Stoney End

Performer: Barbra Streisand
Artist: Randy Newman; Larry Carlton; Hal Blaine
Producer: Richard Perry
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel includes: Barbra Streisand (vocals); Sweet Lou Shelton, Larry Carlton, Eric Weissberg (guitar); Randy Newman (piano); Max Bennett, Larry Knechtel (bass); Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine (drums); Richard Perry (percussion); Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Eddie Kendrix (background vocals). All tracks have been digitally remastered. Barbra Streisand a folkie? There are definitely elements of a hippy-ish, slightly more avant garde Barbra on this Top 10 album from 1971. The title track, Streisand's first Top 10 single in over six years, was written by Laura Nyro, as is "Hands Off The Man (Flim Flam Man)." So there is definitely a Nyro sensibility to the record. Still relatively early in her career, the amazing vocal acrobatics are present and she receives some help from a couple of well-known friends, like Randy Newman, who wrote and plays piano on "Let Me Go" and "I'll Be Home." Writing contributions are made by Joni Mitchell ("I Don't Know Where I Stand") and Harry Nilsson ("Maybe"). Adding to the 60's feel, there is a Fifth Dimension-type sound to "Just A Little Lovin'" and "Time And Love," both with excellent horn sections. "Free The People" has a Gospel feel to it, while the standout track has to be Bab's cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind," graced by an amazing string arrangement. All in all, Streisand's Vietnam-era release presents a side of the singer previously unexplored.

When she emerged in a 1960s pop scene dominated by rock & roll, Barbra Streisand was a breath of fresh air to those nostalgic for the great Broadway-oriented pop vocalists of the past. Her stratospheric range and (initially) anachronistic taste in material made her the new Grande Dame of non-rock pop music. Along the way she experimented with the flavors of the day, from folk-rock to disco, but she always returned to the Great American Songbook for inspiration.

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