Of course, the first thing that strikes you listening to the first
Barbra Streisand
album, recorded and released before the singer's 21st birthday, is that great voice. And it isn't just the sheer quality of the voice, its purity and its strength throughout its register, it's also the mastery of vocal effects that produce dramatic readings of the lyrics -- each song is like a one-act
musical
.
Streisand
opens with
Julie London
's signature
torch song
,
"Cry Me a River,"
and she doesn't only surpass
London
, she sets off a thermonuclear explosion. From there, versatility and novelty are emphasized -- a breakneck version of
"Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?,"
a slow, emotion-drenched performance of
"Happy Days Are Here Again."
But
's debut, inventively arranged and conducted by
Peter Matz
, is notable as much for the surprising omissions as the surprising selections. Arriving in 1963, ten years into the revival of sophisticated interwar theater songs led by
Frank Sinatra
and followed by all other adult
pop
singers,
virtually ignores the modern masters like
Gershwin
and
Berlin
. When she does do
Rodgers & Hart
or
Cole Porter
, she picks obscure songs; her idea of a good 1930s number is
Fats Waller
Andy Razaf
's
"Keepin' Out of Mischief Now."
She is much more comfortable with recent theater material, choosing two songs from
The Fantasticks
(1960) and the title song from the stage play
A Taste of Honey
(1962).
The Barbra Streisand Album
is an essential recording in the field of
vocals because it redefines that genre in contemporary terms. (
won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Female Vocal Performance, and Best Album Cover.) ~ William Ruhlmann