The Second Barbra Streisand Album (1963)
Catalog Number(s):
- CS 8854 (1963 LP)
- CK 8854 (1987 CD)
- CK 57378 (1993 CD)
This page: Tracks > About the Album >Unreleased Songs> Billboard Charts > Remastered CDs > Cover Outtakes
Album covers: (top) The original LP cover; (bottom) The original LP back cover.
Below: (top) The 1987 Columbia CD; (bottom) The 1993 remastered CD cover.
Below: This UK version of “The Second Barbra Streisand Album” displayed a different photograph of Streisand on the back cover.
Tracks
- Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home [2:45]
(J. Mercer / H. Arlen) - Right As The Rain [3:25]
(E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen) - Down With Love [3:42]
(E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen) - Who Will Buy? [3:32]
(L. Bart) - When The Sun Comes Out [3:23]
(T. Koehler / H. Arlen) - Gotta Move [2:01]
(P. Matz) - My Coloring Book [4:11]
(F. Ebb / J. Kander) - I Don't Care Much [2:52]
(F. Ebb / J. Kander) - Lover, Come Back To Me [2:18]
(O. Hammerstein II / S. Romberg) - I Stayed Too Long At The Fair [4:21]
(B. Barnes) - Like A Straw In The Wind [4:46]
(H. Arlen)
About the Album
- Produced by Mike Berniker
- Arranged and Conducted by Peter Matz
- Additional Material by Peter Daniels
- Cover Photo: Wood Kuzoumi
- Miss Streisand's coiffure by: Fred Glaser
- Liner notes: Jule Styne
- Original Release: August 1963
- Remastered CD Released: October 19, 1993
“My new album is called The Second Barbra Streisand Album,” Streisand told a reporter in 1963, “because that's just what it is. Why should I give it some fancy name that no one remembers anyway?”
The Second Barbra Streisand Album contained more songs that Barbra had performed in her nightclub act. “Most of the material was songs we had been doing for two and a half years,” Peter Daniels told author Shaun Considine. “It was a big compliment to me when Peter [Matz] took our arrangements and expanded them for an orchestra. The collaboration was incredible.”
Columbia's Mike Berniker produced the recording sessions, with Peter Matz contributing the arrangements and conducting the small orchestra.
Jule Styne—who wrote the score to Funny Girl—contributed liner notes which appeared on the back cover of the album. He wrote:
BARBRA STREISAND ... What makes her the unique and ingenious talent that she is? Listening to this album again and again, I have reached one conclusion: besides possessing a God-given singing voice, Barbra is the first girl I have ever heard who is a great actress in each song. Barbra makes every song sound like a well-written three-act play performed stunningly in three minutes. Although the same Barbra Streisand, she takes on an exciting new characterization for each song. At its beginning, she establishes her character; next, she creates a conflict (making all the lyrics mean so much more than they seem to), then she reaches a tremendous conclusion—so that, even after hearing only one song, lasting only a few minutes, one is completely overwhelmed.
Barbra knows what she is singing, knows what lyrics mean. I was one of the early, early Barbra Streisand fans and in all my years of writing songs ad being associated with top singers, I have never been as thrilled as I was listening to this new album. The only thing I can imagine exciting me more is hearing Barbra sing the score from the new musical by Bob Merrill and myself based on the life of Fanny Brice. We can't wait for that first rehearsal!!
Jule Styne
Unreleased Songs
On February 8, 1963 Streisand recorded Cole Porter's “Who Would Have Dreamed” from the 1940 Broadway show Panama Hattie (starring Ethel Merman). It has never been released. Streisand also attempted a version of “It Had To Be You” for The Second Album in June 1963. That song was re-recorded in November and included, instead, on The Third Album.
(Photo, below): Columbia Records' press packet for Barbra's Second Album, including a glossy photo and bio of Streisand.
(Photo, below): A rare store display for Barbra's first two albums. Note the previously unseen publicity photo of Barbra on the left with a bouffant hairstyle!
Billboard Charts
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine.
Here's the numbers for this Streisand album:
- Debut Chart Date: 9-14-63
- No. Weeks on Billboard 200 Albums Chart: 74
- Peak Chart Position: #2
- Gold: 5/12/64
Gold: 500,000 units shipped
Platinum: 1 million units shipped
Note: The record company must submit an album to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) where it undergoes a certification process to become eligible for an award. The process entails an independent sales audit, which calculates the quantity of singles or albums shipped for sale, net after returns. The audit surveys shipments to the entire music marketplace, including retail, record clubs, television sales, Internet orders and other ancillary markets. Based on the certification of these shipments, a title is awarded Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum or Diamond status. The data here comes directly from official sources, mainly the RIAA online database.
CD Remasters
1987 CD Catalog Numbers:
- Barbra Streisand Album — 8807
- Second Album — 8854
- Third Album— 8954
Columbia released The Barbra Streisand Album and The Second and The Third albums on CD for the first time in 1987. Something went wrong with the sound on those three CDs, however. “There had been mention from Columbia Records that they couldn't find the original tapes but they put out the CDs anyway,” said Victor Bisio, a California-based recording engineer. “They were are the worst sounding CDs I ever heard. They were screechy and distorted. When she hit the high notes, it just shattered your speakers.”
[Barbra-Archives Note: I recently purchased one of the 1987 “Second Album” CDs and although the sound is not horrible, you can definitely hear all of the high notes on both the instruments and Streisand's voice distort. It sounds like it was mastered incorrectly and the 1993 remastered CD was a definite improvement!]
All three albums were restored and remastered (along with new artwork) in October 1993 and part of Columbia Records' 11 Essential Barbra Streisand Releases. The master tapes were prepared for release by John Arrias (who put together the masters for Just For The Record). According to Columbia's publicity:
“The objective with each album was to restore the tapes to the quality of the original master recording. To do this in some cases, 30 years of noise had to be eliminated. John used his proprietary C.A.P. Noise Reduction System to eliminate hiss, distortion and noise. In each case great care was taken to maintain the integrity of the original albums.”
Columbia also recreated the packages using the original art or printing film.
Album Cover Outtakes
Fred Glaser told author Shaun Considine (Barbra Streisand: The Woman, The Myth, The Music) how the Second Album photograph came about:
With each step [of the hair styling] I also photographed her. I had a photographer [Woody Kuzuomi] living rent free in the top floor of my building. He photographed most of my clients as I worked on them. I insisted on that. A mirror can show so much, but a photograph tells all. We had many sessions with Barbra. It went beyond just doing her hair. I wanted to stylize her, to get a definitive look for her, which we eventually did through a long process of elimination.
The original LP cover was bleached out— very monochromatic. And Streisand's nose appeared with less bump. When the remastered CD was released, the original Kuzuomi photograph was restored in glorious gray-tones, unretouched.
Below are more outtakes by Wood Kuzoumi, with coiffure by Fred Glaser.
End.
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