STARS - Janis Ian (as sung by Barbara Cook)

[DavidDiCarlo]

This recording was my introduction to Barbara Cook, already loving Janis Ian's original and Cher's great cover of it...The song is so gorgeous that I love each version for different reasons. Its lyric can only be sung by one who knows its heart, and Cook sings from that place, always. I would have loved her covering "Jesse", another one of Ian's gems. I may someday :)

[jackiesiskoski]

Beautiful!!



[mberning1]

@jackiesiskoski Thank you! I bet Janis Ian thanks you, too.

[mberning1]

@ bubblesandpickles - Hey, I appreciate Cher's "Stars" version. I haven't yet heard it, but I visualize Cher's delivery. Thank you.

[bubblesandpickles]

In response to both of your observations, have either of you ever heard Cher's not-often heard version from her 1973 "Stars" album? The melody suits her voice so perfectly ... and the lyrics seemed so relevant to her tabloid splattered stardom at the time. Give it a listen ... it is easily my favorite version of this beautiful song. Warner Borthers never released it on CD so you'll have to find it on LP or hopefully on Youtube.

[DavidDiCarlo]

@bubblesandpickles for sure, it is definitely one of my favorite Cher recordings, next to Just This One Time and Pain in My Heart.

[mberning1]

@ sarahshi8 > Yes!

[sarahshi8]

I think that Barbara Cook builds the song and makes it more theatrical -

[mh5856]

I'm KIDDING it's great. like a Josh Groban version of Janis Ian!

[mh5856]

Sterile, like a Julie Andrews in Sound of Music...the Stars are alive with the warbly sound of Scmaltz on this version!

[theblueangel28]

this is sublime

the best recording of it

[mimompis]

So...touching, just beautiful! 

[1Renbar]

This voice! .. From her throat to our hearts!

[xnyrnkc]

Barbara Cook is a consumate performer/singer. She has been around since the 50s. Now in her 80s she can still belt out a song. No one does "Glitter and Be Gay", from "Candide" than Barbara...except maybe Kristin Chenoweth!!!!

[mberning1]

@xnyrnkc Thank you, toward Barbara Cook!!!

[johnwryter]

@vinstyles Loosen up. We're discussing pop music, not the Dead Sea Scrolls. I and anyone else can smile, without irony, at music that touches our soul - I smiled at the beauty of the song's construction and the images of its words. Well done, Janis. But it failed to touch my soul like Barbara Cook's.

[vinstyles]

Sorry guys, I don't like this at all. So Barbara Straisland. Janis Ian owns this song and sings it in the key it was meant to be sung in. If it wasn't for Janis I might like this, but this is no match for the original.

[mberning1]

@vinstyles No doubt, it is impossible to match the original; Janis Ian is that different. Still, the tribute is very noteworthy, and respectably offered.

[vinstyles]

@mberning1 Thank you for the comment. Yes I do like this version, it is very well done. I guess where I am coming from is that I was about twenty when I first saw and heard Janis sing this on the OGWT. Just listening to her and watching her left its mark and I have loved it since. I think this version is lovely, but for me, I'd prefer Janis singing it. But I will make it a commit to listen more to Barbara :)

[eddyfinkful]

Janis Ian is very much alive. Preparing for her Japan Tour in 2011, hopefully, the United Kingdom too!

[johnwryter]

@vinstyles Not sure anyone "owns" any song. I like Janis Ian, but Barbara Cook is an amazing interpreter of songs like this, and she is as much like Streisand (note spelling) as an apple is to an orange. She uses "legit" techniques in contrast with Ian's folky style. Which is fine, but don't dismiss her abilities so lightly. I smiled at Janis Ian's version. I cried at Barbara Cook's.

[mberning1]

@johnwryter Wonderfully written eye on the contrast, and I especially admire this: " I smiled at Janis Ian's version. I cried at Barbara Cook's."

[morelandance]

Like Callas sing Vissi d'arte from Tosca, no one will EVER surpass Miss Cook's rendition of this beautiful Janis Ian song. And, like Vissi d'arte, one of the greatest songs written about Life and Art.

I'm posting this to my Facebook page to spread the word. Hallelujah! Hey, sue me, pursue me, what the hell do I care, I can die happy now that this is on my hard drive and forever coursing along the neurological pathways of my body. Merci for posting.

[mberning1]

@morelandance I appreciate your comment very very much. Merci, too.

[11777766]

Staring the incomparablel Barbara Cook!

[johnwryter]

I cannot think of a more haunting, moving song, especially for people of a certain age and culture. Nothing Sinatra or Streisand ever did can exceed this, in my opinion. It is impossible to hear, with your senses open and your memory of friends and others past without your eyes - okay, my eyes - becoming damp.

Just once, Barbara Cook should appear on American Idol and show everybody what singing and communication is all about. In her 80s, she could still make her point.

[peenie57]

This is one of my top 5 best tunes ever but NEVER heard of Barbara Cook. I was sceptical at first - didn't want her to taint the tune, but her voice!!! So pure. She really is brilliantly talented. Thanks so much for introducing her to me.

[mberning1]

On the same Barbara Cook CD pictured here, is Janis Ian's song, Candlelight, and as well translated. Seldom the worthy translator exists, toward Janis Ian. You are so very welcome, and I appreciate your reply.

[Obseccion]

Everytime than i hear this song im image than a angel is singing in my ears. So sweet.

[mberning1]

Thank you very much. I hope both Janis Ian and Barbara Cook "hear" your comment, though the song does transcend time and vision.

[arentap1]

The wonderful Barbara Cook/Janis Ian joint appearance at Navy Pier in Chicago was in August of 1994 -- a benefit for the Illinois Federation for Human Rights, now Equality Illinois, at the outdoor "Skyline Stage."

[mberning1]

Oh, wow -- joint LIVE appearance?? What a miracle, to have had a chance to witness! Thank you for sharing this.

[Dave24451]

Beautiful! I've never heard of Barbara but boy, what a voice!

[mberning1]

RE: never heard, well, now, that is about the best reasoning behind my posting this video. Buy the music.

[11777766]

There never was a singer like Barbara Cook; she's so lyrical and lovely and this song has been one of her favorites, which she shares with us so brilliantly.

[mberning1]

Thanks, and exactly.

[thaiaboard]

I have looked for this song for years on you tube, but never found it.

Where can I find the lyrics for this song.

I have been listening and still to Barbara Cook for 20 years...and still could not get enough of here.

This is the song I love the most...

Thank you so much for positng...

[mberning1]

Oh, thanks very much.

[mberning1]

paulostroff99 -- thank you!

[paulostroff99]

Absolutely sublime! Brava!

[mberning1]

Dear woohoodilly9 -- no offense taken, and I know from the grace of Janis Ian, none there. No question, also, about Barbara Cook voicing the song to its deserved heights. Thanks for your considerate depth.

[WOOHOODILLY9]

Thank you for posting. I love janis ian and no offense to her wonderful song writing, but I love barbara cook's version even better.

[MignonB1]

Barbara Cook certainly does a beautiful rendition of Janis Ian's "Stars". This

is WONDERFUL, thanks for sharing!

[gwcrenshaw]

I am a "COOK" fan of 30 years or more. She sang this at the old Carousel room Boston about 76-77 . Barbara and Janice appeared on the same program Chicago Navy Pier 95-96 I am so grateful for all Barbara YOU TUBE videos

[mberning1]

This is a very thoughtful comment. I especially appreciate the reminiscences about Barbara Cook performances over a period of 20 years.

[Torontobears]

Thanks for posting this! WOnderful!

[mberning1]

You are very welcome.

[mberning1]

Thanks for sharing the impact of the song on you, especially for its lasting memory.

[stan4610]

Thank you for uploading this, I have been trying to find this song by Barbara Cook for a long time. I saw her perform this on a weekend program on TV in New York in the early 1970's. I found her voice beautiful and the song's lyrics haunting.

[rubytarbox]

the voice of an angel

[mberning1]

I thank you for this wonderful anecdote, the likes of which are a wonderful tribute toward Barbara Cook. And her genuinely moved and appreciative fans.

[meltzerboy]

This is the first song I ever heard Barbara Cook perform. It was in 1976 at the benefit concert to save Town Hall, in which classical artists were featured in the first half and popular artists in the second. The concert lasted till about 3AM. The mistress of ceremonies was the mezzo Rise Stevens and Francis Robinson was also at hand.

The tickets cost $50, quite expensive for those days, and I still have the program. Barbara came out and sat on a stool, weaving her magical and thrilling sound.

[BELTERFAN]

I felt in love with this song in Cher´s voice and it´s a treasure to hear it in Barbara! thank you

[DesHouston]

FABULOUS!! What an amazing voice!!

LOVE BARBARA COOK!!

XXX

P.S. If anyone could post Barbra singing My Father.....I would really appreciate it!!

[mberning1]

Well, bless. You.

[ninasspacechild]

What an amazing voice. Love Barbara Cook.