Barry Manilow 'The Greatest Songs of the Sixties' album

He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His concerts are instant sellouts. Between 1975 and 1983, he placed 25 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone magazine called him “a giant among entertainers…the showman of our generation,” while All Music Guide hails him as “one of the most successful adult contemporary singers ever.” But Barry Manilow once was just a music-loving teenager growing up in Brooklyn, New York and captivated by the sounds of the Sixties. The songs of the Beatles and the Four Seasons, of Jackie DeShannon and the Righteous Brothers, were “the soundtrack of my young life,” he fondly recalls today.

On October 31, 2006, the multi-platinum superstar will revisit this golden decade in Anglo-American pop music with the release of his new Arista album, The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties. This much-anticipated disc—the 59th album of his career—is the follow-up to The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties, released January 2006. That recording became Barry Manilow’s first Number One debut and his first Number One album since the triple-platinum double LP Barry Manilow/Live in 1977.

The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties could reach an even wider audience. “I think these songs from the Sixties are more well known to a lot of people than the songs of the Fifties,” Manilow said in a pre-release interview. “I really have a sense that these songs are even going to be more accepted to a bigger audience because everybody knows these songs.”

The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties also represents a new chapter in an ongoing series of Manilow concept albums interpreting music of earlier decades. In 1994, Singin’ With the Big Bands paired Barry with the orchestras of Les Brown, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Harry James, and Glenn Miller on a glorious set of Swing Era standards. Showstoppers (1991) spanned nearly a century of Broadway show tunes, while the groundbreaking 2:00 AM Paradise Café (1984) featured guest appearances by jazz legends Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme and Gerry Mulligan).

Featuring thirteen classics from the most exciting decade in Anglo-American pop history, The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties was produced by Barry Manilow, Clive Davis, and David Benson with Garry C. Kief as executive producer. It’s the second collaboration between Manilow and BMG U.S. Chairman Clive Davis since the singer’s return to the Arista label after a five-year absence (which was distinguished by new albums on Concord and Columbia). As the founder and president of Arista Records for its first 25 years, Davis was a perennial collaborator with Manilow on virtually all his recordings. Artist and executive first worked together on “Mandy,” Manilow’s debut Number One single, after he became the first performer signed by Clive Davis to Arista in 1974—the first year of the label’s existence.

But let’s get back to The Sixties. Like the marvelous musical era that it celebrates, the album covers many genres. The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” (1964) and Herman’s Hermits’ “There’s A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World)” (1967) represent the pop side of the British Invasion. When asked to name his favorites from the era, Barry Manilow simply says: “Any Beatles song—their records changed my musical direction.”

The compositions of Burt Bacharach and Hal David also have a special meaning for Barry. Their classics range from the hits of Dionne Warwick and the Shirelles to “This Guy's In Love With You”—Herb Alpert’s Number One single of 1968 and Manilow’s choice for The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties.

“Musically, there is no better pop songwriter in our generation than Burt Bacharach,” Barry affirms. “Lyrically, Hal David is the most interesting, poetic and commercial writer ever.”

Each song on The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties is a classic in its own right from the Righteous Brothers’ “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin’” (1965) to Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet” (1963) “When I Fall In Love” by the Lettermen (1962). The West Coast school of singer-songwriters is invoked on Jackie DeShannon’s “What The World Needs Now Is Love” (1965), while Manilow’s version of the Frankie Valli favorite “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (1967) harkens back to the “blue-eyed soul” sound.

On The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties, Barry Manilow paid tribute to the two most legendary American male singers with his recordings of Frank Sinatra’s “Young At Heart” and Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” The new album extends his homage to both artists with (respectively) “Strangers In The Night” (1966) and “Can't Help Falling In Love” (1962). Sinatra’s Rat Pack pal, Dean Martin, is remembered with “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime,” his Number One hit of 1964. Manilow duets with one of the great Sixties vocal groups, the Association, in a glowing reprise of their Number One hits “Cherish” (1966) and “Windy” (1967).

Barry’s legion of fans can look forward to hearing portions of this exciting repertoire incorporated into his gala stage show. “I'm putting together a twenty-minute medley,” the singer promises, “that will showcase as many as these great songs as I can.”

The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties is only the latest example of Barry Manilow’s timeless appeal to every cross-section of society from the working girl to the sophisticated pop fan, from teens to teens-at-heart. As the charter member of the Arista artist roster, Manilow has won a unique place in the pantheon of American performers.

* * *

Barry Manilow’s roots are in his native Brooklyn, where music was an integral part of his life. By the age of seven, Barry was taking accordion lessons and playing on a neighbor’s piano. He chose a career in music while still in his teens, and attended New York College of Music and the Julliard School of Music while working in the mailroom at CBS. He subsequently became musical director for a CBS show named “Callback” which led to a lucrative sideline on New York’s advertising jingle circuit.

In 1971, Barry Manilow met Bette Midler and became her music director, arranger and pianist. The following year, Manilow signed with Bell Records to record his debut solo album. In 1974, Clive Davis founded a new label, Arista, along with Columbia Pictures. Davis had the right to choose any artist on the Columbia Pictures-owned Bell Records to bring to Arista. Davis chose Manilow and the rest is history. He famously brought Barry a recent U.K. hit song entitled “Brandy” (by its writer Scott English). Clive changed the title to “Mandy” so it wouldn’t be confused with the Looking Glass U.S. hit “Brandy.” When Barry’s Arista single reached Number One in early 1975, it ignited one of the most incandescent careers in pop.

Barry Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R (Radio & Records), with no less than 25 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1975 and 1983. The list includes all-time favorites that Barry still sings today: “Mandy,” “It’s A Miracle,” “Could It Be Magic,” “I Write the Songs,” “Tryin’ To Get the Feeling Again,” “This One’s For You,” “Weekend In New England,” “Looks Like We Made It,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” “Even Now,” and the Grammy Award-winning “Copacabana (At the Copa).” All of these songs (and more) were anthologized on the commemorative 1992 four-CD boxed-set, Barry Manilow: The Complete Collection And Then Some.

The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties—the singer’s first concept album project since Manilow Sings Sinatra in 1998—paired Barry with Grammy-winning producer Phil Ramone. The result was what Clive Davis called “an enriching, exciting and fulfilling album” that complemented earlier Manilow concept recordings. The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties, released January 2006, marked Barry Manilow’s return to Arista Records after an absence of five years. Produced by Barry Manilow and Clive Davis, the founder of Arista Records and the chairman of BMG U.S., the album became the first Number One debut of the singer’s legendary career and his first Number One album since the triple-platinum double LP Barry Manilow/Live in 1977.On March 24, 2006 The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties was certified platinum for sales of over one million copies. To date, twenty-four albums by Barry Manilow have been certified gold. Half of these titles have been certified platinum, while Barry Manilow/Live (1977), Even Now (1978) and Greatest Hits (1978) are each certified triple platinum.

Albums produced by Barry Manilow for other artists—including Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson, and Dionne Warwick—have been nominated for Grammy Awards. A winner of Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards, Manilow’s film credits include the Oscar-nominated song “Ready To Take A Chance Again” (from 1978’s Foul Play), production of Bette Midler’s “Perfect Isn’t Easy” (from Walt Disney’s Oliver and Company), and the soundtracks for the animated features Thumbelina and The Pebble and the Penguin.

Highlights of Manilow’s theater career range from his Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in 1977 (in the same year that ABC-TV presented “The Barry Manilow Special” to an audience of 37 million) to an SRO eight-week run on the Great White Way in 1989. Beginning in 1997, Barry Manilow’s Copacabana – The Musical, an elaborate two-act spectacular, played to packed houses in London’s West End for 18 months before touring the U.S., Australia and Asia. June 2001 saw the opening of Could It Be Magic? – The Barry Manilow Songbook.

The singer has made countless television appearances ranging from Emmy-winning network specials to cable concerts, and released such best-selling long-form home videos as Live On Broadway and Because It's Christmas. His two-hour 1996 A&E special, “Barry Manilow: Live by Request” was the highest rated music show in the network's history. Manilow has also appeared on the highly rated TV series “Murphy Brown,” “Ally McBeal,” and “Will & Grace.” In 2006, Barry received his fifth Emmy nomination and an Emmy win for the PBS special “Manilow: Music and Passion.” The broadcast celebrated Barry Manilow’s 100th performance at the Las Vegas Hilton, where his gala “Music and Passion” show opened in February 2005. Produced by Stiletto Television, the Rhino DVD of the PBS special was soon certified triple platinum.

In June 2002, Barry Manilow was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music’s Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting.

Barry Manilow is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Jazz. His autobiography, Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise, was published by McGraw-Hill in 1987. In addition to his own foundation, the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, other involvements include The Prince's Trust, United Way, the Starlight Foundation, and several leading organizations for AIDS prevention and research. Barry Manilow is the national spokesperson for the Foundation Fighting Blindness and a member of the Music Center of Los Angeles.

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Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs of the Sixties