Barry Manilow Releases Expanded 70s Classics Editions
Thu. May 4, 2006 12:00 AM by ChicagoPride.com News Staff
Expanded Editions of Three 70s Classics Include Previously Unreleased Tracks and Rare Photos
Chicago, IL -
Following up on a chart-topping album debut in February, an "American Idol" appearance and a PBS special, Barry Manilow is set to release expanded editions of three '70s classics: Barry Manilow II (1974), Tryin' To Get The Feeling (1975) and Even Now (1978). All three albums will hit stores on May 9th on Arista/Legacy and will include previously unreleased bonus tracks, rare photos and liner notes by David Wild of Rolling Stone.
[Enter the ChicagoPride.com contest to win all three CDs]
His first new expanded edition CDs in ten years, covering three of his most popular best-sellers of the '70s, BARRY MANILOW II (1974, featuring "Mandy" and "It's A Miracle"), TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING (1975, with "I Write The Songs" and the title tune hit), and EVEN NOW (1978, with "Copacabana (At The Copa)," "Somewhere In The Night," "Can't Smile Without You," and the title tune hit) - each containing a previously unreleased bonus track - will arrive in stores May 9th on Arista/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. All three titles were produced for reissue by Al Quaglieri and feature individual liner notes written by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild.
More than three decades after he made his debut as the premier artist on Clive Davis' new Arista label in late 1974 - and turned the company's first single, "Mandy," into its first RIAA gold #1 hit - the Barry Manilow juggernaut is stronger than ever. It began with the release of The Greatest Songs From The Fifties on January 31st, which went on to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.
After his surprise appearance at Clive's annual pre-Grammy bash in Beverly Hills the following week, it was announced that PBS stations across the country would begin premiering the "Manilow: Music & Passion" live special (Stiletto Television) during the first week of March. Two weeks later, Barry was the surprise music guest on Fox's American Idol, one of the highest-rated nights in the show's history.
Brooklyn-born Barry Manilow's music-filled childhood took him to Juilliard and a fledgling career as a jingle writer, performer and music producer in the late 1960s. His association with Bette Midler, which began in 1971 as her pianist, music director and arranger on her first two albums in 1972-73, eventually led to Manilow's own self-titled debut LP on Bell Records in '73. When Bell Records came under the aegis of Clive Davis in 1974, and was reborn as Arista, Manilow was the first artist welcomed to the new label by Davis. Ever the song maven, Davis suggested to Manilow a tune called "Brandy" by British popster Scott English. With a few tweaks (the Looking Glass already had a 1972 hit with an identically-titled though different "Brandy" on Epic), the new song became "Mandy" - and a career at the top of the pops for Barry Manilow was born.
He is currently ranked as the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time (with 12 #1's under his belt), and has no less than 25 consecutive top 40 hits to his credit between 1975 and 1983, on the Billboard Hot 100. With worldwide record sales exceeding 65 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer over the course of more than 40 albums has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors. In June 2002, he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting. Coming June 13th, look for the 2 CD deluxe Legacy Edition of Barry's first #1 album, LIVE (1977).
BARRY MANILOW II
"Mandy" became the lynchpin for BARRY MANILOW II, which soon spun off a second solid pop and Adult Contemporary chart hit in early '75 with "It's A Miracle." Spurred by the album's platinum success (and an 87-week stay on the chart), Arista repackaged and re-released the debut, re-titled as Barry Manilow I, and it launched a summertime hit with "Could It Be Magic" (based on Chopin's Prelude in C Minor). There are many other gems to be found on BARRY MANILOW II including co-writes with lyricists Hal David ("Early Morning Strangers") and Enoch Anderson ("I Want To Be Somebody's Baby," "Sandra"); a tribute to Martha & the Vandellas ("My Baby Loves Me"), and a show-stopping arrangement of Count Basie's "Avenue C," with the 1960s lyrics by Jon Hendricks, a portent of Barry's big band projects to come in the '80s.
This expanded edition of BARRY MANILOW II adds "Halfway Over The Hill," a tune written by Barry that did not make the cut for his second album and "Good News," a song that he wrote with fellow Arista singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester.
TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING
In the summer '75, Manilow was completing his third album. 364 days after "Mandy" first hit the chart, he logged his fourth hit single in the space of one year. The #1 gold "I Write the Songs" came from the pen of the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston (formerly of the legendary Columbia duo Bruce & Terry - Doris Day's son, producer Terry Melcher - they doubled as the Rip-Chords). This fourth hit in 12 months ushered in the new LP, TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING, which raised the ante to double-platinum when the title tune (written by New York singer-songwriter David Pomeranz, an Arista artist) hit the singles charts in the spring of 1976.
In addition to new co-writes with Enoch Anderson ("She's A Star," "A Nice Boy Like Me"), Barry once again utilized the album as a tableau for a wide range of material, including "Lay Me Down" (by Larry Weiss, of "Rhinestone Cowboy" renown), "Why Don't We Live Together" (by the American Gypsies duo of Galdston & Thom), and his immortal vocal update of Les & Larry Elgart's Columbia big band classic, "Bandstand Boogie" (aka the theme of Dick Clark's American Bandstand).
"Marry Me A Little" from the original album sessions, a Stephen Sondheim composition (from the Broadway musical Company, which Barry claims to have seen 17 times from the SRO section!) has been added here as well as "I'll Make You Music," co-written with lyricist Adrienne Anderson, who co-wrote one of the original LP tracks with Barry, "As Sure As I'm Standin' Here."
His track record continued unbroken that year, as the summer brought a mid-chart entry with "This One's For You," from the LP of the same name, his fourth in three years. Into the winter, "Weekend In New England" was the perfect choice for a new single, and it rose to #10. As plateaus continued to be broken, This One's For You, became Manilow's first album to log a third hit single - and a major one at that - when "Looks Like We Made It" hit #1 (and RIAA gold) for him in July '77. He gained some breathing room with the May release of his first live album. Davis strategically released the album's live version of "Daybreak," a song first heard on This One's For You. The move finally gave Manilow his first #1 LP, as the live album collected triple-platinum sales during its 67 weeks on the chart.
EVEN NOW
Manilow returned in early 1978 with a new studio album, EVEN NOW, and a new #3 RIAA gold hit, "Can't Smile Without You." It turned out to be the first of four singles chart entries from the LP, followed by the title tune, and then "Copacabana (At The Copa)" and "Somewhere In The Night." At the same time, "Copacabana (At The Copa)" was put to work in the Arista soundtrack of the Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase film Foul Play, which also included Manilow's "Ready To Take a Chance Again." EVEN NOW was a treasure trove of Manilow readymades, including two songs that originated with Nashville publishers, namely "Somewhere In The Night" (by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings) and "Where Do I Go From Here" (by Parker McGee).
EVEN NOW became the second Barry Manilow LP to cross the triple-platinum threshold. This expanded edition includes "No Love For Jenny" (another Adrienne Anderson lyric, who co-wrote one of the original LP tracks with Barry, "Sunrise") plus a rough unfinished version of "I'm Comin' Home Again," composed by Bruce Roberts and Carole Bayer Sager.
The roots of Barry Manilow's art can be traced back to these early albums, BARRY MANILOW II, TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING, and EVEN NOW. His perennial appeal to every cross-section of society, from the working girl to sophisticated jazz cognoscenti - he sits on the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Jazz - from teens to teens-at-heart, has won him a unique place in the pantheon of American entertainers of the last quarter-century.
He is ranked as the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time (with 12 #1's under his belt), and has no less than 25 consecutive top 40 hits to his credit between 1975 and 1983, on the Billboard Hot 100. With worldwide record sales exceeding 65 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer over the course of more than 40 albums has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors. In June 2002, he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting.
BARRY MANILOW II (Arista/Legacy 82876 81237 2, originally issued November 1974, as Arista 4016) Selections:
1. I Want To Be Somebody's Baby
2. Early Morning Strangers
3. Mandy (#1 Pop, #2 AC) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
4. The Two Of Us
5. Something's Comin' Up
6. It's A Miracle (#12 Pop, #1 AC)
7. Avenue C
8. My Baby Loves Me
9. Sandra
10. Home Again
11. Good News (previously unreleased bonus track)
12. Halfway Over The Hill.
TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING by BARRY MANILOW (Arista/Legacy 82876 81235 2, originally issued October 1975, as Arista 4060) Selections:
1. New York City Rhythm
2. Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (#10 Pop, #1 AC)
3. Why Don't We Live Together
4. Bandstand Boogie
5. You're Leavin' Too Soon
6. She's A Star
7. I Write The Songs (#1 Pop, #2 AC) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
8. As Sure As I'm Standin' Here
9. A Nice Boy Like Me
10. Lay Me Down o 11. Beautiful Music
12. I'll Make You Music (previously unreleased bonus track)
13. Marry Me A Little.
EVEN NOW by BARRY MANILOW (Arista/Legacy 82876 81236 2, originally issued February 1978, as Arista 4164) Selections:
1. Copacabana (At The Copa) (#8 Pop) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
2. Somewhere In The Night (#9 Pop)
3. A Linda Song o 4. Can't Smile Without You (#3 Pop, #2 AC)
5. Leavin' In The Morning
6. Where Do I Go From Here
7. Even Now (#19 Pop, #3 AC)
8. I Was A Fool (To Let You Go)
9. Losing Touch
10. I Just Want To Be The One In Your Life
11. Starting Again
12. Sunrise
13. I'm Comin' Home Again (previously unreleased unfinished bonus track.
14. No Love For Jenny
[Enter the ChicagoPride.com contest to win all three CDs]
His first new expanded edition CDs in ten years, covering three of his most popular best-sellers of the '70s, BARRY MANILOW II (1974, featuring "Mandy" and "It's A Miracle"), TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING (1975, with "I Write The Songs" and the title tune hit), and EVEN NOW (1978, with "Copacabana (At The Copa)," "Somewhere In The Night," "Can't Smile Without You," and the title tune hit) - each containing a previously unreleased bonus track - will arrive in stores May 9th on Arista/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. All three titles were produced for reissue by Al Quaglieri and feature individual liner notes written by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild.
More than three decades after he made his debut as the premier artist on Clive Davis' new Arista label in late 1974 - and turned the company's first single, "Mandy," into its first RIAA gold #1 hit - the Barry Manilow juggernaut is stronger than ever. It began with the release of The Greatest Songs From The Fifties on January 31st, which went on to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.
After his surprise appearance at Clive's annual pre-Grammy bash in Beverly Hills the following week, it was announced that PBS stations across the country would begin premiering the "Manilow: Music & Passion" live special (Stiletto Television) during the first week of March. Two weeks later, Barry was the surprise music guest on Fox's American Idol, one of the highest-rated nights in the show's history.
Brooklyn-born Barry Manilow's music-filled childhood took him to Juilliard and a fledgling career as a jingle writer, performer and music producer in the late 1960s. His association with Bette Midler, which began in 1971 as her pianist, music director and arranger on her first two albums in 1972-73, eventually led to Manilow's own self-titled debut LP on Bell Records in '73. When Bell Records came under the aegis of Clive Davis in 1974, and was reborn as Arista, Manilow was the first artist welcomed to the new label by Davis. Ever the song maven, Davis suggested to Manilow a tune called "Brandy" by British popster Scott English. With a few tweaks (the Looking Glass already had a 1972 hit with an identically-titled though different "Brandy" on Epic), the new song became "Mandy" - and a career at the top of the pops for Barry Manilow was born.
He is currently ranked as the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time (with 12 #1's under his belt), and has no less than 25 consecutive top 40 hits to his credit between 1975 and 1983, on the Billboard Hot 100. With worldwide record sales exceeding 65 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer over the course of more than 40 albums has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors. In June 2002, he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting. Coming June 13th, look for the 2 CD deluxe Legacy Edition of Barry's first #1 album, LIVE (1977).
BARRY MANILOW II
"Mandy" became the lynchpin for BARRY MANILOW II, which soon spun off a second solid pop and Adult Contemporary chart hit in early '75 with "It's A Miracle." Spurred by the album's platinum success (and an 87-week stay on the chart), Arista repackaged and re-released the debut, re-titled as Barry Manilow I, and it launched a summertime hit with "Could It Be Magic" (based on Chopin's Prelude in C Minor). There are many other gems to be found on BARRY MANILOW II including co-writes with lyricists Hal David ("Early Morning Strangers") and Enoch Anderson ("I Want To Be Somebody's Baby," "Sandra"); a tribute to Martha & the Vandellas ("My Baby Loves Me"), and a show-stopping arrangement of Count Basie's "Avenue C," with the 1960s lyrics by Jon Hendricks, a portent of Barry's big band projects to come in the '80s.
This expanded edition of BARRY MANILOW II adds "Halfway Over The Hill," a tune written by Barry that did not make the cut for his second album and "Good News," a song that he wrote with fellow Arista singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester.
TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING
In the summer '75, Manilow was completing his third album. 364 days after "Mandy" first hit the chart, he logged his fourth hit single in the space of one year. The #1 gold "I Write the Songs" came from the pen of the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston (formerly of the legendary Columbia duo Bruce & Terry - Doris Day's son, producer Terry Melcher - they doubled as the Rip-Chords). This fourth hit in 12 months ushered in the new LP, TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING, which raised the ante to double-platinum when the title tune (written by New York singer-songwriter David Pomeranz, an Arista artist) hit the singles charts in the spring of 1976.
In addition to new co-writes with Enoch Anderson ("She's A Star," "A Nice Boy Like Me"), Barry once again utilized the album as a tableau for a wide range of material, including "Lay Me Down" (by Larry Weiss, of "Rhinestone Cowboy" renown), "Why Don't We Live Together" (by the American Gypsies duo of Galdston & Thom), and his immortal vocal update of Les & Larry Elgart's Columbia big band classic, "Bandstand Boogie" (aka the theme of Dick Clark's American Bandstand).
"Marry Me A Little" from the original album sessions, a Stephen Sondheim composition (from the Broadway musical Company, which Barry claims to have seen 17 times from the SRO section!) has been added here as well as "I'll Make You Music," co-written with lyricist Adrienne Anderson, who co-wrote one of the original LP tracks with Barry, "As Sure As I'm Standin' Here."
His track record continued unbroken that year, as the summer brought a mid-chart entry with "This One's For You," from the LP of the same name, his fourth in three years. Into the winter, "Weekend In New England" was the perfect choice for a new single, and it rose to #10. As plateaus continued to be broken, This One's For You, became Manilow's first album to log a third hit single - and a major one at that - when "Looks Like We Made It" hit #1 (and RIAA gold) for him in July '77. He gained some breathing room with the May release of his first live album. Davis strategically released the album's live version of "Daybreak," a song first heard on This One's For You. The move finally gave Manilow his first #1 LP, as the live album collected triple-platinum sales during its 67 weeks on the chart.
EVEN NOW
Manilow returned in early 1978 with a new studio album, EVEN NOW, and a new #3 RIAA gold hit, "Can't Smile Without You." It turned out to be the first of four singles chart entries from the LP, followed by the title tune, and then "Copacabana (At The Copa)" and "Somewhere In The Night." At the same time, "Copacabana (At The Copa)" was put to work in the Arista soundtrack of the Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase film Foul Play, which also included Manilow's "Ready To Take a Chance Again." EVEN NOW was a treasure trove of Manilow readymades, including two songs that originated with Nashville publishers, namely "Somewhere In The Night" (by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings) and "Where Do I Go From Here" (by Parker McGee).
EVEN NOW became the second Barry Manilow LP to cross the triple-platinum threshold. This expanded edition includes "No Love For Jenny" (another Adrienne Anderson lyric, who co-wrote one of the original LP tracks with Barry, "Sunrise") plus a rough unfinished version of "I'm Comin' Home Again," composed by Bruce Roberts and Carole Bayer Sager.
The roots of Barry Manilow's art can be traced back to these early albums, BARRY MANILOW II, TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING, and EVEN NOW. His perennial appeal to every cross-section of society, from the working girl to sophisticated jazz cognoscenti - he sits on the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Jazz - from teens to teens-at-heart, has won him a unique place in the pantheon of American entertainers of the last quarter-century.
He is ranked as the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time (with 12 #1's under his belt), and has no less than 25 consecutive top 40 hits to his credit between 1975 and 1983, on the Billboard Hot 100. With worldwide record sales exceeding 65 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer over the course of more than 40 albums has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors. In June 2002, he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting.
BARRY MANILOW II (Arista/Legacy 82876 81237 2, originally issued November 1974, as Arista 4016) Selections:
1. I Want To Be Somebody's Baby
2. Early Morning Strangers
3. Mandy (#1 Pop, #2 AC) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
4. The Two Of Us
5. Something's Comin' Up
6. It's A Miracle (#12 Pop, #1 AC)
7. Avenue C
8. My Baby Loves Me
9. Sandra
10. Home Again
11. Good News (previously unreleased bonus track)
12. Halfway Over The Hill.
TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING by BARRY MANILOW (Arista/Legacy 82876 81235 2, originally issued October 1975, as Arista 4060) Selections:
1. New York City Rhythm
2. Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (#10 Pop, #1 AC)
3. Why Don't We Live Together
4. Bandstand Boogie
5. You're Leavin' Too Soon
6. She's A Star
7. I Write The Songs (#1 Pop, #2 AC) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
8. As Sure As I'm Standin' Here
9. A Nice Boy Like Me
10. Lay Me Down o 11. Beautiful Music
12. I'll Make You Music (previously unreleased bonus track)
13. Marry Me A Little.
EVEN NOW by BARRY MANILOW (Arista/Legacy 82876 81236 2, originally issued February 1978, as Arista 4164) Selections:
1. Copacabana (At The Copa) (#8 Pop) [Listen: Windows Media Real Media]
2. Somewhere In The Night (#9 Pop)
3. A Linda Song o 4. Can't Smile Without You (#3 Pop, #2 AC)
5. Leavin' In The Morning
6. Where Do I Go From Here
7. Even Now (#19 Pop, #3 AC)
8. I Was A Fool (To Let You Go)
9. Losing Touch
10. I Just Want To Be The One In Your Life
11. Starting Again
12. Sunrise
13. I'm Comin' Home Again (previously unreleased unfinished bonus track.
14. No Love For Jenny