Funny Girl Soundtrack or Cast Recording?

[Roger246]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:12pm

I don't have any recording of Funny Girl and was wondering which one I should get?

Thanks.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:26pm

Personally, I love many of the changes that were made for the Movie and its Soundtrack, so I would go with that.

But I'd say go with both. Listen to the OBCR first and judge for yourself the changes that were made.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:27pm

Though it doesn't have the sumptuous sound of a movie studio orchestra, I think the cast recording is more exciting, with Barbra still sounding fresh. It's not quite an even comparison though, since there are a number of songs from the stage musical that were dropped for the film and a few songs added for the film that are worth having - "My Man," in particular. But I'd still start with the cast recording.

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:39pm

I'd go with the cast recording. If only for Cornet Man and the reprise of Don't Rain On My Parade (both of which are in my top 10 of most my played songs)

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:50pm

I was about to say, "Cornet Man" is probably one of my all time favorite showtunes. I still get chills every time I hear Streisand sing that song in the cast recording, it's simply thrilling and breathtaking. Really I find that every song she sings in the cast recording has much more energy, excitement and feeling in it than the songs from the soundtrack (which makes sense since film is the more restrained medium). Still, if you do side by side comparisons of "I'm the Greatest Star," there's no doubt that the cast recording version has a certain "it" factor that I think the soundtrack lacks. Another track I love in the cast recording and hate in the soundtrack is "Sadie, Sadie" (hilarious in the former, kinda dull in the latter, IMO).
Still, like Smaxie said, there are a few songs in the soundtrack worth getting. "My Man" is a must-have, but I'd just download that from iTunes as a single song.

[Jose]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 8:56pm

Given the score and the performer it would not be excessive to have both. Both are special in their own way.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 11:05pm

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 11:15pm

Cast album. Like others have said, the energy is through the roof, and Streisand still seems to be having fun.

You also get a rare treat of hearing her hit a sour note at the end of "Don't Rain on My Parade." She was such a perfectionist that you won't see it elsewhere, but apparently at 22, she didn't have the clout for a redo.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 11:59pm

I didn't know you were allowed to choose just one.

In my day, you had to own both and commit the differences to memory.

Updated On: 12/24/09 at 11:59 PM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 12:53am

Wow! That poster for the OBCR is totally me in a nutshell! I might buy it now. These posters are great. haha! I heard "People" somewhere on BWW Radio (I think) and "Don't Rain..." on Glee! :)

What are the best songs on the recording if I had to pick? Would you recommend the Funny Lady soundtrack (if it's as good as the OBCR)? Updated On: 12/23/09 at 12:53 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 1:40am

In addition to the already mentioned "Cornet Man", the cast album has seven more songs that were not used in the film.

"The Music That Makes Me Dance" is a gorgeous torch song and deserves to be better known. "Who Are You Now" has some awkward lyrics but the melody is particularly intriguing. There is also the jaunty "I Want to Be Seen With You", the lively production number "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat" (with Barbra as the outlandish Private Schwartz from Rockaway) and a couple of lesser songs: "Who Taught Her Everything", "Find Yourself a Man" and "Henry Street."

The film version does offer a hilariously over-the-top Ziegfeldian production number set to "His Love Makes Me Beautiful." The jacket proudly proclaims that the movie includes five songs not heard in the Broadway cast recording: "The Swan" (a riff on Swan Lake), a new title song (the original was cut in the try-outs but Barbra did record it as the "B" side of the Columbia single of "People"), "Roller Skate Rag:, plus two Fanny Brice standards: "My Man" and "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You." (A third Brice song, "Second Hand Rose" was heard partially in the film and although not on the soundtrack, it is on several Streisand solo discs.)

I have a slight preference for the cast album: Better sound and more lively theatrical performances. By the time of the movie Streisand was already adopting a number of irritating vocal mannerisms that would ultimately give fuel to her detractors.

Updated On: 12/23/09 at 01:40 AM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 10:56am

The cast recording has much faster and in my mind, better tempos. All you would need to do is compare the overtures to get what I mean.

Barbra is 21 (almost 22) for the cast album and is spontaneous in a way that she is not 4 years later.

Trivia time: She was a couple hours late for the recording session. All the meager non-Barbra material had already been recorded. She did her Fanny-and-chorus songs, then her duets with Chaplin and then it was just Barbra and, you should pardon the expression, the boys in the band. They went on until dawn until she was satisfied with the takes.

The last song recorded was the mono version of "Cornet Man". (There had to be separate mono and stereo recordings in those days.) You will need to find a vinyl monaural copy of the album to hear this. Near the end of "Cornet Man" Barbra shouts out, "We're going home, boys!" This fits the style of the song and the recording. It was years before I found out what she was actually doing was telling the orchestra that this was a good take and the session will probably be over after the play-back. The shout-out is on the mono recording, but not on the stereo one nor the cd.

Title song info: the Oscar-nominated title song sung in the movie was written for the movie. However, there is another song written by Merrill and Styne called "Funny Girl" that was written and recorded by Barbra soon after the Broadway opening because Jule Styne thought every musical ought to have a title song. This song was never in an album, and if it was in the show it was only in very briefly. The recording got a little airplay on MOR stations (Remember 'middle-of-the-road'?) but not much. They were too busy playing People.

But I have the sheet music to Funny Girl#1 that I found in a 50 cent pile at Gimbels Dept Store in Phila in the early 70s.

"Absent Minded Me", the first song on her People album, was cut from the show out of town as was "Roller Skate Rag" (along with about 3-4 others). The latter was cut simply because the chorus could not do it and "Cornet Man" was put in the slot. The roller skates live on in the show and film logo however.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 11:30am

Would you recommend the Funny Lady soundtrack (if it's as good as the OBCR)?

FUNNY LADY was the 1975 film sequel to the 1968 film-version of FUNNY GIRL. There never was a stage version of FUNNY LADY.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 11:44am

The cast album by far.

Funny Lady is quite good also

[Gavin Rehfeldt]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 12:04pm

WOSQ: Thanks for the trivia. I had no clue, but Funny Girl has never been among my favorite shows. I'll have to add these nuggets to the file in my head where I keep knowledge of the overture mistake in the OBCR of 110 In The Shade, and Pearl Bailey and Harold Arlen's odd contributions to House of Flowers. "I was supposed to have an ad lib filled in here for the record date, but we've been so terribly busy down at the theater we just haven't had time."

Any other similar tids or bits about our cast recordings?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 12:11pm

I know Funny Lady had a soundtrack. I know it wasn't produced onstage. I was asking about the soundtrack. Sorry about that.

[bwayboi4life42]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 8:51pm

Well said, Jose.

But just in case you still weren't convinced, definitely go with the cast recording if you are only going to get one.

Also, I finally got around to reading "Barbra: The Way She Is," the 2003 biography, and there is a lot of interesting stuff in there, particularly about Barbra's days in "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" and "Funny Girl." It's highly worth taking a look at if you're a fan.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 11:07pm

1962. I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE. Barbra + Elliot = one hot mess. Oh, the stories.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/24/09 at 12:46am

Brody, thanks for those photos, they are spectacular.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/24/09 at 2:20am

Definitely the cast album. I have both the OBCR and the movie soundtrack. I get way more use out of my OBCR.

[fflagg]

Posted: 12/24/09 at 10:42am

"Who Are You Now?" is a quietly brilliant, chilling song. It is a "oh my God my marriage is falling apart and there is nothing I can do" moment.

If used in the film it would have placed during the "$50,000" scene when Nick finds out about her investment in the club.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/24/09 at 11:17am

Brody--I especially love the sequence of the 1st photo to the 2nd photo, where Barbra puts her hand over Elliot's face.

It seems to tell the story of their marriage, doesn't it?

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 12/25/09 at 2:31pm

This page has an audio clip of the two different Cornet Man recordings, found at the bottom of the page:
http://barbra-archives.com/record/albums/funny_girl_obc.html

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/25/09 at 2:38pm

That's great, [tos]fan! Love that song. Thanks so much for posting.

[bwayboi4life42]

Posted: 12/25/09 at 10:11pm

I was just going to make a similar comment, PalJoey. She really was gorgeous, though.