People (song)
Encyclopedia
"People" is a song that was written by Jule Styne
(composer) and Bob Merrill
(lyricist) for the Broadway
musical Funny Girl (1964
) starring Barbra Streisand
, who introduced the song. It is often known by a line from its chorus, "People who need people....". It has been recorded by Dionne Warwick
, Steve Lawrence, Jack Jones
, Aretha Franklin
, Nat King Cole
, Perry Como
, The Supremes
and others, but is most closely associated with Streisand as her signature song
. The song asserts that "people who need people" — that is, people who love others and are not emotionally cut off from them — are the "luckiest people in the world". It was released as a single with "I Am Woman", a solo version of "You Are Woman, I Am Man", also from "Funny Girl".
Ella Fitzgerald
recorded the song live on her CBS release Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall
. The Tymes
had a top 40 hit with the song in 1968.
and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice
and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur
and gambler Nicky Arnstein
.
Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hired to write the musical score and met each other for the first time in 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida
. They wrote their songs by day and tested them by night on the Palm Beach socialites at cocktail parties.
As they worked to develop the character of Fanny Brice, they needed to write a special love song depicting her feelings towards Nicky. According to the book, "Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne" by Theodore Taylor, "Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, 'You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] "a very special person." I think I've got a helluva melody for it.'...'Great,' Merrill yelled. 'But now it's not gonna be just a "special person." Listen.' Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: 'People, people who need people'...The song 'wrote' in thirty minutes..." "People" nearly did not get included in "Funny Girl" during early try-outs as the producers did not like it. Bob fought to keep the song in and finally one night, Barbra was allowed to sing it on stage. It stopped the show and history was made.
The single by Streisand was released in January 1964, and peaked at number five on the Billboard
pop chart
, becoming the singer's first Top 40 hit. It also spent three weeks at number one on the Pop-Standards (adult contemporary) chart in June/July 1964.. This helped to cement its inclusion in Funny Girl, which ran on Broadway from March 26, 1964 to July 1, 1967, and earned Styne and Merrill a nomination for a 1964 Tony Award
as Best Composer and Lyricist. The single version was recorded on 20 December 1963 and produced by Mike Berniker
.
of The Supremes
. A standard at many of the Supremes' nightclub appearances, it was one of the very few songs Ballard sang lead on during her tenure with the Supremes, as Diana Ross
was almost always given lead for any songs the group performed.
The Supremes' version of "People" was essentially a group effort, and has more of a jazz flavor than Streisand's version. When the group performed at the Copacabana
nightclub in 1965, the song was first removed from their set, then later given to Ross. The loss of the song crushed Ballard deeply and this led to increased problems in the group, and eventually led to Ballard's departure from the group a couple of years later.
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
(composer) and Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
(lyricist) for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Funny Girl (1964
1964 in music
-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
) starring Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, who introduced the song. It is often known by a line from its chorus, "People who need people....". It has been recorded by Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Steve Lawrence, Jack Jones
Jack Jones (singer)
John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
and others, but is most closely associated with Streisand as her signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
. The song asserts that "people who need people" — that is, people who love others and are not emotionally cut off from them — are the "luckiest people in the world". It was released as a single with "I Am Woman", a solo version of "You Are Woman, I Am Man", also from "Funny Girl".
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
recorded the song live on her CBS release Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall
Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall
Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall is a 1973 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a reconstructed Chick Webb Band, the pianist Ellis Larkins, and for the second half of the album, the Tommy Flanagan Quartet .This was a historic...
. The Tymes
The Tymes
The Tymes are an American soul vocal group, who enjoyed equal success in the United Kingdom as their homeland. They share the distinction of being one of the few acts to have one and only one chart-topper in both the U.S...
had a top 40 hit with the song in 1968.
Origins
"People" was one of the first songs written for the musical score of Funny Girl. It is based on the life and career of BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice was a popular and influential American illustrated song "model," comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show...
and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and gambler Nicky Arnstein
Nicky Arnstein
Julius W. "Nicky" Arnstein was an American businessman, professional gambler, and con artist. Among his aliases were "Nick Arnold," "Nicholas Arnold," "Julius Arnold," "Wallace Ames," "John Adams," and "J...
.
Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hired to write the musical score and met each other for the first time in 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. They wrote their songs by day and tested them by night on the Palm Beach socialites at cocktail parties.
As they worked to develop the character of Fanny Brice, they needed to write a special love song depicting her feelings towards Nicky. According to the book, "Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne" by Theodore Taylor, "Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, 'You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] "a very special person." I think I've got a helluva melody for it.'...'Great,' Merrill yelled. 'But now it's not gonna be just a "special person." Listen.' Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: 'People, people who need people'...The song 'wrote' in thirty minutes..." "People" nearly did not get included in "Funny Girl" during early try-outs as the producers did not like it. Bob fought to keep the song in and finally one night, Barbra was allowed to sing it on stage. It stopped the show and history was made.
The single by Streisand was released in January 1964, and peaked at number five on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, becoming the singer's first Top 40 hit. It also spent three weeks at number one on the Pop-Standards (adult contemporary) chart in June/July 1964.. This helped to cement its inclusion in Funny Girl, which ran on Broadway from March 26, 1964 to July 1, 1967, and earned Styne and Merrill a nomination for a 1964 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
as Best Composer and Lyricist. The single version was recorded on 20 December 1963 and produced by Mike Berniker
Mike Berniker
Michael Berniker was a record producer who was recognized with nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Johnny Mathis and Barbra Streisand, as well as Broadway theatre cast recordings, Latin jazz,...
.
Official versions by Streisand
- "People" ("Funny Girl" Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- "People" ("Funny Girl" Original Soundtrack Album Recording)
- "People" ("People" Album Version) / (Single Version) / (Second Recorded Take)
Supremes version
While the song is considered a signature tune for Streisand, during the mid-1960s, it was also well associated with Florence BallardFlorence Ballard
Florence Glenda Ballard Chapman was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown group The Supremes. From 1963 until 1967, Ballard sang on 16 Top 40 hit Supremes' singles, ten of which hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1967, Motown CEO Berry Gordy decided to remove Ballard from...
of The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
. A standard at many of the Supremes' nightclub appearances, it was one of the very few songs Ballard sang lead on during her tenure with the Supremes, as Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
was almost always given lead for any songs the group performed.
The Supremes' version of "People" was essentially a group effort, and has more of a jazz flavor than Streisand's version. When the group performed at the Copacabana
Copacabana
Copacabana is a borough located in the southern zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's known for its 4 km beach, which is one of the most famous in the world.- History :...
nightclub in 1965, the song was first removed from their set, then later given to Ross. The loss of the song crushed Ballard deeply and this led to increased problems in the group, and eventually led to Ballard's departure from the group a couple of years later.