Funny Girl (soundtrack)

A film adaptation of the Broadway musical A funny girl appeared in movie theaters four years after the start of the show. Barbra Streisand again played a major role, but much has changed by then, which was reflected on this album. The album with the recordings of the original musical troupe was released in 1964 via Capitol Records , as Streisand Records Columbia Records refused to invest in this release. At the same time, Goddard Liberson, president of Columbia Records, insisted on recording four songs performed by Barbra for this album. The album with the recordings of the musical troupe debuted on the Billboard 200 chart on May 2, 1964, and at the sixth week reached a peak position in 2nd place, holding out for a total of 51 weeks on the chart and received gold certification on September 21 of the same year ^[2] . Although the focus in the original production was on Streisand, there was still room for songs of other characters in the musical. The album of the original troupe contained 15 different songs written by Jule Stein and Bob Merrill . For the film, eight of these songs were removed and replaced with three new songs written by Stein-Merrill, as well as two songs from the life period of Fanny Bryce herself, whose biography is based on the production of “My Man” and “I'd Rather be Blue Over You ". Of course, there are a few points on the album in which we hear minor characters. For example, Omar Sharif in the comedic “If a Girl Isn't Pretty” and “You Are Woman, I Am Man”. But still, the movie version of Funny Girl was for the most part a demonstration of Streisand's talent, which was not characteristic of the original production.

Working with Barbra Streisand “was not always easy and calm,” said Walter Scharf , film composer, in an interview with Patricia Davis. “But the result, I think, justifies the efforts, and sometimes the torment we went through.”

“They warned me that Barbra was very temperamental and stubborn,” said Scarf. “That's exactly what she was. She was and still remains one of the most original and gifted artists I have ever encountered. But there were so many contradictions in this girl. Barbra was temperamental, but in reality it was only a way to fight for perfection. Talented people like her have an acute desire to fully surrender to their work, to satisfy the viewer as much as possible. When they feel that they cannot achieve this, they are angry with themselves, and this leads to the fact that their character is perceived incorrectly. Truly temperamental people - people without talent, those who create chaos around themselves for greater anger. "

Scarf also talked about his arrangements for the film Funny Girl : “It was quite problematic to adapt the music of the Broadway film to a full-length picture, but that was what intrigued me when I was called to work on this picture. "I wanted to keep the mood of the life period of Fanny Bryce, and at the same time modernize the music."

Walter Sharf even starred in a cameo role for the film - he played the accompanist of Barbra during the Second Hand Rose.

The album was twice remastered and reissued on the Columbia Records label. The first reissue of 1990 was answered by John Arrias. The second remastering was done in 2002 according to the original digital recordings by Stephen Markussen and Stuart Whitmore.

The remastered British version of the 2002 album contained a special track not included in the American version - the single version of the song “I'd Rather Be Blue”. Peter Matz arranged this version of the song, it is significantly different from the version from the soundtrack.

It should be noted that both editions do not contain “Second Hand Rose” in overture, although the song was present on the original vinyl records. The only way to hear the full overture besides longplay is to directly watch the movie.

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Pop Performance for the song "Funny Girl".

The design of the cover of the soundtrack was made by Bob Peak, this illustration was subsequently used for the movie posters. Peak was a famous author of many movie posters. He created famous posters for films such as My Fair Lady , Mahogany , Superman and Star Trek .

In the USA album chart Billboard 200, the disc debuted on September 28, 1968 at 198th place. December 23, 1968 the album was certified as gold ^[3] . And on January 25, 1969, the album reached its peak - No. 12. The album was a great success, spent 108 weeks on the chart. November 21, 1986 received platinum certification. The soundtrack was also known outside in the United States - hit the top 20 charts in the UK , and the top 10 charts in Australia and Canada , in the latter became gold ^[4] .

Two singles were released from the album. The first - Funny Girl / I'd Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy With Somebody Else) - was released in July 1968. Versions of both songs were different from landscape ones - the arrangements were created by Peter Matz, and the duration of “Funny Girl” increased by a minute. The single version of “I'd Rather Be Blue Over You” was released as a bonus track for European countries on the re-release of their 2002 album. The songs didn’t achieve much commercial success, although “Funny Girl” was in the top 30 of the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks American radio chart , and “I'd Rather Be Blue over You (Than Happy with Somebody Else)” in the top 20. The second single, My Man / Don't Rain On My Parade , was released in November of that year. The single version of “Don't Rain On My Parade” included an extra vocal section at the end of the song.

1. Overture ( Jule Styne , Bob Merrill ) - 4:00
2. “ I'm the Greatest Star ” (Merrill, Styne) - 4:06
3. “If A Girl Isn't Pretty” (Merrill, Styne) - 2:26
4. Roller Skate Rag (Merrill, Styne) - 2:01
5. “I'd Rather be Blue Over You (Than Be Happy With Somebody Else)” (Billy Rose, Fred Fisher) - 2:38
6. “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” (Merrill, Styne) - 5:39
7. People (Merrill, Styne) - 5:01
8. “You Are Woman, I Am Man” (Merrill, Styne) - 4:23
9. “Don't Rain on My Parade” (Merrill, Styne) - 2:45
10. “Sadie, Sadie” (Merrill, Styne) - 4:19
11. “The Swan” (Merrill, Styne) - 2:51
12. Funny Girl (Merrill, Styne) - 2:43
13. “ My Man ” (Jacques Charles, Channing Pollock, Albert Willemetz, Maurice Yvain) - 2:12
14. Finale (Merrill, Styne) - 2:20

• Funny Girl at Internet Movie Database
• The Barbra Streisand Official Site
• Barbra Streisand Archives: Records / "Funny Girl: Original Soundtrack" Recording