photo on the cover.
In some countries the cover was the Gorman photo, but the title was changed to: The Ultimate Collection.
- Spain: 2/18/02 (European catalog #506257)
- UK: 2/25/02 (#4 debut on national album chart, #1 on 3/11 chart)
- France: 3/5/02
- Europe, Asia, Africa: February/March
- Australia: 3/4/02
- Latin America: 3/25/02
- Japan: 6/5/02
Barbra Streisand recorded “You'll Never Walk Alone” before—back in August 1997 as part of a medley for the album Higher Ground. That version was arranged and conducted by Jeremy Lubbock.
But in October 2001, Streisand recorded the song again with a new arrangement by William Ross—this was the version she sang on her post-September 11th appearance on the Emmy Awards (November 4, 2001).
Streisand’s performance of “Someday My Prince Will Come” was recorded exclusively for the October 2001 Walt Disney DVD Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Platinum Edition. (Now out of print, but available from private sellers at Amazon.com.) Streisand recorded the song with a 100-piece orchestra at Sony Pictures Studios on the evening of March 19, 2001.
Jay Landers (Streisand's A&R man) supervised the recording session and executive produced, as he had recently joined Disney as a senior VP. Barbra and arranger-conductor William Ross co-produced the track. The song with animated film montage is included as a bonus feature on Disc 1. Streisand's music video played after a videotaped introduction from Disney chief Michael Eisner.
