People (1964)

People — the album — was Barbra Streisand's fourth studio album for Columbia Records. “People” was the big hit ballad that Barbra sang on Broadway in Funny Girl. (Columbia released the song as a 7-inch single in January 1964).

“People” also appeared on the Funny Girl Broadway Cast Album, which was released in April 1964 by Capitol Records. Columbia had passed on the Cast Album, and now that Funny Girl was a big hit, it’s very possible they wanted to cash in on its popularity, too – especially since Funny Girl’s leading lady was a Columbia Records recording artist!

Mike Berniker, who had produced Barbra's first three albums, was unavailable for this one, so Bob Mersey assumed the role. “Not to minimize the importance of the record producer in those days but, at least in my case, they were usually assigned by the label to organize the sessions, book the studio, and make sure no one went over budget!” Streisand recalled in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2019. “ I don’t recall a lot of creative involvement from Bob. I found the songs, and then I worked with Peter Matz and Ray Ellis to come up with interesting arrangements. Columbia had great recording studios and wonderful engineers like Fred Plaut and Frank Laico. The engineers captured the sound, the arrangers conducted the orchestra, and I sang...so there wasn’t a lot of 'production' like there is today.”

After songs were chosen and charts were created for the orchestra, Streisand recorded the People album in four sessions in July and August 1964, while she was appearing in Funny Girl in New York.

“In those days we worked fast!” Barbra stated in 2019. “It was typical for artists to record two albums per year. I’d listen to the playbacks and pick the best takes. If there were mistakes, or if the tempo felt too fast or slow…too bad…you were basically out of time, because there was always someone watching the clock!”

She further explained that “we did three or four songs in a three-hour session…so that’s 12 hours to make an album! With all the technology today, my last album called Walls took almost 12 months!” 

Barbra recorded “Don't Like Goodbyes,” and “Will He Like Me” twice—with Peter Matz and Ray Ellis arrangements. Ray Ellis recorded all of his arrangements with Barbra in one session on August 21, 1964.

It's interesting to note that “Quiet Night” was recorded during the People sessions, but was released instead on Barbra's 1965 album My Name is Barbra, Two.

The song “Funny Girl” – which has never appeared on a Barbra Streisand album to date – was released as Columbia single #4-43127. It, too, was recorded during these sessions.

Finally, Barbra also recorded “The Morning After” with Peter Matz for this album, but it was abandoned and remade in 1968 for the What About Today? album.  “Where's That Rainbow?” was also given a try for the People album, but Barbra remade it in 1965 for My Name is Barbra, Two.

“Absent Minded Me” traveled several paths before ending up on Barbra Streisand’s People album. Julie London first recorded the song (published by Golden Bell Songs) for her 1962 album, Sophisticated Lady. Bob Merrill was the only writer credited on that album for the song.  Which is curious, because when Streisand recorded it two years later, the song was credited to Bob Merrill (lyrics) and Jule Styne (music), published by Chappell-Co.  (Sony released it, first, as the backside of 7-inch single #4-43127). If you compare the lyrics and melody of the 1962 and 1964 versions, they are the same.  One wonders if Merrill pulled the song out of his “trunk” to publicize Funny Girl, which was about to open on Broadway, and Styne insisted on receiving credit since he was the star-composer of the show. In the many stories told about developing Funny Girl, it has been written that “Absent Minded Me” was written for, then cut from the show. 

Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh wrote “When in Rome (I Do as the Romans Do)”  for the 1962 musical Little Me, although it was not used in the show.

Barbra's Italian spoken section in “When In Rome” goes something like this:

E molto difficile resistere agli uomini di Italia

Per esempio, per esempio i biondi,

I biondi di Firenze, di Venezia

E i bruni di Palermo, di Milano...

Roughly translated, Streisand says she can't resist Italian guys, nor the blonds of Florence or Venice, nor the brown-haired men from Palermo or Milano ... do ya know what I mean?

Originally a duet in the Kay Swift/Paul James 1930 musical “Fine and Dandy,” Barbra recorded the title song as a solo version for the People album. 

Irving Berlin wrote “Supper Time” for the 1933 musical revue As Thousands Cheer. Ethel Waters sang it in the show – a song in which an African-American woman is preparing dinner, only to find out her husband has been lynched.

“Will He Like Me,” written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, is from the Broadway musical She Loves Me, which is a musicalized version of The Shop Around the Corner, about two store clerks who are loving pen pals, but in real life detest each other.

“How Does The Wine Taste?” came from a 1962 musical called We Take The Town. The show, which closed during previews in Philadelphia, starred Robert Preston (as Pancho Villa) and was based on the film Viva Villa! Producer Stuart Ostrow confirmed Streisand auditioned for the role of “an aristocratic Mexican lady.” Robert Preston, however, “wanted a straight actress and turned me down,” Ostrow recalled. Streisand liked the song and recorded it for People.

“I’m All Smiles” was the first song Streisand recorded from the musical The Yearling, with music by Michael Leonard and lyrics by Herbert Martin. The Yearling was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a boy and his pet fawn by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  Streisand recorded several numbers from the show, which opened December 10th, 1965 at the Alvin Theatre and closed after only three performances. On future albums, Barbra also recorded “My Pa” (which was cut out-of-town), “Why Did I Choose You?” and “The Kind of Man a Woman Needs.”

Writing duo David Shire and Richard Maltby recorded a cast album of their college musical collaboration, a musical called Cyrano. “Autumn” was sung by Cyrano de Bergerac in the show.  

“My Lord and Master” came from The King and I, sung in the show by the slave Tuptim about the King.

Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen’s song “Love is a Bore” appeared in the 1964 World's Fair version of Sid and Marty Krofft's marionette extravaganza Les Poupees de Paris. The show was billed as a French “musical revue” for adults and was performed by 240 puppets on elaborate sets. Cahn and Van Heusen’s songs were prerecorded by famous performers like Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Liberace, then performed by the marionettes in the show. Pearl Bailey sang “Love is a Bore” which, lyrically, is the same as the version Streisand sang, complete with the opening verse. (RCA Records released a soundtrack album of Les Poupees de Paris in 1965.) Cahn and Van Heusen are on record saying that they tried out “Love is a Bore” for Streisand backstage at the Cocoanut Grove, which would have been back in 1963 – a year earlier than Les Poupees de Paris. So … which came first, Streisand or the marionettes?

“Don't Like Goodbyes” is Harold Arlen song with lyrics by Truman Capote from the Broadway musical House of Flowers.  Barbra has recorded several other songs from that score: the title song, “I Never Has Seen Snow,” and “A Sleepin’ Bee.”

People was a big hit for Barbra Streisand and Columbia Records.  After its release in September 1964, the album went to #1 on the October 31, 1964 Billboard Top LP’s chart and stayed at #1 for five weeks.  Barbra battled The Beatles (A Hard Day’s Night) and The Beach Boys (All Summer Long) as well as the legendary Dean Martin (Everybody Loves Somebody) for her position.