Fanny Brice Sings I'd Rather Be Blue

[freshair3451]

@Swingsation65 Shut up...Love Barbra.

[monjiou1]

Barbara is OK, but Fanny was it for me ! And I liked Fanny before Barbara was on the scene at all. I did not need Barbara to introduce me to Fanny.

[storm915]

Fanny had a great voice and she was a super star in "her age", but it was Barbra who made her world famous in our time...and that is something every Fanny Brice fan needs to come to grips with.

[jimdivax]

times produce and make stars of the singers and singing-styles that most reflect them....f a mixture of etiquette and technology evolving constantly. It's why to today's youngsters Streisand herself sounds squeaky and outdated.

[CraigSD]

@Swingsation65 That's because no one knew who Fanny Brice was in the '60s and decades after (unless you are now in your 80s or 90s). There has to be a comparison to Barbra simply because Barbra played Fanny on stage and in the movies. Get it?

[RadBrittany]

0:40 is CREEPY! Isn't that creepy??

[TheMightyJeffers]

Thank You

[mamacita99]

I love Streisand. She's a great artist, excellent director, and brilliant woman.

However, Fanny Brice's version of My Man is a gut-wrenching, mind-bending work of art and I have to agree with BornToLate that she was the superior singer.

[WillScarlet16]

"You have to have a Jewish girl, and if she's not Jewish, she at least has to have a nose." - Stephen Sondheim, on casting for "Funny Girl."

[zufritto]

Great pictures...and a great song...sung by a great entertainer! Thank you for posting!

[thebrujaisbackagain]

i got this track like 10 years ago and love it. but unfortunately the file was cut off at the end. is yours cut off at the end too?

[Geostrum2]

Had Fanny only lived just 14 more years she may have out done Lucy on tv and she may have even done Dolly instead of Carol Channing but alas her early demise made it possible for these other ladies to star.

[newrochellephoenix]

She WOULD have made a great Dolly ! But for tv-I dont think she was too impressed by the new medium ,as alot of the stage performers were not .

[ilovebarbra2]

According to data from Variety Funny Girl was the number 1 movie for 1968,The Love Bug was not released until 1969 and was number 2.Hello Dolly also released in 69 was number 5.

[Wwwism]

Yes, Funny Girl was the 2nd biggest grossing movie of the year. But because it was released towards the end of the year, it still made a lot more money the next year and in the end made more money than the no. 1 movie that year which was the "Love Bug"

[TreblePop]

I love this. It's great that Fanny Brice is still remembered. The singing style was so different then, that it's really difficult to compare Streisand to Brice. Very few people have a voice as powerful as Barbra Streisand, but Fanny Brice could definitely put a song across. And she was a very gifted comedian as well.

[whatswithkimmi]

this is great. but i really love barbara's version. it has way more personality.

[dm5401]

Streisand's version fits what we look for in music today. In Brice's time, it would have been just the opposite. They are both best for their time.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

I can see--or hear-- why Streisand got the part. Their voices sound similar, though their styles are quite different.

[skippyd89]

Yes, that is indeed Bob Hope. One forgets that he did a lot of stage work before going to Hollywood and international fame. Here he is with Brice in a Baby Snooks sketch.

[CollegeOfHardKnocks]

0:26-0:28 is that Bob Hope?

[eloisamirandabs]

It´s good to see. I never saw Funny Brice. I´m sorry, but Barbra is much better. That´s because I love her!

[Gwenster11]

i love this!

and i love that pic of her doing baby snooks!

[fondofletters]

All my respect too Fanny Brice.....but her style is too old for me...Her voice is superb but I couldn't listen all day to this...it's making me think of those ooold times. It's just a prefference.

P.S. : Barbra can't make you cry? It surely makes the fans cry....:P...it made me cry....:)

[SirCyrano]

Barbra Streisand is a towering talent, of course, but her perfectionism tends to drive any spontaneity out of her performances. She can smother her songs. When I first heard the real Fanny Brice, I actually preferred her to Streisand. Listen to her here: warm, emotional and even sexy, but with a pleasingly light touch and a surprising jazz sensibility. (Who knew?) This is a great recording, and Brice clearly was as fine a singer as she was a comedienne.

[waynebrasler]

Barbra can't make you cry? Huh? You're makin' me cry!

[BornToLate]

Well Craig it is all subjective. I was comparing the two in the context of the recordings both made. In this song Fanny has more of a tear in her voice than the Barbra recording which did well in 68. Barbra is better on "Second hand Rose." Funny Girl was more a vehicle for Barbra's singing than being funny. Barbra is great no question even though Yentl was a box office disaster. Barbra makes most people think "People' "The way we were". Barbra is not funny and here in Vegas she struggled

[BornToLate]

No question Barbra has one great clear singing voice. But Fanny gets more emotion in her songs. She also had more talent than Barbra. Her comedic gestures and eyes plus creating a total different persona with Snooks. Fanny can make you cry. Barbra can not.

[CraigSD]

If you've never seen Barbra in Yentl or Prince of Tides and she didn't make you cry, then I don't know what. Barbra's songs have ALWAYS been full of emotion. That's why she's the greatest singer in the last century. She can infuse a word with her voice that gives you chills, or wrap her voice around a phrase that hits it out of the ballpark and makes it all her own. I can't say enough about Barbra.

[spiderorchid81]

Uhm, nothing against Barbra Streisand, but she's not exactly the greatest singer in the last century. What about Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland or Sarah Vaughan, to name just a few?

That said, I agree with you that she can make you cry - "Yentl" is very touching. And she's a good comedian. Fanny Brice was a very different kind of comedian, more Vaudeville where Barbra's style reminds me of scrweball comedies.

[MuzzyVanH]

Streisand's _one_ of the greats, a few others who rival or surpass her from last century: Piaf, Billie Holiday, Garland, Ella.

[Moneypenny9971]

@CraigSD OMG!!! I know!!!! I love Barbra!!! I grew up with her thanks to my mother..Thank you, Mom!!!!

[abbaka77]

@BornToLate that is a horrible thing to say. yes fanny had a lovely and emotive voice but how can you say barbra doesnt have the ability to bring a listener to tears? maybe you should listen to more of barbra's music before making such a baseless comment

[Lengo67]

@BornToLate I agree. Great comedy usually comes from people who have suffered great emotional pain, and Fanny Brice was no exception. Like Samuel Clemens, she wasn't appreciated until she turned on her persona, just as Samuel Clemens was lonely unless he turned on his Mark Twain persona. Fanny was the original. Barbra was a cookie cutter rendition. Both had lives of sorrow and suffering, but Fanny was the first and the better of the two.

[Picardy]

Cool - thanks for posting.

[secondaryactons]

1:38 is strikingly similar to Streisand's Essential album.

[janicesoprano]

I fell in love with Fanny Brice when I saw Streisand in "Funny Girl" at the Wintergarden Theater in April 1964, two weeks after the play opened. Streisand was only barely 22 years old, but she was mesmerizing and, obviously, hugely talented. Thanks for posting!

[bigonegeorgegrace]

Great selection of photos, thanks for this.

[llamalauren]

This is really cool, I've never heard Fanny Brice sing before. Thanks

[Sugarbehr1967]

Barbra was perfect as Fanny..and after hearing this, they sound remarkably alike..closing one's eyes, you can just imagine Barbra doing this on stage and the movie..

[musicaltheatergeek79]

"I'd Rather Be Blue" was never performed onstage. Apparently, the producers couldn't get permission to use Brice's original songs in the musical so the writers composed parodies of her hits. However, when the movie was made, they finally got permission, scrapped the songs written for the show and used Brice's songs instead.

[Brucedagoose]

I love them both. I've always been a huge Barbra fan and Fanny was obviously quite a star in her own right. I hope this style never dies, nor our fascination with it.

[6862244]

I saw Barbra perform in Funny girl when I was in the 5th grade. I am now 51 years and still drawn to her beautiful voice. However, this was the first time I had ever seen The "Orginal Funny Girl" If anyone was going to honor this woman's talent it was Barbra.

Not only had she perfomed Fanny Brice in the movie, Barbara and Sidney Chaplin (Charlie's Son) were a Broadway smash. Not the same musical score, but just as entertaining. Barbara Streisand is still in my book the greates star.

[BijiSan]

standards of beauty sure have gotten higher. She still looks great.

[newrochellephoenix]

In some photos,she does look the funny girl,but in others,she was pretty dern good lookin' a gal.

[gramophoneshane]

This is great! I'd never heard the "original" Fanny sing it :-)

It's going to my favorites list...

[taintedlover2007]

I like this version! and to those who are saying shit about Barbara Streisand... her's is more of a comedic version. this is more of a pretty torch-like song. you kind of can't compare them with eachother, since they have to completely different styles for this song.

[bryangreenwood]

Without Fanny - Barbra wouldn't have had the damned song to sing in the first place. We're talking 50 years in developments in difference between styles and the technology that made the music, which had passed between the time Fanny did it and Barbra copied it. Don't get me wrong about Barbra. She's one of the most fantastic voices of the 20th century. But don't call Fanny crap. She was the original. Respect please.

[storm915]

@bryangreenwood No one disagrees with this, she was a legend in her time! But Fanny's Son-In-Law picked Barbra to make Fanny's true worth come to life, to make sure her legend survived past her lifetime!

[rockanoarkennels]

The ULTIMATE flapper miss Brice was!

[JWil1499]

just because Fanny enunciates and can hold a steady note without going whiney doesn't mean it's crap.

[islezeus]

Ls Streisand was so much better looking than Fanny and gave more dignity to the legend of Ms. Brice. Ms. Brice in real life didn't look all that impressive.

[pax41]

I guess you know more than those directing the Ziegfield Follies knew. They didn't just put anyone in those shows.

[blunailpolish]

Fanny Brice was quite funny in Ziegfield's follies

[bdboydean]

Until recently I didn't realize how much truth was based in the Movies Funny Girl and Funny Lady. One of these pictures of Fanny actually looks a lot like Barbra. Thanks for the video. Fanny Brice died exactly a year before I was born. I got to see Barbra in Chicago. Wish I had gotten to see Fanny in the Zigfield Follies. Who knows; maybe I did... Bdboydean Speedway, IN.

[Jewelerica]

I love the pictures of Snooks!

[etienne818]

Thanks for remembering a wonderful comedy actress who had a perfectly wondeful singing voice! I have a 75 year-old Aunt who still has her Baby Snooks doll. A Fanny Brice character that some may recall.

[bigonegeorgegrace]

Thank you for this glimpse of a voice I have always admired.

[gmlch]

wow ! thank you so much for this truly rare and special gem !

[silverscreenmovies]

I have this song in full version.

[ARoundOfApplause]

silverscreenmovies Please share it with us!

[silverscreenmovies]

I do not understand this site.

I do not know how to share with you.

Just so you are not misled, I do understand how to watch and leace comments.

Thanks for your message.

[ammccoy]

She sort of reminds me of Joe Brown- the character actor- I don't know why she just does. I adore them both :)

[FullersRd]

More like Gertie Lawrence, I think ( only American and Jewish)

[musicaltheatergeek79]

Ha! Funny you should mention Gertrude Lawrence and her resemblance to Brice 'cause the movie about her life (STAR! starring Julie Andrews) was released the same year as FUNNY GIRL. However, STAR! was a box-office failure whereas FUNNY GIRL was the second-highest grossing movie of the year.

[ARoundOfApplause]

ammccoy They were both too wonderful for words

[ammccoy]

true :)

[phialin1954]

Right, Joe Brown was great in that movie with Howard Keel and Katherine Grayson in "Showboat."

[joeocho88]

She looks like Golda Meir's little sister...or that kid heloise who lives in the Plaza Hotel.....

Sounds like the kind of music you used to be able to hear in New Orleans BEFORE Katrina!

[MuzzyVanH]

Portrait of 'Elouise', which graces the Plaza Hotel Lobby, was commissioned by Kay Thompson, and actually fashioned to slightly represent her 'God-daughter', Liza Minnelli.

[randigrogan]

Wow, now I can see why Barbra was perfect for Funny Girl/Lady. Barbra your the greatest and Fanny thank you for giving Barbra what made her a star, you!

[lewylewel]

...on the last pic she looks little bit like Barbra in A Star Is Born :-)

[CraigSD]

In never noticed! But with that hair, you're right! That could be Barbra's hand, too. The nails look long.

[kspm01]

Thank you so much for this extremely rare Fanny Brice recording!

[BenDMohwver]

26-28 is that Bob hope with Fanny???

[ShamusMacGuffin]

It probably is, he was a vaudeville actor.

[Gregg30]

They were in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 together.

[duncann]

Fanny Brice was one of the top Broadway stars - a singer/comedienne. She did appear in a few movies, I don't believe ever in lead roles, I've only seen her in comedy character parts - the peak of her career was before the talkies and her style was OTT for the 30s films. Funny Girl was written about her in the 1960s by her ex-son-in-law, who thought Streisand should play her on stage.

[Tamaziko]

I cant find here Barbra's version can anybody help me??????thanx

[CraigSD]

Get the soundtrack to the movie of Funny Girl. It's on that.

[itsliptout]

Barbra, I know-and love....was Fanny Brice a big star???

[worldtraveler91]

Oh, wow!!! I've been looking for a recording of the real Fanny Brice for so long, that is so cool! Thank you!!!

[espinaca79]

Barbra looks like her! It is amazing!

[itsliptout]

Was Fanny Brice a big film star??

[NunsAndPoses]

thank u sooo much for posting this!!!! what a rare oppurtunity to time travel. god bless u !! I sing too, btw, please check me out!

[NMSherwin]

What year did Fanny record this?

[ldybug5012]

she introduced this song in 1928, in the movie "my man"