Product Description

JH119 LIKE NEW, 100% GUARANTEED. FREE UPGRADE TO FIRST CLASS!!

Track Listing

1. I Can See It
2. Love Is Like a New Born Child
3. Folk Monologue/Value
4. Cry Me a River
5. People
6. He Touched Me
7. Marty the Martian/Sound of Music, the/Mississippi Mud/Santa Claus Is
8. Natural Sounds
9. Second Hand Rose
10. Sleep in Heavenly Peace (Silent Night)
11. Happy Days Are Here Again

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233083 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Customer Reviews

A classic live recording, but mediocre sound quality.
Barbra's sensational once-in-a-lifetime Central Park concert in front of an audience of over 130,000 people deserves a better presentation on compact disc. The first problem is that Barbra performed for two and half hours that night, yet only 37 minutes of the show are included on the album. Yes, I realize that this is as much of the show that would fit on a vinyl record in 1968, but I certainly feel that now (in the compact disc age) that the entire, full-length concert should be issued on two CDs. Another problem is this disc's passable, yet disappointing sound quality.

The fault lies in the source tape, which Columbia Records recorded separately from CBS TV, who broadcasted the show on television. There is noticeable hissing and even some distortion present, which distracts from the intimacy of the show at times. Barbra's performance is outstanding and deserves to be heard in it's entirety with the best sound quality possible.

I wish Columbia would get a hold of the CBS master tapes (which, though imperfect, are an improvement) and master a new disc from it. A HAPPENING, audio flaws and all, is definitely worth listening to because the concert is so terrific. However I would advise Streisand fans to consider hunting down the currently out-of-print CBS/Fox videocassette or the Pioneer laserdisc of the show. The video is also edited (to 55 minutes), but at least it offers the visuals and better sound quality as well.

A Happening in the True Sense of the Term...Streisand Captured in Her Youthful Performing Prime
Barbra Streisand took a weekend break from filming her screen debut, "Funny Girl", to come back to New York to give a free concert for over 135,000 attentive fans. Unlikely ever to happen again given the top dollar she is charging for her upcoming tour, the June 1967 performance was staged in Central Park's Sheep Meadow, probably among the first of the city's "happenings" led by then-Mayor Lindsay to encourage an urban revival. Always the trendsetter, Streisand led the way for others including Diana Ross, the Dave Matthews Band and the reunited Simon and Garfunkel to stage their own happenings in later years. I'm happy to report that the restoration effort behind the audio and visual quality of this TV special is quite stellar.

But nothing is more stellar than Streisand in her youthful, exuberant prime. The camera pans from the Manhattan skyline to the assembled crowd and finally her over "The Nearness of You". Looking particularly diaphanous in a pink sheath, she does a smashing "Down With Love", a highly theatrical "Cry Me a River", and one of her typically eccentric monologues from the sixties followed by one of my favorites among her rarities, "Value" (a ditty about Harold Mengert and his car). She ends the first act with a soaring rendition of "I Can See It". It's particularly amusing to see random shots of adoring spectators looking very much like sixties squares from Squaresville.

Returning for the second half in a sleeveless red print evening gown, Streisand evokes a sweet innocence to her classic version of "He Touched Me", which is then followed by an extended comedy bit about "a schloon for the gumpert". She swings into a languorous "I'm All Smiles" and then segues into a comic beatnik number, "Marty the Martian" ("hand in hand in hand in hand..."), accompanied by a sassy saxophone. The high point is a beautiful folk-sounding ballad, "Natural Sounds", in particular, when the wind picks up exactly when she mentions the wind in the song (an eerie coincidence Streisand points out in her 1987 video introduction). She gets amusingly hammy on her signature "Second Hand Rose" and then quite stentorian on her anthem, "People".

The climax comes with a strangely appropriate "Silent Night" (it was summer). With the camera dramatically panning back from her, Streisand ends the performance with a splendiferous "Happy Days Are Here Again". Because it was so darkly lit among the throngs, it's hard to fathom the real size of the audience in the days until the very end of the show. My one regret with the DVD is that there seems to be a missed opportunity to include the entire concert, which included eleven other songs she performed that night. Even though the archival footage apparently exists, I'm just happy they have been able to capture what was quite obviously a special evening.

It's good but could be SO MUCH MORE
I agree with the other gentleman who wrote about all of the omissions. She sang a full program that night and it's silly, in this day and age and with a person like Barbra, to not have the whole thing released, once and for all.

They're releasing all the TV programs on 11/22/05; it will be interesting to see if it's just the truncated 55-minute CBS version, or if they've gone back and finally unearthed it all.

Barbra admits (to Diane Sawyer) to forgetting the lyrics on three separate occasions that night, but at this point, what's the big deal? Could this be why we only get these abbreviated versions of the concert? But, if that's the reason, it's a rather silly one. I think that, given her place in show biz, it's more appropriate to just get it out there -- flaws and all -- so everyone can see what all the buzz was about way back in the day.

C'mon, Barbra. C'mon, Columbia Records. Open up the vaults and give us all the real thing!