I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1962)

Catalog Number(s):

[Top: front album cover; Bottom: back album cover]

back cover of WHOLESALE album

gatefold WHOLESALE album

“Wholesale” debuted on CD in October 1993

CD Restored by John Arrias at B&J Studio using the C.A.P. System

CD remastered by Bernie Grundman

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Tracks

  1. Overture [1:27]
  2. I'm Not A Well Man [2:21] *
  3. The Way Things Are [1:41]
  4. When Gemini Meets Capricorn [2:48]
  5. Momma, Momma, Momma [2:57]
  6. The Sound Of Money [4:15]
  7. Too Soon [3:05]
  8. The Family Way [3:08]
  9. Who Knows? [3:41]
  10. Ballad Of The Garment Trade [3:25] *
  11. Have I Told You Lately? [3:10]
  12. A Gift Today [3:55]
  13. Miss Marmelstein [3:22] *
  14. A Funny Thing Happened [2:38]
  15. What's In It For Me? [1:57]
  16. Eat A Little Something [2:10]
  17. What Are They Doing To Us? [7:11] *

* Streisand vocals

About the Album

Billboard ad for WHOLESALE album

I Can Get It For You Wholesale is the first commercially released recording that Barbra Streisand appeared on! At the time Wholesale was recorded, Streisand had yet to be signed to a major record label. (On October 1, 1962 she signed with Columbia Records ... and has been with them ever since!)

According to Gary Marmorstein, in his book The Label, The Story of Columbia Records:

Columbia badly wanted Harold Rome's “I Can Get It For You Wholesale.” As an inducement to Rome, [Goddard] Lieberson offered to record the twenty-fifth anniversary version of his International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union show “Pins and Needles” ...

[Note: Streisand, by the way, also appeared on Rome's recording of Pins and Needles. Barbra-Archives' page on that album is here ...]

The cast of I Can Get It For You Wholesale assembled at Columbia Record's Thirtieth Street studio on April 1, 1962 to record the cast album, to be released by Columbia. Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records, was present at the session.

Recording Wholesale

I Can Get It For You Wholesale was restored and remastered on CD in October 1993 and part of Columbia Records' 11 Essential Barbra Streisand Releases. The master tapes were prepared for release by John Arrias (who put together the masters for Just For The Record). According to Columbia's publicity:

“The objective with each album was to restore the tapes to the quality of the original master recording. To do this in some cases, 30 years of noise had to be eliminated. John used his proprietary C.A.P. Noise Reduction System to eliminate hiss, distortion and noise. In each case great care was taken to maintain the integrity of the original albums.”

Harold Rome and David Merrick in recording studio

(Above: Harold Rome [music & lyrics] and David Merrick [producer] during the recording of the Wholesale cast album at Columbia Records.)

Columbia also recreated the packages using the original art or printing film.

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:

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.

Related Page: I Can Get It For You Wholesale Broadway Show

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