BARBRA STREISAND'S "RELEASE ME" HITS THE CHARTS AT #7, HER 32ND TOP TEN ALBUM BOLSTERING HER POSITION AS THE THIRD HIGHEST ACHIEVING ARTIST EVER IN THAT MAJOR STAT. LAST HALF DOZEN NEW STREISAND ALBUMS HAVE CHARTED IN TOP TEN
Adding to her lead over The Beatles as the third highest ranked recording act or artist in achievement of one of the industry's most respected statistics, the number of albums to attain Top Ten status, Barbra Streisand's new Columbia Records album, "Release Me," debuted at #7 this week. It becomes her 32nd album and sixth in a row to rank in the top ten. The only artists with more in that category are The Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra.
A year ago, when her album "What Matters Most" arrived on the charts at #4, Streisand eased past The Beatles with whom she had been tied for third place with 30. "Release Me" is comprised of eleven recordings, dating back as far as 1967, which were not included on the albums for which they had been intended. They've all been stored in her vault until now. Over the past year, the artist painstakingly selected recordings to create "Release Me".
All of Streisand's six most recent albums of new material have charted top ten. 2009's "Love Is The Answer," became her 9th Number One album, making her the only artist or act to have Number One Albums in five consecutive decades. Prior to that, her 2007 album "Streisand: Live In Concert" was ranked seventh, "Guilty Pleasures" in 2005 reached number five and "The Movie Album" (2003) arrived in the number five spot as well.
The most accomplished female recording artist ever, Barbra Streisand has received 10 Grammys-including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement and Grammy Legend Awards-51 gold albums, 30 platinum albums, and 13 multi-platinum albums. According to the RIAA, Barbra Streisand is the #1 best-selling female recording artist in history and the only woman to make the Top 10 all-time best-selling artists list.
Highlights of "Release Me," her latest top ten winner, include: "Didn't We" written by Jimmy Webb - recorded in 1970 for an unreleased album project titled The Singer; the standard "Willow Weep For Me" - an unreleased track recorded in 1967 for Simply Streisand, arranged by Ray Ellis . noted for his legendary work with Billie Holiday; A striking version of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going Rain Today," with Barbra on vocals and Newman on piano - from the 1971 Stoney End sessions; an unreleased studio version of "With One More Look At You" from A Star Is Born; Two tracks from the unreleased sequel to the acclaimed The Broadway Album, titled Back To Broadway - "Home" (from The Wiz) and "How Are Things In Glocca Morra ? / Heather On The Hill" (from Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon).
The complete track listing for Release Me features: Being Good Isn't Good Enough (from Hallelujah, Baby!), Didn't We, Willow Weep For Me, Try To Win A Friend, I Think It's Going To Rain Today, With One More Look At You (from A Star Is Born,) Lost In Wonderland, How Are Things In Glocca Morra? / Heather On The Hill (from Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon,) Mother And Child, If It's Meant To Be, Home (from The Wiz).
Link to Billboard: http://www.billboard.com/news/macklemore-ryan-lewis-score-top-billboard-1007981952.story#/news/macklemore-ryan-lewis-score-top-billboard-1007981952.story
