@BoniiGean - i agree - i love both renditions for different reasons - and the two versions don't need to be compared - just individually enjoyed. cheers!
And this is why uploading to YT is a GOOD THING. Been a fan of Funny Girl since I was a teen, and probably never would have heard Fanny Brice herself singing this song if it weren't uploaded. What a treat!
Physical resemblance between Barbra and Fanny quite striking. Fanny sounds much more 'jewish' and I don't mean that in any bad way...I think that Barbra catches the essence of this recording at the end of the movie...
hi brianeduardo1234 - yep, you probably know Barbra said she'd do the song live and in only one take - think she felt it was so emotional once would drain her and not be able to be reproduced. cheers!
Fanny Brice is putting all that she has into singing this song whenever she sings it; Barbara is acting the part of a singer and once again makes the performance all about "Barbra"... Fanny who?? didn't she sing backup for (__________<Insert name of group here)
She probably wouldn't be allowed to sing "I'm an Indian" or "Sasha, the Passion of the Pasha" anyhow---not P.C. dontcha know! Feh.
hi albertytwong - from the quality and type of sound track someone commented here that this is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack, rather than 1921, the date of her first recording of this song. cheers
hi RobinPratt - yes, dennman6 has sorted this out in a comment - suggesting 'I believe what you have here is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack'.
hi sweetmelissadawn - yes, you are right - the song was first recorded by fanny brice in 1921 but this is a later electric recording of the same song by fanny brice - so famous she recorded it a number of times. cheers
First, there is only one true delineator of "My Man" ever since it first was heard of in the U.S.----Fanny Brice...
Second, Barbra S. is alright with modern music, but not w/ songs other than of her own era. She puts feeling into what she sings, alright, often to the point of theatricality, but you can't counterfeit that "sob" in Fanny Brice's voice.
hi Grundsau47 - couldn't have put it better myself. the intensity of fanny brice's performance lifts it way out of the ordinary. it's a 'big' performance but within the period bounds - but it's not mannered and, so, false.
Streisand Lea, etc miss the depth of this song. Over-sung, showy and empty....classic Broadway in fact !!!. The song belongs to a diffirent time and a diffirent way of feeling. In fact it was was originally French and sung by Mistinguett in the 20s!!!! Only Billie Holliday and her bittersweet rasp does it true justice in English.
@jimdivax Totally agree. Lea Michelle doesn't have the lower register you'd need to dig deep into the emotion of this song. Though normally I love her.
@jimdivax , having just listened to the French version I can see where the Regina Spektor version found their insperation. While Streisand obviously is a great singer the performance is not suitable to the song. Fortunately Spektor manages to get what I think should be the emotion corect again.
@fillap01 - just listened again to Regina Spektor - love the change up just after half way through - i must say i like different versions for different reasons - fanny brice's for the gut-wrenching emotion she expresses though i can be seen as a bit mawkish. cheers
hi PiipeGleek - i like all these versions, for different reasons - it can be hard to appreciate fanny brice singing is such a different period style, cheers
@nickwallacesmith yeah, but you know, I prefer the other two versions by the emotion, the feeling that they used to sing. Barbra Streisand and Lea Michele have incredible voices that no one can match. But I'm not saying that the singer of this video is bad at all.
hi PiipeGleek - good to hear from you again. i know what you're saying and i truly love Barbra Streisand and Lea Michele's versions. fanny brice was not a great great singer and perhaps i'm reading her life being interpreted in her performance but it really moved me too. hope i can find some more good music to upload, take care and best from sydney!
My younger sister was singing this the other day, when i asked her how she knew it, she said "Glee". Isn't it amazing that artist are still recording it today
@stellaluna92 - yes, the song's got staying power - do you remember it from 'funny girl' - the last song of the movie, shot live in one take to get raw emotion
@nickwallacesmith Yeah I think that was the version that the show covered. I know that the song is even older it was Mon Homme by Mistinguett in 1916.
hi stellaluna92 - yep, the song was composed by Maurice Yvain and was originally introduced in france - as you say by Mistinguett - a recording from 1920 is on You Tube as 'My Man mon homme 1920 ' you tube won't allow me adding the URL here - it's holds up well, doesn't it! good to heat from you
One of the great torch songs of all times. Many people only remember Brice as a comedienne or as Baby Snooks on the radio but Zeigfeld recognized that she could belt out a song. I believe she introduced this song in The Follies.
hi Bucs1960 - yep, i uploaded it for exactly the reasons you mention - fanny brice sings this with such pathos and feeling ... it really moved me first time i heard it - still does
I believe what you have here is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack. The Lp version I have is the direct soundtrack, which has some intro dialogue by William Powell as Ziegfeld, just before Fanny goes into the song. She says the bit about "for Ziegfeld I gotta be an urchin...", then goes into the song. I love Fanny Brice, she was great.
hi dennman6 - thanks for taking the time to sort this out - really appreciated. your idea of the 1936 alternate film take sounds just right - and no copyright issues with using it just as an audio - thanks again!
I know for sure it's not the 1921 acoustic record-I've heard that, got it on a cassette somewhere around here. And it's not the 1928 electrical record, as I have that on an RCA Victor Lp reissue from c.1961. I have the 1936 soundtrack version on a Sandy Hook Lp from 1981. Yours sounds a little different from the actual soundtrack, but very close to it. There were several takes of a soundtrack recording done in the movie studios, just as there were several takes in the studios at RCA, Columbia..
This is definitely NOT the 1921 recording, this is a little more mdern than that. Fanny did a nice version for Victor in 1928(the year she did her talkie "My Man"). This sounds like the version from the 1936 MGM film "The Great Ziegfeld". "So to woik for Ziegfeld I gotta be an urchin? Even in burlesque I was second class!"
hi dennman6 - good to get more information on this recording - i took the sound track from another you tube upload - which took the track from the 1921 victor record, featured in that upload - looking at an encyclopaedia bio, it says 'She is a posthumous recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man".' so there was a 1921 recording - the question is whether this is it or not - the other uploaded claims to have the record itself as i mentioned. what do you think?
Fanny had a lot of emotion in her voice. I've read some of the comments below. No one should compare her to Barbra. They are both great in their own right. Different styles of singing, different vocal quality and a different music era make no room for comparison. Barbra sings like Barbra and Fanny sings like Fanny. Barbra obviously was influenced by Fanny, so she learned from her. However, Barbra has her own style and spin on Fanny's songs for the play and movie. Both are great!
hi SuperLaw11 - i totally agree - which is why i posted fanny's version - barbara and fanny can't be judged one against another. what stuck me initially about fany's singing was the emotion charge that reached across time so strongly - i find it very heart-felt, very
@nickwallacesmith Yes, Fanny was very heartfelt. Many singers during her time, including Edith Piaf "talk sang" her lyrics. They really acted out the lyric and personalized it. Words were important then. Thank you for posting.
hi SuperLaw11 - i like your point about moving beyond 'talk sing' - which inevitably can be tied up with performance and ego - to living a lyric from personal experience. i'll look around and see if i can find soemthing more of hers that moves me in the same way as 'my man'
@nickwallacesmith Thanks for posting. Singers during that era really concentrated on the lyrics. I read in the New York Times that Frank Sinatra would read through all his lyrics like it was a poem, and then he'd personalize and read aloud the lyrics so he would know where his emphasis would be put on certain words. He'd speak the lyrics into the microphone while the band played music, before he started singing. Finally, he sang with the band. What artistry! You think before singing.
hi SuperLaw11 - i'm with you 100 percenate about the lyrics being equally important to the words - and performances which focus only on the music without the meaning of the lyrics is ultimately unsatisfying. interesting what you say about Sinatra's approach to the words - Frank was amazing - i still love listening to the masterly way he has with a song
@nickwallacesmith Yes, Frank was indeed a wonderful talent who worked hard to set himself apart from other great singers of his day. He didn't try to "fit in". He was an original. He loved Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bing Crosby among others. More singers today might think about taking his approach
on reading through lyrics before singing. His method is like that of an actors way of learning a script. To learn ones character, an actor has to personalize the script.
hi SuperLaw11 - another singer with a unique and individual talent i love is nat king cole - i uploaded his 'nature boy' here - so haunting and beautifully realised
@nickwallacesmith I LOVE Nat King Cole. Nature Boy is one of my favorite songs he sings. You have wonderful taste. The production on that song is haunting and melodic. Also, Nat's voice is so smooth and rich. Nice choice. Thank you.
hi SuperLaw11 - yes, i think that particular recording is haunting and very beautiful - hate to think how many times i've listened to it - and nat's voice is so great at that time - and the delivery so seemingly easy. i quite like johnny mathias and bobby darin - doing certain things - you?
I don't think Barbra Streisand was trying to sound like Fannie Brice in Funny Girl. Sure she acted as Fannie Brice, but her singing was pure Barbra, and he wanted everyone to know it.
@ the people in this comments section: Why does one (Brice or Streisand) have to be "better" than the other? Can't they both be equally great, but in starkly different ways?
Thank you for posting this wonderful old song.
--------Ellen
Shabannie 1 day ago
@Shabannie - glad you like it too! cheers
nickwallacesmith 20 hours ago
I love Barbra Streisand. And I personally think they both are very beautiful women with striking talent.
BoniiGean 4 days ago
@BoniiGean - i agree - i love both renditions for different reasons - and the two versions don't need to be compared - just individually enjoyed. cheers!
nickwallacesmith 1 day ago
And this is why uploading to YT is a GOOD THING. Been a fan of Funny Girl since I was a teen, and probably never would have heard Fanny Brice herself singing this song if it weren't uploaded. What a treat!
kamwrites 4 days ago
Physical resemblance between Barbra and Fanny quite striking. Fanny sounds much more 'jewish' and I don't mean that in any bad way...I think that Barbra catches the essence of this recording at the end of the movie...
brianeduardo1234 3 weeks ago
hi brianeduardo1234 - yep, you probably know Barbra said she'd do the song live and in only one take - think she felt it was so emotional once would drain her and not be able to be reproduced. cheers!
nickwallacesmith 3 weeks ago
Fanny Brice is putting all that she has into singing this song whenever she sings it; Barbara is acting the part of a singer and once again makes the performance all about "Barbra"... Fanny who?? didn't she sing backup for (__________<Insert name of group here)
She probably wouldn't be allowed to sing "I'm an Indian" or "Sasha, the Passion of the Pasha" anyhow---not P.C. dontcha know! Feh.
Grundsau47 3 weeks ago
hi Grundsau47 - yes, she totally commits to the emotional content of a song - which make the performances knock out powerful
nickwallacesmith 3 weeks ago
1921?.......or 1928?
albertytwong 4 weeks ago
hi albertytwong - from the quality and type of sound track someone commented here that this is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack, rather than 1921, the date of her first recording of this song. cheers
nickwallacesmith 4 weeks ago
1921? This would have been an acoustic record and this is an electric recording. Much later than 1921.
RobinPratt 1 month ago
hi RobinPratt - yes, dennman6 has sorted this out in a comment - suggesting 'I believe what you have here is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack'.
nickwallacesmith 1 month ago
@RobinPratt No. My Man came out in the 20s.
sweetmelissadawn 1 week ago
hi sweetmelissadawn - yes, you are right - the song was first recorded by fanny brice in 1921 but this is a later electric recording of the same song by fanny brice - so famous she recorded it a number of times. cheers
nickwallacesmith 1 week ago
First, there is only one true delineator of "My Man" ever since it first was heard of in the U.S.----Fanny Brice...
Second, Barbra S. is alright with modern music, but not w/ songs other than of her own era. She puts feeling into what she sings, alright, often to the point of theatricality, but you can't counterfeit that "sob" in Fanny Brice's voice.
Grundsau47 1 month ago
hi Grundsau47 - couldn't have put it better myself. the intensity of fanny brice's performance lifts it way out of the ordinary. it's a 'big' performance but within the period bounds - but it's not mannered and, so, false.
nickwallacesmith 1 month ago
she sucks!
dymenneetheridge 1 month ago
Streisand Lea, etc miss the depth of this song. Over-sung, showy and empty....classic Broadway in fact !!!. The song belongs to a diffirent time and a diffirent way of feeling. In fact it was was originally French and sung by Mistinguett in the 20s!!!! Only Billie Holliday and her bittersweet rasp does it true justice in English.
jimdivax 2 months ago
hi jimdivax - yes, billie holliday's version does the song real justice. didn't know about Mistinguett's version - thanks for pointing it out. cheers
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago
@jimdivax Totally agree. Lea Michelle doesn't have the lower register you'd need to dig deep into the emotion of this song. Though normally I love her.
tlyoung88 2 months ago
@jimdivax , having just listened to the French version I can see where the Regina Spektor version found their insperation. While Streisand obviously is a great singer the performance is not suitable to the song. Fortunately Spektor manages to get what I think should be the emotion corect again.
fillap01 2 months ago
@fillap01 - just listened again to Regina Spektor - love the change up just after half way through - i must say i like different versions for different reasons - fanny brice's for the gut-wrenching emotion she expresses though i can be seen as a bit mawkish. cheers
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago
I prefer the version of lea michele and Barbra Streisand. They have amazing voices are unique and unmatched
PiipeGleek 3 months ago
hi PiipeGleek - i like all these versions, for different reasons - it can be hard to appreciate fanny brice singing is such a different period style, cheers
nickwallacesmith 3 months ago
@nickwallacesmith yeah, but you know, I prefer the other two versions by the emotion, the feeling that they used to sing. Barbra Streisand and Lea Michele have incredible voices that no one can match. But I'm not saying that the singer of this video is bad at all.
PiipeGleek 3 months ago
hi PiipeGleek - good to hear from you again. i know what you're saying and i truly love Barbra Streisand and Lea Michele's versions. fanny brice was not a great great singer and perhaps i'm reading her life being interpreted in her performance but it really moved me too. hope i can find some more good music to upload, take care and best from sydney!
nickwallacesmith 3 months ago
It's too bad how many people think this song was written for Funny Girl and don't bother to seek out this amazing woman.
agonifico08buraby 4 months ago 6
hi agonifico08buraby - absolutely - fanny brice's performance is a knock out - so totally heart felt
nickwallacesmith 4 months ago 2
its beautiful- truely. but im like...uneasy listening to it. I'm frightened or something.
FerociousHaleyBug 4 months ago
hi FerociousHaleyBug - me too - she communicates love and fear of loss so palpably that it reminds me of similar things in my own life. cheers
nickwallacesmith 4 months ago
this song speaks imortality
archie977 5 months ago 2
hi archie977 - doesn't it - i get very drawn into the mood of the song every time i hear it
nickwallacesmith 5 months ago
the balad of homely jewish chicks all over the world.
oy, my man
i love him so....
WikeddTung 7 months ago 2
glee barbra or fanny this song is always amazing and breathtaking
TheLadylovesick 7 months ago 20
hi TheLadylovesick - yes, it all starts with the song, and this one has the ability to really touch you
nickwallacesmith 7 months ago
@nickwallacesmith true i also like how billie holiday sings it her version 's lyrics are a little different though
TheLadylovesick 7 months ago
hi TheLadylovesick - sometimes the song is the thing, you are right!
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago
My younger sister was singing this the other day, when i asked her how she knew it, she said "Glee". Isn't it amazing that artist are still recording it today
stellaluna92 8 months ago 19
@stellaluna92 - yes, the song's got staying power - do you remember it from 'funny girl' - the last song of the movie, shot live in one take to get raw emotion
nickwallacesmith 8 months ago
@nickwallacesmith Yeah I think that was the version that the show covered. I know that the song is even older it was Mon Homme by Mistinguett in 1916.
stellaluna92 8 months ago
hi stellaluna92 - yep, the song was composed by Maurice Yvain and was originally introduced in france - as you say by Mistinguett - a recording from 1920 is on You Tube as 'My Man mon homme 1920 ' you tube won't allow me adding the URL here - it's holds up well, doesn't it! good to heat from you
nickwallacesmith 8 months ago
hi stellaluna92 - great 'glee' is keeping the song in front of the public.
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago
One of the great torch songs of all times. Many people only remember Brice as a comedienne or as Baby Snooks on the radio but Zeigfeld recognized that she could belt out a song. I believe she introduced this song in The Follies.
Bucs1960 9 months ago
hi Bucs1960 - yep, i uploaded it for exactly the reasons you mention - fanny brice sings this with such pathos and feeling ... it really moved me first time i heard it - still does
nickwallacesmith 9 months ago
this is a rare gem
archie977 1 year ago
hi archie977 - isn't it
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
I believe what you have here is an alternate take for the 1936 film soundtrack. The Lp version I have is the direct soundtrack, which has some intro dialogue by William Powell as Ziegfeld, just before Fanny goes into the song. She says the bit about "for Ziegfeld I gotta be an urchin...", then goes into the song. I love Fanny Brice, she was great.
dennman6 1 year ago
hi dennman6 - thanks for taking the time to sort this out - really appreciated. your idea of the 1936 alternate film take sounds just right - and no copyright issues with using it just as an audio - thanks again!
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
I know for sure it's not the 1921 acoustic record-I've heard that, got it on a cassette somewhere around here. And it's not the 1928 electrical record, as I have that on an RCA Victor Lp reissue from c.1961. I have the 1936 soundtrack version on a Sandy Hook Lp from 1981. Yours sounds a little different from the actual soundtrack, but very close to it. There were several takes of a soundtrack recording done in the movie studios, just as there were several takes in the studios at RCA, Columbia..
dennman6 1 year ago
This is definitely NOT the 1921 recording, this is a little more mdern than that. Fanny did a nice version for Victor in 1928(the year she did her talkie "My Man"). This sounds like the version from the 1936 MGM film "The Great Ziegfeld". "So to woik for Ziegfeld I gotta be an urchin? Even in burlesque I was second class!"
dennman6 1 year ago
hi dennman6 - good to get more information on this recording - i took the sound track from another you tube upload - which took the track from the 1921 victor record, featured in that upload - looking at an encyclopaedia bio, it says 'She is a posthumous recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man".' so there was a 1921 recording - the question is whether this is it or not - the other uploaded claims to have the record itself as i mentioned. what do you think?
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
Fanny had a lot of emotion in her voice. I've read some of the comments below. No one should compare her to Barbra. They are both great in their own right. Different styles of singing, different vocal quality and a different music era make no room for comparison. Barbra sings like Barbra and Fanny sings like Fanny. Barbra obviously was influenced by Fanny, so she learned from her. However, Barbra has her own style and spin on Fanny's songs for the play and movie. Both are great!
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
hi SuperLaw11 - i totally agree - which is why i posted fanny's version - barbara and fanny can't be judged one against another. what stuck me initially about fany's singing was the emotion charge that reached across time so strongly - i find it very heart-felt, very
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@nickwallacesmith Yes, Fanny was very heartfelt. Many singers during her time, including Edith Piaf "talk sang" her lyrics. They really acted out the lyric and personalized it. Words were important then. Thank you for posting.
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
hi SuperLaw11 - i like your point about moving beyond 'talk sing' - which inevitably can be tied up with performance and ego - to living a lyric from personal experience. i'll look around and see if i can find soemthing more of hers that moves me in the same way as 'my man'
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@nickwallacesmith Thanks for posting. Singers during that era really concentrated on the lyrics. I read in the New York Times that Frank Sinatra would read through all his lyrics like it was a poem, and then he'd personalize and read aloud the lyrics so he would know where his emphasis would be put on certain words. He'd speak the lyrics into the microphone while the band played music, before he started singing. Finally, he sang with the band. What artistry! You think before singing.
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
hi SuperLaw11 - i'm with you 100 percenate about the lyrics being equally important to the words - and performances which focus only on the music without the meaning of the lyrics is ultimately unsatisfying. interesting what you say about Sinatra's approach to the words - Frank was amazing - i still love listening to the masterly way he has with a song
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@nickwallacesmith Yes, Frank was indeed a wonderful talent who worked hard to set himself apart from other great singers of his day. He didn't try to "fit in". He was an original. He loved Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bing Crosby among others. More singers today might think about taking his approach
on reading through lyrics before singing. His method is like that of an actors way of learning a script. To learn ones character, an actor has to personalize the script.
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
hi SuperLaw11 - another singer with a unique and individual talent i love is nat king cole - i uploaded his 'nature boy' here - so haunting and beautifully realised
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@nickwallacesmith I LOVE Nat King Cole. Nature Boy is one of my favorite songs he sings. You have wonderful taste. The production on that song is haunting and melodic. Also, Nat's voice is so smooth and rich. Nice choice. Thank you.
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
hi SuperLaw11 - yes, i think that particular recording is haunting and very beautiful - hate to think how many times i've listened to it - and nat's voice is so great at that time - and the delivery so seemingly easy. i quite like johnny mathias and bobby darin - doing certain things - you?
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@nickwallacesmith Johnny Mathis and Bobby Darin are wonderful singers. I love Chances Are. Johnny has a beautiful and unique sound.
SuperLaw11 1 year ago
this has a more blues feel...much better than barbara
ediepassion 1 year ago
hi ediepassion - yes, and seems less emotionally contrived than B S
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
I don't think Barbra Streisand was trying to sound like Fannie Brice in Funny Girl. Sure she acted as Fannie Brice, but her singing was pure Barbra, and he wanted everyone to know it.
smichelle65 1 year ago
I think they're both great, but I have to say that Fanny Brice does a better Fanny Brice impression than does Barbra Streisand.
coolcat6651 1 year ago
hi coolcat6651 - LOL! and barbara does a pretty good barbara at times too!
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
PS coolcat6651 - the thing is i guess is that barbara is mannered in the way she did fanny - fanny is just herself, best, nick
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
@ the people in this comments section: Why does one (Brice or Streisand) have to be "better" than the other? Can't they both be equally great, but in starkly different ways?
DeanLeonard1 1 year ago
hey DeanLeonard1
my thoughts exactly
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
streisand does not even belong on the same stage with Fanny Brice. She was way beyond anything Streisand could ever be.
rhomp2002 1 year ago
hi rhomp2002
you are right - fanny brice is gut-wrenchingly
expressive - really a felt performance
nickwallacesmith 1 year ago
i dont think your right Brice sings well but i personaly like streisand's better beacuse it feels like she means it
yasukie7270 1 year ago