People/Second Hand Rose/Why Did I Choose You/He Touched Me/Free Again/Don't Rain On My Parade/My Colouring Book/Sam You Made The Pants Too Long/My Man/Gotta Move/Happy Days Are Here Again
Barbra Streisand’s first compilation of songs taken from her Sixties repertoire. Although her albums were consistently very successful, most of the singles failed to register in the upper reaches of the charts. (US:32 UK:44)
“For those who enjoy Barbra Streisand's unique voice and dynamic delivery, this album is excellent. It is a fairly comprehensive collection of her best material from 1964 to 1969.There are only two top 40 cuts, Second Hand Rose and the wonderful People, her only top ten offering of the period. However, it must be noted that with artists who are more accurately considered easy listening than pop, chart position is a very misleading gauge of the quality of their songs.”
“People starts off the LP with a smash hit for Streisand; she sounds like pure silk on this number and there couldn't be a better interpretation. The strings are very beautiful and I like the harp too. Second Hand Rose is an older number that gets a ragtime flavoured musical arrangement. However, what really impresses me the most would have to be Don't Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl. Barbra opens up and lifts this tune to new heights. It is truly one of her best masterpieces ever.”
“At a time when Barbra Streisand's career was in decline, what turned out to be only her first greatest hits album seemed to serve as both a summing up and a signing off of her 1960s recordings. Streisand was not primarily a singles artist; but in that time, she scored seven gold top ten albums. For casual fans, this made for a good sampling of her most prominent '60s work. At the time it seemed likely that this was all the hits there would be. Instead the 1960s proved to be only the first chapter in Streisand's career.”
“What can I say about Barbra Streisand which hasn't yet been said so many times? Her voice was simply the best ever recorded. Not even trained, how she managed to interpret a song at such an early age is beyond comprehension to me. One of the things that makes this LP special is the assortment of songs chosen to be on it. They showcase very well her immense talents, from a beautiful voice to her great range, as well as her almost magical ability to make the listener feel the raw emotions.”
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