Higher Ground (1997)
Catalog Number(s):
- CK 66181
Tracks
- I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone
- Higher Ground
- At the Same Time
- Tell Him (Duet with Celine Dion)
- On Holy Ground
- If I Could
- Circle
- The Water Is Wide/Deep River
- Leading with Your Heart
- Lessons to Be Learned
- Everything Must Change
- Avinu Malkeinu
About the Album
- Released November 11, 1997
- Executive Producers: Barbra Streisand and Jay Landers
- Individual Tracks Produced by: Arif Mardin, Walter Afanasieff, David Foster, Mervyn Warren, Jeremy Lubbock,
- Art Direction: Nancy Donald
- Design: Hooshik
- Liner Notes: Barbra Streisand
- Photos (Front cover, back cover, tray card): Randee St. Nicholas
- Photo of Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand: Firooz Zahedi
Streisand heard “On Holy Ground” at Virginia Clinton Kelley's funeral in 1994. Barbra was moved by the young singer and described it as an “electrifying moment”.
The man who wrote “On Holy Ground”, Geron Davis commented on Streisand's reaction: “Here's a lady,” he said, “who's sung on Broadway. She has sung duets with every famous person in the country. She's produced, starred in, and directed movies. You think a 19-year-old's song is gonna electrify her? That's not what electrified Barbra Streisand. What happened to Barbra Streisand—and I believe she would agree—is that she got into the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. She was electrified not by my song, but by the presence of God that she felt in the room.”
Arif Mardin produced four tracks on Higher Ground (“I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone”, “Higher Ground”, “If I Could” and “The Water is Wide/Deep River”)“Working on a [Neve Capricorn digital audio console] a few years ago on a Barbra Streisand project, she was in LA and we were in New York and we would mix the song, play it to her over the fibre-optic telephone line, she would critique it, we'd do the changes, and then she would say 'Oh, what about yesterday's mix?' If it wasn't a Capricorn, the assistant would have to set the mix up, look at his notes, set the EQs and everything. With the Capricorn you press one button and everything is recalled. So with Barbra Streisand, who's known to be very particular, we mixed five songs in seven days. Would you believe that? She was very happy. So in that domain, it was important that we worked on a digital desk.”
Ann Hampton Callaway, a gifted performer and songwriter, contributed “At the Same Time” to Higher Ground. She told Barbra News:
When I exchanged my first words with Barbra about some lyric rewrites for her, I was too cool for words, trying to remain as dignified as possible. We had a very interesting conversation about what she was looking for in the rewriting of the bridge of my song. It was important to her that the words be “simple but profound” and understandable to the listener upon first hearing. She was warm and expressive about the message she wanted to convey.
"She has a certain clout and star wattage that is dazzling beyond almost anyone," Ms. Callaway said of Ms. Streisand. "The powerful impact she's had on me and anyone I know as a singer, as an interpreter of great American songs ... she's a force of nature. When she does a song, she owns it."
After Celine Dion sang “I Finally Found Someone” on the Oscar broadcast, Streisand sent her flowers with a congratulatory note that ended with: “Next time let's do one together.”
David Foster wrote “Tell Him” for Dion and Streisand, with his wife Linda Thompson writing the lyrics with Walter Afanasieff.
“Barbra sang her part in Los Angeles,” Dion said, “ and a few days later in New York, I added my voice to hers.”
"Celine is all anyone could ask for in a singing partner—professional, easygoing, generous," Streisand told McCalls. "Her amazing voice is surpassed only by her kind and gentle heart."
“Tell Him” was released as a single but failed to get played on radio stations (reflecting the change in the music business that's been happening for over ten years). A single was manufactured for sale, but withdrawn by Columbia Records in the U.S.—although fans overseas were able to find it in stores.
Note: Celine Dion's DVD, Au Coeur Du Stade, features the 56-minute documentary, Let's Talk About Love: The Sessions. Included is studio footage of Streisand, David Foster, and Celine Dion talking around the piano, as well as the complete video of “Tell Him”. The DVD (all-region) is out of print, but used copies can be found at Amazon.com. Here's a link to Amazon.
“If I Could”, by Ronald Miller, Kenny Hirsch, and Martha Sharron, has been covered by many artists including Celine Dion, Linda Eder, Ray Charles, and Nancy Wilson. The song obviously struck a chord with Streisand, who dedicated it to her son Jason on Higher Ground. “If I Could” was released as a single, too. Below is a foreign pressing with the single version of “I Believe” included.
Streisand first attempted to record “Everything Must Change” by Bernard Ighner in the summer of 1974 for her album, Butterfly. Ultimately, it was not completed for that album. The song must have stuck with her, though, since Streisand returned to it 23 years later for Higher Ground.
Click the play button below to listen to a snippet of Barbra's 1974 rehearsal tape, which then segues into the 1997 recording of “Everything Must Change”:
Album Cover Outtakes
Randee St. Nicholas photographed the striking cover image for Higher Ground, as well as the seaside shot of Streisand that graced the back cover of the CD.
Below is the final image used for the CD cover in its full, vertical crop.
And below are alternates of this shot ... just as beautiful.
End.
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