HOW did I discover Barbra?I was young. Five? More than five? My Dad had a reel to reel tape player and of his collection included three musicals. One was the Sound of Music, one was Hair and the other was Funny Girl. I had no idea what the shows were about. Can you imagine me at five singing along with Hair? I would sing the “Sodomy” song. I had no idea what I was saying. Then I would listen to “Music” and I thought it was some kind of version of Cinderella and when the nuns were singing about Solving a Problem like Maria, I thought they were the ugly stepsisters.
Then there was Funny Girl. First things first, I loved the Overture. I played it over and over again and one day the tape broke! I was horrified. So I went and got some tape, trimmed it off into two clean breaks and then taped it together. It was my first editing job. It actually improved the overture and the cut was undetectable. So I heard this goofy woman singing “... a silver flute ...”
I thought it was kooky, funny... still didn't really know who this woman was.
THEN perusing the holiday albums at Christmas I found the delightful “Jingle Bells?” recording. “upSOT?” I thought that that was hysterical.
Barbra kept leaking into my conscious slowly and steadily as the years went by. My Aunt was a huge fan and had “My Name is Barbra Too” on disc. She also had Stony End... but I was drawn more to early sixties Barbra. I appreciated vintage even before it really WAS vintage.
What strikes me as the sledge hammer that konked me over the head was when I was a freshman in college. Judi Scott (who is now a successful actress in Hollywood... appeared in “Guess Who” among other films) was playing “My Name is Barbra” while she was cleaning up her dorm room. From down the hall I heard something very happy happening in her room. I walked down the hall and peered in to see Judi acting out “I'm five, I'm five... I'm a big girl now, I'm five...” Her enthusiasm was contagious and she let me borrow the album. Within hours I had gone out and purchased my own. And then the tidal wave of records began. What joy to experience all of these recordings for the very first time.
I've been hooked ever since.