Harold Sings Arlen with Friend 1966 Album

Streisand / Discography

Harold Sings Arlen (with Friend) (1966)

Front cover of the album “Harold Sings Arlen (with friend)”

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Below: Gallery of back cover and CD release .... Click arrows to navigate.

  • ABOUT THE ALBUM

    • Released March 1966
    • Produced by: Thomas Z. Shepard
    • Arranged & Conducted by: Peter Matz
    • Notes by: Harold Arlen, Edward Jablonski
    • Cover Photo: Don Hunstein
    • Original Recording Engineers: Roy Halee, Larry Keyes, Peter Dauria
    • CD restored by John Arrias at B&J Studio using the C.A.P. System
    • CD Remastered by: Bernie Grundman
    • CD Special Thanks to: Karen Swenson




  • CATALOG NUMBERS

    • AOS 2920 (Stereo LP)
    • OL 6520 (Mono LP)
    • CK 52722 (CD 1993 Remastered)



Tracks

  1. Blues In The Night [4:00] (J. Mercer / H. Arlen)
  2. Little Biscuit [3:56] (E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen)
  3. DING-DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD [1:56] * (E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen)
  4. A Sleepin' Bee [3:41] (T. Capote / H. Arlen)
  5. In The Shade Of The New Apple Tree [4:04] (E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen)
  6. Hit The Road To Dreamland [2:36] (J. Mercer / H. Arlen)
  7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive [2:43] (J. Mercer / H. Arlen)
  8. My Shining Hour [3:27] (J. Mercer / H. Arlen)
  9. Today I Love Everybody [2:09] (D. Fields / H. Arlen)
  10. HOUSE OF FLOWERS [2:49] * (T. Capote / H. Arlen)
  11. For Every Man There's A Woman [2:28] (L. Robin / H. Arlen)
  12. That's A Fine Kind O' Freedom [2:40] (M. Charnin / H. Arlen)
* with Barbra Streisand
NOTE: The LP and CD are both out of print. Amazon sells used copies. And both iTunes and Amazon Music sell digital versions of this album.

About the Album

Listening to playback from the album. Left to right: Tom Shepard, Harold Arlen, Streisand, Jonathan Schwartz, Ed Jablonski.
Harold Arlen wrote many of the great American Songbook songs:  Over the Rainbow, The Man That Got Away, Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home, Stormy Weather, and One For My Baby. By this time, he had already recorded a couple of albums of his own music, both arranged and conducted by Peter Matz.  It was Arlen who actually recommended Mr. Matz to Barbra Streisand when she was looking for an arranger for her first albums at Columbia Records.

Producer Thomas Sheppard “got very excited” working on this album. “I was an admirer of Arlen's. This was a good excuse for me to meet him and learn his catalogue. And I wanted to work with Peter Matz.”

As for Streisand's involvement, Sheppard confessed “it was one of those pipe dreams. We all wanted her but didn't believe she would do it. I felt it would be a definite plus, because we needed more than just a composer singing his songs.”

Streisand loved Harold Arlen's songs, and considered him a friend.  On past albums Barbra sang songs from his musical House of Flowers. Arlen also wrote the liner notes on her first album.

Streisand’s vocals were recorded on November 22 and 24, 1965. Harold Arlen wrote of Streisand: “Barbra’s version of ‘House of Flowers’ is the most moving, exciting rendition imaginable—and I’m delighted. As for Barbra joining me on this album—I’m gratulant and grateful and an indebted idolater.”

Barbra said, “His album gave me a chance to sing with the man who, in my opinion, is the greatest composer of American music next to George Gershwin. His melodies hit you in the gut ... soulful, almost painful, moving.”
Streisand and Harold Arlen recording this album. Photo: Don Hunstein

“Harold Arlen is a very good song writer. He sings very much like what you think a song writer should sound like, sometimes on pitch. The main interest on this album are the wonderful tunes written by Arlen and the two songs his friend Barbra Streisand sings. She does some of her best work of late on ‘House of Flowers,’ a stunning song.”

Diskords by John Acord III, The Daily Oklahoman, April 17, 1966

Streisand and Arlen (in a wig) record the album.

In 2005, when the centennial celebration of Arlen’s birth was being honored, Streisand contributed her memories of working on the tracks for this album. “When I got to duet with him singing ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead’, I came to know the little-boy part of Harold,” Streisand recalled. “We had fun being kids together on that recording. I believe that decades from now, people will be as affected by his music as I’ve been. Thank you, Harold.”


Thomas Sheppard remembered Streisand as being “very professional. She listened real hard to the band. These were live sessions, not pretracks, so she paid a lot of attention to what went on behind her.”


It sounds like Streisand had a lot of fun in the recording booth with Arlen, too. “She made suggestions,” Sheppard said. “It was funny. Here was a guy who had written ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away,’ and she was telling him how to sing his songs. But he didn't mind. He and his wife adored Barbra. They were obviously good friends.”


Streisand fans who collect her should note that although this LP and CD are both out of print, both of Streisand's songs are available on other CDs. “House of Flowers” and “Ding Dong!” both appear on Just for the Record. And “Ding Dong!” also appears on Barbra's 2002 CD Duets.
Streisand and Arlen at the microphones. Photo by: Don Hunstein

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