What About Today?

What About Today? is the eleventh studio album released in July 1969 by Barbra Streisand. It is considered to be her first attempt at recording contemporary pop songs and was received poorly, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It is one of only three studio albums by Streisand (the others being 1973's Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments and 2011's What Matters Most) not to have received an RIAA sales certification in the United States. The album features songs originally recorded by The Beatles and Paul Simon among others. The cover photograph was an outtake from a 1968 Vogue shoot with Richard Avedon.

What About Today?
Studio album by
Barbra Streisand
ReleasedJuly 1969 (1969-07)
RecordedMarch 16, 1968; May 22, 1968; June 23, 1968; February 8, 1969; May 14 & 22, 1969
GenrePop
Length34:22
LabelColumbia
ProducerWally Gold
Barbra Streisand chronology
A Happening in Central Park
(1968)		 What About Today?
(1969)		 Hello, Dolly!
(1969)
Singles from What About Today?
  1. "The Morning After" / "Where Is the Wonder?"
    Released: April 1968
  2. "Frank Mills" / "Punky's Dilemma"
    Released: February 1969
  3. "Little Tin Soldier" / "Honey Pie"
    Released: July 1969
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgauunfavorable[2]
Billboardfavorable[3]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "What About Today?" (David Shire, Richard Maltby, Jr.) – 2:57
  2. "Ask Yourself Why" from the motion picture The Swimming Pool (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 3:03
  3. "Honey Pie" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 2:39
  4. "Punky's Dilemma" (Paul Simon) – 3:29
  5. "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Sainte-Marie) – 2:55
  6. "That's a Fine Kind O' Freedom" (Harold Arlen, Martin Charnin) - 3:02

Side two
  1. "Little Tin Soldier" (Jimmy Webb) –3:53
  2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Lennon, McCartney) – 2:40
  3. "Alfie" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:20
  4. "The Morning After" (Maltby, Shire) – 2:40
  5. "Goodnight" (Lennon, McCartney) – 3:44

Unreleased tracks

Three songs were recorded for the album, but not included:[4]

  • "One Day" - Barbra recorded three versions of "One Day" in the studio. Peter Matz and Michel Legrand each tried to arrange it. The last version in May 1969 was arranged by David Shire. The song never made it onto a Streisand album. However, it was used in 1990's Earth Day Special.
  • "Lost in Wonderland" - released in 2012 on the album Release Me
  • "Tomorrow I Will Bring You a Rose" - still unreleased

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1969) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (RPM)[5] 26
US Billboard 200[6] 31

Release history
Region Date Format Catalog
United States July 1969 (1969-07) Vinyl Columbia CS-9816
United States July 1969 (1969-07) Cassette Columbia 16 10 0658
United States July 1969 (1969-07) 8-track tape Columbia 18 10 0658
Worldwide reissue 19 October 1993 CD Columbia CK-47014

References
  1. William Ruhlmann (2012). "Allmusic Review: Barbra Streisand - What about today?". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  2. Robert Christgau (October 26, 1969). "Barbra Streisand, Featuring Mary Hopkin". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  3. "Billboard Album Reviews". Billboard. August 23, 1969. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  4. http://barbra-archives.com/record/albums/what_about_today_streisand.html
  5. Top Albums/CDs - Volume 12, No. 7 April 10, 1969 at the Wayback Machine (archived March 10, 2016). RPM
  6. "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.