The people involved in the recording session of Streisand's seminal hit, “People,” were producer Mike Berniker, arranger/conductor Peter Matz and an orchestra of thirty musicians, composer Jule Styne, Peter Daniels on piano for the session, Barbra's manager Marty Erlichman, and Frank Laico in the recording booth.  The session lasted from midnight to 3:00 A.M. Besides the two songs on this single, Barbra also recorded two more songs from the Funny Girl score, both arranged by Peter Matz, and both still  unreleased: “Who Are You Now?” and “Cornet Man.”

Funny Girl had not even opened on Broadway at this point, nor had its cast album been recorded. No one in America knew these songs yet.



“When ‘People’ was finished, no one spoke,” recalled Peter Daniels. “No one applauded. There was nothing but silence. When it was played back, Jule Styne almost broke down and wept. It was a very emotional moment.”

There was also an argument between Mike Berniker and Marty Erlichman about the length of the single and whether or not to cut the interlude to make the song shorter. (They kept the interlude — “People” runs 3:39 minutes).

Peter Matz said the single of “People” “haunted” him for years. There were at least two takes of the song. “You see,” he explained, “the version they released was the one with the wrong note on the French horn. Barbra's vocal on that first take was the best, so they went with it, flaws and all.”

As for the B-side of the single, “I Am Woman” was Barbra's unique solo version of the “You Are Woman” duet from Funny Girl. This song has never been released digitally after all these years, except as a bonus track on the 2002 European CDs of the People album.

The song “People” was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 1998 as a Traditional Pop (Single). The GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Award was established by The Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973 to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old.

In 2017, "People" was deemed worthy of preservation as part of America's heritage by the Library of Congress.  Time Magazine reported, “These recordings are among 25 new additions to the Library's National Recording Registry, which preserves an ever-expanding list of sound recordings because they are recognized to be 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.' The new additions bring the total number of titles on the registry to 475.”

“It is so humbling and gratifying to learn that my recording of the song ‘People’ by composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill will be installed in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress,” said Streisand in a statement. “I believe ‘People’ touched our common desire to relate to others with love and caring, and I’ve always tried to express this in my renditions of this magical song.”