A Happening in Central Park (1968)

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This page: Tracks > About the Album > CD Remaster > Billboard Charts > Hollywood Bowl Rumors > Track Order >

Happening in Central Park cover

Happening LP back cover

(Below: close up of album liner notes as they appeared on the back of the reel-to-reel version of A HAPPENING IN CENTRAL PARK ...)

Liner notes on back of CENTRAL PARK reel to reel box

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Tracks

  1. I Can See It [2:58]
    (H. Schmidt / T. Jones)
  2. Love Is Like A New Born Child [2:55]
    (O. Brown, Jr.)
  3. Folk Monologue/Value [4:45]
    (J. Harris)
  4. Cry Me A River [3:05]
    (A. Hamilton)
  5. People [4:43]
    (B. Merrill / J. Styne)
  6. He Touched Me [3:07]
    (I. Levine / M. Schafer)
  7. Marty The Martian [2:40]
    (J. Harris) /
    • The Sound of Music
      (O. Hammerstein II / R. Rodgers) /
    • Mississippi Mud
      (J. Cavanaugh / H. Barris) /
    • Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
      (J.F. Coots / H. Gillespie)
  8. Natural Sounds [3:08]
    (L. O'Kun)
  9. Second Hand Rose [3:01]
    (G. Clarke / J.F. Hanley)
  10. Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Silent Night) [3:34]
    (F. Gruber)
  11. Happy Days Are Here Again [3:19]
    (J. Yellen / M. Ager)

About the Album

About the Remaster

The 1994 remaster of A Happening in Central Park is a revelation! A downside to the remaster is that audience voices are much more prevalent (it was a rowdy crowd!) and Barbra's voice sounds deeper than usual. Still, the 1994 remaster was needed and the album sounded much better. John Arrias did the 1994 remaster and stated in an interview at the time that he actually used the video master for the CD, as it was a better recording than the audio Columbia recorded that night in 1967.

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.

Clearing up the Hollywood Bowl Rumors

The soundtrack album of the Central Park concert was released in September 1968. It’s been claimed (and repeated by Streisand fans to other fans ad infinitum) that some of the tracks were lifted from Barbra's July 9, 1967 concert at the Hollywood Bowl. In truth, the only track that was replaced was Barbra’s monologue preceding “Value”. The reason (if you watch the TV special you will see!) is that the monologue she gave that evening in Central Park was long and interupted by some business with her tea. For brevity on the album, Columbia Records substituted the Hollywood Bowl monologue, which was short, to the point, and took up less time. Otherwise the vocals you hear on the DVD are the same you hear on the album / CD. This claim that the Happening album has been foisted upon fans using substitute tracks from another performance is ridiculous! (Barbra Archives has heard “Marty the Martian” and “Natural Sounds” from the July 9th Hollywood Bowl concert and they are quite different interpretations!)

Please, let's stop spreading the unsubstantiated rumor that A Happening in Central Park is really comprised of Hollywood Bowl tracks. Anyone with a discerning ear can hear that it is not.

Alternate shot of Central Park crowd

Track Order Info

The tracks on the Central Park album have been rearranged and do not appear in the order in which they were sung.

On the Central Park DVD, “I Can See It” is sung late in the first act — not as an opener.

In fact, Barbra's first song that evening was "Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home". It has never been released, probably because Barbra was very nervous when she first walked out on the Central Park stage.

Therefore, the album engineers employed some creative editing in order to create a dynamic opening track. Most likely, they lifted the orchestral cue from the Hollywood Bowl concert. Then they "cut in" Barbra's quip ("I didn't do nothin' yet"), then sequéd into the Central Park vocal of “I Can See It”.

On the Central Park DVD, you can see that Barbra sings "The Hills Are Alive / Mississippi Mud" as the intro to “I Can See It”. On the CD, the engineers cut out the intro. Barbra begins with "There's a song I must sing, it's a well known song...".

However, the "Mississippi Mud" intro turns up on track 7, preceding "Marty the Martian". During the actual concert, (which you can see on the DVD) Barbra entertained with a lengthy monologue about developing film at the corner drugstore. The album engineers, probably to save time, cut the monologue and inserted the "Mississippi Mud" cue. It's actually a pretty seamless edit, although the tempo of "Mississippi Mud" doesn't quite match the tempo of "Marty the Martian".

You know what I mean?

(Thanks to Daniel S. for bringing “I Can See It” to my attention).

Monsanto/CBS publicity photo of Central Park crowd

End.

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Related Links: Happening in Central Park TV Show