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Barbra Streisand recorded a new CD of songs with lyrics by the Bergmans, and included is the song originally written for Frank Sinatra "The Same Hello, The Same Goodbye", first recorded a couple of years or so ago by Michael Feinstein.

Streisand's CD, titled "What Matters Most", is due to release on August 23 and will also include a duet with trumpeter Chris Botti in Goldsmith's "Alone in the World". A collectors edition will be available with a second disc, featuring previously released performances of other songs with lyrics by the Bergmans.

Barbra Streisand: What Matters Most

Amazon.com has also a promotional video of this upcoming release, with a very special appearance... it seems someone was recording next door, and was invited to attend the recording of his song... Check the video here.

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That's a great video - really cool that Spielberg and Williams were present. Thanks for posting! And if we can figure out when/where this CD was recorded, we may be able to confirm/deny the rumor that Williams was recording additional Tintin sessions in July.

EDIT: So if I understand correctly, this song was NOT written for a film? Has Williams ever written other non-film pop songs?

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What video? Are you talking about the one on that Amazon page? I couldn't get that to work, for some reason.

Anyways, it's a decent song. I've had the Feinstein recording for some time (and I think I'm gonna stick to that...not that big a fan of Streisand's voice).

As for your question, I don't believe Williams has done many "pop" songs outside the film medium that I know of. There are some jazz instrumentals, of course, but that's a different story.

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I believe he actually wrote 4 songs for Sinatra.

He did? What were the others? I know Sinatra performed "Dream Away", but AFAIK it wasn't written for him.

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I think it was mentioned here around the time that the Feinstein disc was released, or maybe it was in the notes for the disc. I could be wrong though.

Edit:

I don't know where I got the number 4 from, but here is what the booklet says..

The one new song in this collection was commissioned by Sinatra to sing in concert but was ultimately never learned in spite of his reported adoration of it. After hearing "The Same Hello, The Same Goodbye" as part of a song cycle created about his tempestuous romantic life, Alan Bergman said that Frank cried after he initially sang it for him. Sinatra said: "How do you know so much about my life?"

Song cycle implies though that more than one song was written for/about him.

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But that doesn't mean Williams wrote them all, right?

JWFan should be updated to include this song in the "Other Works" section. :) That's really cool that JW dabbled in pop music.

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That's a great video - really cool that Spielberg and Williams were present. Thanks for posting! And if we can figure out when/where this CD was recorded, we may be able to confirm/deny the rumor that Williams was recording additional Tintin sessions in July.

EDIT: So if I understand correctly, this song was NOT written for a film? Has Williams ever written other non-film pop songs?

Not sure when, but in that video they're at the Streisand Scoring Stage at Sony Pictures, used frequently by John Williams and numerous other film composers as well. Barbra donated money to have an isolated room constructed right there in the control room for a singer (or other soloist) because she got sick of running out to the recording stage, singing a bit, then running back into the control room to have a listen at what she'd just done. After that it was named in her honor. You can read about it and its history here:

http://www.sonypicturespost.com/soundservices/scoringstage/scoringstage.html

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But that doesn't mean Williams wrote them all, right?

JWFan should be updated to include this song in the "Other Works" section. :) That's really cool that JW dabbled in pop music.

Well typically a song cycle is a single work by a composer. Different songs, but linked by some theme or idea and meant to be performed together.

But yeah, I guess it doesn't necessarily mean that Williams wrote more than one. I feel like Miguel would know the answer to this.

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"Seven for Luck" is the only song cycle I know Williams has written, but hey....surprises appear every day.

By the way, Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind", which is also featured on this CD, is one of the most beautiful film songs ever penned, but I'm still looking for a good performance of it.

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Nice that one of Williams' less known songs gets a new life with this album.

And what a happy coincidence that Spielberg and Williams were in the same building at that time and Williams got to witness the recording. :)

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I wouldn't really call this a pop song...

Anyway, from what I've read -- and please, don't ask for sources, I'm feeling too lazy right now -- the commission was originally made to the Bergmans and Legrang. For some reason, Legrand wasn't available, so Marylin and Alan asked Williams to work with them. The so called song cycle was longer, and I think that at the time of the Feinstein release, I read something about three more songs. But since Sinatra never really picked it up, the rest of the work didn't survived, and only this piece was rescued.

For other, non-film works, Williams did a few short pieces earlier in his career, probably for his jazz combos. At least three were recorded in 1956 and released on LP: Hello, Aunt Orsavella and Caribe. They were included on this release.

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I wouldn't really call this a pop song...

Anyway, from what I've read -- and please, don't ask for sources, I'm feeling too lazy right now -- the commission was originally made to the Bergmans and Legrang. For some reason, Legrand wasn't available, so Marylin and Alan asked Williams to work with them. The so called song cycle was longer, and I think that at the time of the Feinstein release, I read something about three more songs. But since Sinatra never really picked it up, the rest of the work didn't survived, and only this piece was rescued.

For other, non-film works, Williams did a few short pieces earlier in his career, probably for his jazz combos. At least three were recorded in 1956 and released on LP: Hello, Aunt Orsavella and Caribe. They were included on this release.

Yup, those are the jazz instrumentals I talked about. But again....hardly "pop songs".

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Thanks for the tip Miguel!

It sounds a really good album, it might be worth to pick it up.

Lovely guest appearance by JW. I guess he and Spielberg were around there for the War Horse sessions.

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Thanks for the tip Miguel!

It sounds a really good album, it might be worth to pick it up.

Lovely guest appearance by JW. I guess he and Spielberg were around there for the War Horse sessions.

It is indeed a good album, one of the most important releases of that year, IMO. Made the ol' LP-to-CD transfer THE JOHN TOWNER TOUCH (which was his first official album recording, as far I know) totally superflous. It also has what must surely be his earliest recordings ever, esp. related to his own compositions.

A must-have!

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I wouldn't really call this a pop song...

Anyway, from what I've read -- and please, don't ask for sources, I'm feeling too lazy right now -- the commission was originally made to the Bergmans and Legrang. For some reason, Legrand wasn't available, so Marylin and Alan asked Williams to work with them. The so called song cycle was longer, and I think that at the time of the Feinstein release, I read something about three more songs. But since Sinatra never really picked it up, the rest of the work didn't survived, and only this piece was rescued.

Ah, I knew I wasn't pulling out of nowhere this thing about there being 4 songs - thanks!

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  • 10 years later...

Somehow I missed this all those years ago, perhaps assuming that the Feinstein release covered the Williams song, but finally picked this up.

Did anyone save that promotional video from back in the day?

 

The Spielberg and Williams visiting story is also in the liner notes, apparently she put JW to work immediately and he had to clear up a wrong note in the sheet music.

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On 27/07/2011 at 10:03 AM, Thor said:

...Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind", which is also featured on this CD, is one of the most beautiful film songs ever penned, but I'm still looking for a good performance of it.

Still the most effective, and affective, version is the Main Title to THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. The fact that Harrison can't sing makes it all the more dream-like. 

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44 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Still the most effective, and affective, version is the Main Title to THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. The fact that Harrison can't sing makes it all the more dream-like. 

 

In a way, yes. But I would also like to hear it performed with a good singer at some point.

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Ah, but that's the point, @Thor: does it need a good singer? What is a good singer, anyway?

I'm sure that Legrand et. al. chose Harrison for a good reason. I think that his vocal fits the film, very well. A good singer (Streisand? Bennett? Williams?) I'm sure, would not capture the atmosphere of the film, in quite the same way.

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I suppose just for curiousity's sake? I've never liked the whiney timbre of Streisand's voice, even though there's no doubt she's a good singer. I'd like to hear someone croon out the beautiful melody just for the sake of it, preferably a male singer -- even though it would no doubt mean eradicating some of the softspoken elegance of the Harrison.

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