The Barbra Streisand Album

Columbia label president Goddard Lieberson initially resisted signing Streisand to a contract, finding her style too close to the cabaret singers he disliked and too far from the understated approach of Jo Stafford or Rosemary Clooney, who recorded for the label in the 1950s. Lieberson relented and agreed to sign her. Nearly three decades later Streisand said: The most important thing about that first contract – actually, the thing we held out for – was a unique clause giving me the right to choose my own material. It was the only thing I really cared about. I still received lots of pressure from the label to include some pop hits on my first album, but I held out for the songs that really meant something to me. Streisand exercised her creative control and chose the straightforward album title, rejecting Columbia's choice of Sweet and Saucy Streisand. She once mentioned, "I said 'What is the truth of it? It's the Barbra Streisand album.' If you saw me on TV, you could just go [to the record shop] and ask for the Barbra Streisand album." The live recordings were shelved in favor of studio recordings, although the photograph for the album cover was taken during the Bon Soir session. Some material from the Bon Soir sets would later appear on Streisand's Just for the Record... retrospective box set in 1991; and, coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of those sessions, the full recordings were released as Live at the Bon Soir in 2022. == Recording ==

Recording studio sessions took place January 23–25, 1963, at Columbia's Studio A in New York City with a budget of $18,000. Material was mostly chosen from Broadway standards, many of which were fairly obscure. Notwithstanding, at the 1964 Grammy Awards, The Barbra Streisand Album won awards in the categories of Album of the Year, Best Female Vocal Performance, and Best Album Cover - Other Than Classical, the latter presented to art director John Berg. The only song recorded but not included on this album was "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" which Streisand and Mike Berniker recorded on two separate dates (including a later session on January 29). The song was included instead on Streisand's The Third Album using a Peter Daniels arrangement. The album made its digital debut on CD in 1987 and was re-released in a remastered CD edition on October 19, 1993. ==Critical reception==

In a "POP SPOTLIGHT" review for Billboard, the album was praised as "most persuasive" and was predicted to draw "an enormous amount of play from the top good music stations." The review noted that the set was "loaded with goodies sung in most dramatic fashion," highlighting Streisand's "slow ballad version of 'Happy Days Are Here Again'" as a particular draw, along with "many of the other tracks." Cashbox declared that "once in a great while a new singer comes along who deserves special attention. Such an artist is Barbra Streisand." The review praised her "highly-distinctive, throaty, wide-range, legit-styled voice and amazingly intricate sense of phrasing," noting that the "songstress dishes up some stunning Peter Matz-arranged versions of 'Cry Me A River,' 'Soon, It’s Gonna Rain' and 'Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now.'" The magazine concluded by highlighting the album's "heavy airplay potential." AllMusic gave the album a retrospective five (out of five) stars, and called it "an essential recording in the field of pop vocals because it redefines that genre in contemporary terms," and "the first thing that strikes you listening to it, 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." == Track listing ==

• Barbra Streisand – vocals • Mike Berniker – producer • Peter Matz – arrangements • Fred Plaut and Frank Laico – recording engineers • John Berg – design • Henry Parker – photography • Harold Arlen – liner notes • Mel Lewis – drums ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==