Barbra Streisand RELEASE ME 2. Sony Music Cmg/Columbia Legacy

Barbra Streisand Handpicks 10 Previously Unreleased Studio Gems from Her Personal Vaults for Her New Collection, RELEASE ME 2, Coming Friday, August 6, 2021

https://barbrastreisand.lnk.to/ReleaseMe2PR

‘I’d Want It To Be You’, Barbra’s Duet with Willie Nelson, Released with Lyric Video on Friday, June 4, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0dRs0kjbgs

“The first time I saw Barbra I was with my collaborator, Jimmy Van Heusen, at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. Barbra came out on stage to open the show - the dinner show! She slowly walked to the microphone, facing a very typical dinner-type audience. In defiance of all the rules, she went into her opening number, ‘When The Sun Comes Out’ - a ballad instead of the traditional up-tempo opener - as unlikely a number as ever began a show. I was just getting over the shock of it when I noticed, to my amazement, that everyone had stopped eating. Even more amazing, the waiters had stopped serving. It was all Barbra Streisand, and Barbra Streisand had them all. I have only known one or two people in all of show business who had this power with an audience. I never waited to see who closed the show, but rushed backstage and fell in love!” - Sammy Cahn

RELEASE ME 2 Unveils Rare Studio Recordings Spanning 1962-2020

A NOTE FROM BARBRA

On those rare occasions when I look back at my recording career, the album covers and songs remind me of the eras in which I made them. When I first started out in the early ’60s, by necessity and circumstance, we worked fast. We didn’t have the time, budget or technology to record an infinite number of tracks. As a result of these so-called “limitations,” we had fewer decisions to make about the best takes or mixes.

I suppose this is how between concerts, TV appearances, Broadway musicals, making movies, raising a child, devoting time to social causes, antique hunting, and shopping for one-of-a-kind vintage clothes, I was able to record two albums a year for two decades! The boundless energy of youth is quite remarkable!

For me, the studio is a combination musical playground and laboratory…a private sanctuary, where the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle always exists. Whenever that kind of magic happens, it’s extremely satisfying. Sometimes though, when the arrangement doesn’t quite gel or the song no longer fits the tone of the album it was meant for, the tapes go into the vault for safekeeping.

Working on this 2nd volume of RELEASE ME has been a lovely walk down memory lane…a chance to revisit, and in some cases, add a finishing instrumental touch to songs that still resonate for me in meaningful ways. I’m particularly struck by the ongoing relevance of ‘Be Aware’ and ‘One Day’, which still speak to our collective sense of humanity.

My brilliant friend, Leonard Bernstein, once said, “Music can name the unnamable and communicate the unknowable.” I think that’s true, because the songs I’ve recorded have provided me ways of expressing thoughts and feelings that would otherwise be difficult to convey. With that in mind, I hope this collection of tracks that have been quietly resting in their tape boxes, waiting to be released, will stir your emotions or simply make you smile.

As always, I’m grateful you’ve taken the time to listen.” - Barbra

Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, are pleased to present RELEASE ME 2, a new collection of ten previously unreleased studio performances from the legendary Barbra Streisand, available Friday, August 6, 2021.

The first new Barbra Streisand album title since 2018’s WALLS, RELEASE ME 2 is the second volume of Barbra Streisand rarities, a companion to her highly-successful 2012 Columbia/Legacy album RELEASE ME, which entered the Billboard 200 at #7, making it her 32nd Top 10 and 7th consecutive Top 10 album at the time.

Giving fans their first taste of RELEASE ME 2, ‘I’d Want It To Be You’ - Barbra’s irresistible duet with Willie Nelson - will be released via all digital service providers along with a lyric video for the song on Friday, June 4. A track originally intended for PARTNERSs, her 2014 album of duets with superstar male singers, this Barbra Streisand-Willie Nelson vocal collaboration was still a work-in-progress as PARTNERS’ release date approached. Produced by Walter Afanasieff and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, ‘I’d Want It To Be You’ was recorded in 2014 and 2020.