A Happening in Central Park

Category:Use mdy dates from May 2025

Category:Articles with short descriptionCategory:Short description is different from Wikidata
A Happening in Central Park
Live album by
Barbra Streisand
ReleasedSeptember 1968
Recorded17 June 1967
VenueCentral Park, New York City
GenrePop
Length37:15 (DVD 53:28)
LabelColumbia
ProducerJack Gold
Barbra Streisand chronology
Funny Girl (soundtrack)
(1968)		 A Happening in Central Park
(1968)		 What About Today?
(1969)
Alternative cover
DVD release
Category:Articles with hAudio microformatsCategory:Album articles lacking alt text for coversCategory:Articles with hAudio microformats
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

A Happening In Central Park is the first live album by Barbra Streisand. It was recorded at a live concert in Central Park in New York on Saturday, June 17, 1967[2] in front of an audience of 125,000 people.[1] The special aired on CBS channel on September 15, 1968 with selected moments from the live show that in its entirety featured thirty three songs.[3] From the show Streisand developed a stage panic that caused her to perform rarely in subsequent years. According to Streisand: "I forgot the words in front of 125,000 people-and I wasn't cute about it or anything", "I was shocked; I was terrified. It prevented me from performing for all these years".[4] She said to ABC News that: "I didn't sing and charge people for 27 years because of that night ... I was like, 'God, I don't know. What if I forget the words again?'"[5]

On November 1, 1986, Billboard announced that a VHS tape would be released via CBS/Fox Video, with a new introduction made by Barbra talking about her experience doing the live performance.[6] In 2005, Columbia released a box that contained five DVDs, each with the five TV specials that the singer released in the 1960s and 1970s, including the special "A Happening In Central Park".[7] The DVD was released individually in 2007.

In 2018, the singer revealed on her Twitter that the special, along with others released in the box, could be watched via streaming on Netflix that same year.[8]

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number 30 in the US and has been certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies.[9][10]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Can See It" (from the Musical Production The Fantasticks)
2:58
2."Love Is Like a New Born Child"Oscar Brown Jr.2:55
3."Folk Monologue/Value"Jeffrey D. Harris4:45
4."Cry Me a River"Arthur Hamilton3:05
5."People" (from the Motion Picture Funny Girl)
4:43

Notes:

  • ^a signifies arranged by

Personnel

  • Warren Vincent - sound supervision
  • Edward T. Graham, Stan Weiss, Phil Macy, Arthur Kendy - engineer
  • New York Times - cover photograph

DVD

  1. "Introduction"
  2. "The Nearness Of You"
  3. "Down With Love"
  4. "Love Is Like A New Born Child"
  5. "Cry Me A River"
  6. "Folk Monologue/Value"
  7. "I Can See It"
  8. "The Sound Of Music"
  9. "Mississippi Mud"
  10. "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
  11. "Love Is A Bore"
  12. "He Touched Me"
  13. "English Folk Song"
  14. "I'm All Smiles"
  15. "Marty The Martian"
  16. "Natural Sounds"
  17. "Second Hand Rose"
  18. "People"
  19. "Silent Night (Sleep In Heavenly Peace)"
  20. "Happy Days Are Here Again"

Charts

Chart (1968) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11]19Category:Album chart usages for Canada
US Billboard 200[12]30Category:Album chart usages for Billboard200
US Cashbox Top Albums[13] 21

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Category:Certification Table Entry usages for United StatesUnited States (RIAA)[14] Gold 500,000^Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments figures

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments footnote

References

  1. 1 2 William Ruhlmann. "A Happening in Central Park (Allmusic Review)". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/barbra-streisand-02746ab8-7c92-4ddf-8da8-9e30adcb1dea Category:All articles with bare URLs for citationsCategory:Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2024[bare URL]
  3. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (June 19, 2013). Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7864-7444-8. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Drowning on dry land". Newsweek. May 22, 1994. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Barbra Streisand Looks Back on 25 Years". ABC News. September 22, 2005. Archived from the original on September 23, 2005.
  6. ↑ Seideman, Tony (November 1, 1986). "Streisand TV programs released by CBS/FOX". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 49. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  7. ↑ Barbra Streisand - The Television Specials (AD). Here Publishing. December 2005. p. 123. ISSN 1062-7928. Retrieved October 22, 2021. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)Category:CS1 errors: periodical ignored
  8. ↑ Enos, Morgan (June 11, 2018). "Barbra Streisand Announces Netflix Debut of Vintage TV Specials, Extended Version of 'A Star is Born'". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Barbra Streisand Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  10. ↑ "RIAA-Barbra Streisand (Certification)". www.riaa.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5805". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Top 100 Pop Albums" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 47. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  14. ↑ "American album certifications – Barbra Streisand – A Happening in Central Park". Recording Industry Association of America.
Category:1968 live albums Category:Barbra Streisand live albums Category:Columbia Records live albums Category:Albums recorded at Central Park
Category:1968 live albums Category:Album articles lacking alt text for covers Category:Album chart usages for Billboard200 Category:Album chart usages for Canada Category:Albums recorded at Central Park Category:All articles with bare URLs for citations Category:Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2024 Category:Articles with hAudio microformats Category:Articles with short description Category:Barbra Streisand live albums Category:CS1 errors: periodical ignored Category:Certification Table Entry usages for United States Category:Columbia Records live albums Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments figures Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments footnote Category:Short description is different from Wikidata Category:Use mdy dates from May 2025