Butterfly (1974)

Catalog Number(s):

Butterfly Cover LP

Butterfly back cover

(Below: Butterfly was a gatefold album ... the entire unfolded inside is below, along with a couple of detailed shots of Streisand in the studio ...)

Butterfly gatefold Detail of BUTTERFLY gatefold pictures more pictures from inside the BUTTERFLY album Buy from Amazon

Tracks

  1. Love In The Afternoon [4:05]
    (B. Weisman / E. Sands / R. Germinaro)
  2. Guava Jelly [3:15]
    (B. Marley)
  3. Grandma's Hands [3:24]
    (B. Withers)
  4. I Won't Last A Day Without You [4:16]
    (P. Williams / R. Nichols)
  5. Jubilation [3:52]
    (P. Anka / J. Harris)
  6. Simple Man [3:01]
    (G. Nash)
  7. Life On Mars [3:10]
    (D. Bowie)
  8. Since I Don't Have You [2:52]
    (L. Martin / J. Rock / J. Taylor / J. Beaumont / J. Vogel / W. Lester / J. Verscharen)
  9. Crying Time [2:51]
    (B. Owens)
  10. Let The Good Times Roll [4:54]
    (L. Lee)

Individual track credits:

(mouse and click on each song to reveal the credits...)

1. Love in the Afternoon

Written by: B. Weisman, E. Sands, R. Germinaro

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

2. Guava Jelly

Written by: Bob Marley

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Vocal Arrangement by: John Bahler

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

3. Grandma's Hands

Written by: Bill Withers

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Vocal Arrangement by: John Bahler

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

4. I Won't Last a Day Without You

Written by: Paul Williams, Roger Nichols

Engineered by: Michael Lietz

Remixed by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded March 25, 1974 at Western Recording, Los Angeles

5. Jubilation

Written by: Paul Anka, J. Harris

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Vocal Arrangement by: John Bahler

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

6. Simple Man

Written by: Graham Nash

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

7. Life on Mars

Written by: David Bowie

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Horns & Vocal Arrangement by: John Bahler

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

8. Since I Don't Have You

Written by: Lenny Martin, Joseph Rock, J. Taylor, James Beaumont, J. Vogel, W. Lester, J. Verscharen

Arranged by: Lee Holdridge

Engineered by: Michael Lietz

Recorded March 25, 1974 at Western Recording, Los Angeles

9. Crying Time

Written by: Buck Owens

Arranged by: Lee Holdridge

Engineered by: Michael Lietz

Recorded March 25, 1974 at Western Recording, Los Angeles

10. Let the Good Times Roll

Written by: Shirley Goodman, Leonard Lee

Arranged by: Tom Scott

Horns & Vocal Arrangement by: John Bahler

Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

Recorded July 1974 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles

About the Album

Jon Peters wanted to produce a Barbra Streisand album. And so he did, titling it Butterfly, based on a mutual love of the winged insect that he shared with his girlfriend, Barbra.

The album was recorded in March and July 1974 and was released in October 1974.

The first selection of songs chosen did not materialize into usable tracks: “You Light Up My Life” by Carole King, a weird R&B song called “Funky Type Thang”, “On Broadway” by the songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (which was a big hit for George Benson), and “Everything Must Change” by Benard Ighner Benard. [note: Barbra eventually recorded Ighner’s tune for her Higher Ground album in 1997.]

Butterly ad

Streisand and Peters recorded studio versions of “You Light Up My Life,” “Funky Type Thang,” and “Everything Must Change” on February 18, 1974 at Burbank Studios.

On March 25, 1974, Streisand and company went back into the recording studio and laid down more tracks. “God Bless the Child” and the medley of “A Quiet Thing” and “There Won’t Be Trumpets”, which were both part of those March Butterfly sessions, were not used on the album and, instead, ended up on Barbra’s 1991 retrospective box set, Just For the Record.

At this point, veteran recording engineer, Al Schmitt said there were problems with Butterfly. “They've recorded seven or eight songs for this new LP,” Schmitt explained to columnist Joyce Haber. “Columbia played them and they were unhappy with what they heard. Barbra always gives me goosebumps: She has that incredible sound. This album has a flat, one-dimensional sound. It needs to be opened up. It needs climaxes.”

Schmitt was fired and Streisand rang up Joyce Haber to respond to his accusations. “Schmitt did three cuts,” Barbra confirmed to Haber. “I didn’t like them.”

Peters, Streisand and Scott in studio

(Photo, above: Jon Peters, Streisand, and Tom Scott go over Butterfly charts in the studio.)

Producer Tom Scott was called in at the last minute to write arrangements for seven songs. He accomplished this task in four days. “She did more songs in less time than she’s ever done,” Scott said.

Streisand herself said Scott was “terrific to work with. Rhythm is normally very difficult to lay down, but with Tom it was definite, clear and unified.”

“Jon [Peters] was very receptive and gave me lots of freedom,” Scott said. ‘We cut the album very quickly, for Streisand, because I planned everything so carefully and was able to give them the reasons for everything I wanted to do musically.”

The rest of the Butterfly tracks were recorded on July 18, 19, and 22, 1974 at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. There was a range of songs most would not conceive of Streisand ever covering – including some odd choices like Bob Marley’s “Guava Jelly” and David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.” (Bowie, by the way, told Playboy magazine that Barbra’s version of his song was “Bloody awful. Sorry, Barb, but it was atrocious.”)

Reportedly, music contractor Kathy Kasper also did some last minute work on the album by bringing in several new songs and rescoring some of the tracks that were deemed unusable.

Whatever the behind the scenes drama was, Butterfly is an interesting part of Streisand’s recording history. She definitely took some musical chances on the album. Her singing on Butterfly was the most relaxed she’d been with modern music up to that point.

Butterfly review

Cayman Music published sheet music for “Guava Jelly” — but also showed themselves to be a bit behind the times. The cover photo was from 1967's Central Park concert when Barbra was still singing show tunes and standards. And they spelled Bob Marley's name incorrectly! (Bob Morley!)Guava Jelly sheet music

Billboard Charts

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine.

Here's the numbers for this Streisand album:

Gold: 500,000 units shipped

Note: The record company must submit an album to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) where it undergoes a certification process to become eligible for an award. The process entails an independent sales audit, which calculates the quantity of singles or albums shipped for sale, net after returns. The audit surveys shipments to the entire music marketplace, including retail, record clubs, television sales, Internet orders and other ancillary markets. Based on the certification of these shipments, a title is awarded Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum or Diamond status. The data here comes directly from official sources, mainly the RIAA online database.

CD Packaging Notes

The photo montage which filled both sides of the original gatefold LP (see above scan) was cut in half for the CD release. The CD booklet contained only the right side of the montage.

Also, the Bill Shirley's painting on the back cover of the LP was reproduced on the CD—but cropped, and very small. On the original LP, the painting filled the entire back cover.

End.

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