Funny Lady Movie Soundtrack 1975

Streisand / Discography

“Funny Lady” Original Soundtrack Recording (1975)

Funny Lady soundtrack original album cover. Scan by Kevin Schlenker.

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Below: Gallery of different versions of the album/CD over the years .... Click arrows to navigate.
  • ABOUT THE ALBUM
    • Original LP Release: March 1975
    • Original Album Produced by: Rick Chertoff
    • Soundtrack Album Coordination: Peter Matz
    • Arranged, and Conducted by: Peter Matz
    • Original Songs by: John Kander and Fred Ebb
    • Original Recording Engineers: Jerry Block, Alex Casanegras, Kevin Cleary, Richard Mantel, John Neal, Mike Stone at The Record Plant, Los Angeles and Sunset Highland Recording Studios, Los Angeles.
    • Art Direction: Bob Heimall
    • Design: Richard Mantel
    • Cover Illustration: Vincent Petragnani
    • Photography: Steve Schapiro
    • Recorded: 2/25/75, 2/28/75, 3/28/75 and 4/4/75

    Arista CD Credits:

    • Arista Masters CD Release: May 19, 1998
    • Arista CD Reissue Producer: Didier C. Deutsch
    • Digital Transfers: James P. Nichols at RCA Recording Studios, NY
    • Mastering Engineer: Michael O. Drexler at RCA Recording Studios, NY
    • Reissue Art Direction: Marlo Viscel
  • CATALOG NUMBERS
    • Arista AL 9004 — 1975 gatefold LP
    • Arista AQ 9004 — 1975 gatefold Quadraphonic LP
    • 7301-9004 N — 8-Track Tape Quadraphonic
    • 1R1 6358 — Reel-To-Reel Tape
    • ACB6-8347 (Cassette)
    • Bay Cities 3006 — 1990 CD
    • Arista Masters 19006-2 — 1998 CD
    • Sony Legacy — 2009 CD (same Arista catalog #)



  • CHARTS
    • Debut Chart Date: 3-29-75
    • No. Weeks on Billboard 200 Albums Chart: 25
    • Peak Chart Position: #6
    • Gold: 9/8/75

    Gold: 500,000 units shipped

    Platinum: 1 million units shipped


    The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine.

Tracks

LP TRACKS

Side One

  1. How Lucky Can You Get (4:46) (F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  2. So Long, Honey Lamb (3:10) (F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  3. I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five And Ten Cent Store) (2:55) (B. Rose / M. Dixon / H. Warren)
  4. Isn't This Better (3:25)  (F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  5. Me And My Shadow (3:00)  (B. Rose / A. Jolson / D. Dreyer)
  6. If I Love Again (2:55)  (J.P. Murray / B. Oakland)
  7. I Got A Code In My Doze (1:05) (B. Rose / A. Fields / F. Hall)
  8. (It's Gonna Be A) Great Day (5:14) (B. Rose / E. Eliscu / V. Youmans)
Side Two

  1. Blind Date (4:55) (F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  2. Am I Blue (3:20) (G. Clarke / H. Akst)
  3. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Him (1:05)("Paper Moon" - B. Rose / E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen; "I Like Him" - F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  4. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Her (2:37) ("Paper Moon" - B. Rose / E.Y. Harburg / H. Arlen; "I Like Her" - F. Ebb / J. Kander)
  5. More Than You Know (2:25) (B. Rose / E. Eliscu / V. Youmans)
  6. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley (2:10) (B. Rose / B. McDonald / J. Meyer)
  7. Let's Hear It For Me (3:13) (F. Ebb / J. Kander)
BAY CITIES CD TRACKS

  1. How Lucky Can You Get (4:49)
  2. So Long, Honey Lamb (3:12)
  3. I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five And Ten Cent Store) (2:00)
  4. Isn't This Better (3:30)
  5. Me And My Shadow (3:04)
  6. If I Love Again (2:58)
  7. I Got A Code In My Doze (1:10)
  8. (It's Gonna Be A) Great Day (5:15)
  9. Blind Date (4:57)
  10. Am I Blue (3:21)
  11. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Him (1:04)
  12. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Her (2:38)
  13. More Than You Know (2:28)
  14. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley (2:14)
  15. Let's Hear It For Me (3:13)

ARISTA CD TRACKS

  1. Blind Date (4:57)
  2. More Than You Know (2:28)
  3. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Him (1:05)
  4. It's Only A Paper Moon / I Like Her (2:37)
  5. I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five And Ten Cent Store) (1:59)
  6. So Long, Honey Lamb (3:12)
  7. I Got A Code In My Doze (1:10)
  8. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley (2:14)
  9. (It's Gonna Be A) Great Day (5:38)
  10. How Lucky Can You Get (4:48)
  11. Am I Blue (3:21)
  12. Isn't This Better (3:29)
  13. If I Love Again (2:59)
  14. Let's Hear It For Me (4:04)
  15. Me And My Shadow (3:03)
  16. How Lucky Can You Get (Single Mix) (3:55)

About the Album

Ad for Funny Lady soundtrack on Arista Records.

The Funny Lady soundtrack was released by Arista Records—not Columbia Records (Streisand’s record label and recording “home” since 1962). Clive Davis (a Columbia Records executive who encouraged Streisand to record contemporary songs on the Stoney End album) partnered with Columbia Pictures and created the Arista label.


“After many discussions between me and [Streisand's] devoted manager, Marty Erlichman, he and Barbra agreed to let Arista have the album,” wrote Clive Davis in his 2013 memoir.


Arista advertised the album proudly as one of the first releases from the new label.


The original Funny Lady album contained 15 tracks. Curiously, the James Caan vocal of “Me and My Shadow” was included, even though it was cut from the final film. Also included on the soundtrack album was the complete track of “So Long Honey Lamb.” Again, in the final film, this number was shortened and lasted only a few seconds.


Because Quadraphonic sound was a popular format, Arista also released another version of the Funny Lady soundtrack as a Quad album. (See below).


Arista promoted “How Lucky Can You Get” as the single from the Funny Lady soundtrack. A 45-rpm single of the song was released which contained different Streisand vocals and a different musical arrangement than the album version.


Later, an Arista compilation album entitled Soundtrack Memories (ARISTA/2005) featured another version of “How Lucky Can You Get.” On this one, the first half of the song (with the male backup singers) is completely different than the album and single versions. The men’s voices are huskier and there are a few more “doo-ahh’s.” Plus, Streisand’s singing of the lyric is different as well.
Arista's release of the album

CD Versions

The Funny Lady soundtrack first appeared on CD in 1990 on the Bay Cities label. The CD contained liner notes by Merrick S. Talcove. The tracks on the CD were in the same order as the original vinyl album.

Eight years later, back on the Arista label, Funny Lady once again had another life on CD. This time, the CD reissue producer Didier C. Deutsch dug into the Arista master tapes and remastered the tracks in 20-bit digital technology. He put the tracks in the order in which they appear in the film. Deutsch included, as a bonus track, the single mix of “How Lucky Can You Get.” (This was in the stores as single # AS 0123.)

Another new addition to the Funny Lady soundtrack which appeared on the Arista 1998 CD reissue was the dramatic introduction before “Let’s Hear it For Me,” sung by Streisand in the film as she leaves Nick Arnstein for good. (“Well I’ll be damned. No I won’t be damned. Cause I have been damned. But I won’t be damned anymore.”) This introduction had not appeared on previous Funny Lady soundtracks.

The most interesting change in the 1998 reissue of Funny Lady is “(It's Gonna Be A) Great Day.”

The 1998 CD features an entirely different version of “Great Day,” complete with the minor chords that Streisand sings as the song opens, as well as the complex middle-section with the clapping hands.

The original soundtrack album and the 1990 Bay Cities CD contained “Great Day” as a 5:16 minute track, which Streisand fans refer to as the “sky-high” version because Streisand belts out a long note when she sings the lyrics “angels in the sky, high.”

There was no explanation why Arista and Deutsch decided to substitute a different version of “Great Day” on this disc.  For collectors, it presents a problem, in that there are now two versions of the song out there, and not many people bought the Bay Cities CD, which contains the “sky high” version.

The only explanation for the existence of two distinctly different versions of this song is the rumor that Marvin Hamlisch was hired to rework Peter Matz's arrangement of “Great Day” during production of the movie. One wonders if the version on the 1998 Arista CD is the original Peter Matz arrangement? And the “sky high” version on the LP and the Bay Cities CD is the Hamlisch re-do?
The Arista CD of Funny Lady.

The Arista CD had a fold-out insert that included several photos, the original album notes, and a special note from Linda Richman – Mike Myer's mother-in-law, who inspired him to create the character on Saturday Night Live who coined the expression describing Barbra as “like buttah!”
Funny Lady CD sales sheet

Notes on the Soundtrack

After detailing the various versions of the Funny Lady soundtrack that have been released over the years, it is interesting to note that there are some tracks which were never included on any of them!
  • On the 2002 Columbia Pictures DVD of Funny Lady, fans can hear a mysterious instrumental cue if they click on the “Special Features” option. The background music is a 40-second instrumental version of “If I Love Again.” It’s also possible to hear a 29-second instrumental cue from the Aquacade number by clicking on the “Song Highlights” option. Were these part of the unused Funny Lady overture or intermission music??
  • Another “missing” track is Barbra Streisand’s ballad version of “Let’s Hear it For Me,” sung as the finale of the film. 
  • Crazy Quilt songs that appeared in the film have, to date, not appeared on any Funny Lady recording. The Crazy Quilt songs are: “Beautiful Face Have A Heart” (B. Rose, J.V. Monaco, F. Fisher), “If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain”, and “Fifty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong” (F. Fisher).
  • There are some edited and deleted songs from this score which could have been included in a deluxe CD release (if the audio sources were not corrupted). Included are:
    • Am I Blue ... Barbra's comedic monologue in the middle is spoken, but hilarious. The song was longer than it appears on the final album and film.
    • All My Life on a Stage ... Although the Arista CD restored the “Well, I'll be damned” verse, there was a whole section that was deleted.  Referred to as “All My Life on a Stage,” there is approximately three minutes of this song before it cuts to Fanny in the car singing “Let's Hear it for Me.”
Cover of the 2002 Funny Lady DVD from Columbia Pictures.

The Quadraphonic Album

Quadraphonic recordings were embraced by audiophiles from about 1971 to 1978. A Quadraphonically encoded recording split the sound between four speakers – similar, but less effective than the 5-speaker “surround sound” available on DVD theater systems today. It was necessary to own a Quadraphonic (or “Quad”) stereo system to decode the recording (although standard 2-speaker stereo systems would still play the Quads—without 4-channel separation, though). Quadraphonic recordings were available on vinyl, 8-track tape, and reel-to-reel formats.

Arista Records entered the Quadraphonic business by choosing the CD-4 format (as opposed to the SQ format that Columbia/Sony had adopted). Arista also released their Quadraphonic albums on Q8 tape.

Below are notes on the different quadraphonic mixes on the Funny Lady album, which differ from the regular LP and CD:
  • How Lucky Can You Get? ... Second half of song is a different take, with alternate Streisand vocals; orchestra plays different ending, too.
  • If I Love Again ... Features a more intimate Streisand vocal and different piano ending.
  • Blind Date ... Same vocals; extra orchestra "vamp" after "Rosalie" entrance which is not on the regular LP.
  • Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley ... Completely different take by Ben Vereen!
  • Let's Hear It For Me .... Completely different take! Alternate Streisand vocals.
Funny Lady, front and back covers of Quadraphonic album.

End / Funny Lady Soundtrack 1975 / NEXT ALBUM ....

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