Guilty may well be
Barbra Streisand’s best
pop album. At the peak of her late-’70s popularity, she hooked up with the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, who himself was basking in his Saturday Night Fever glow. Gibb wrote and produced most of the material on 1980’s Guilty, and he supplied background vocals as well as co-leads on two tracks. The results are still completely bewitching. “Promises,” for instance, is a
lounge-like
dance number and Babs sounds simply fabulous–sexy, lighthearted, passionate, playful–all at once. “Life Story” is a wild
epic, and “Make It Like a Memory” keeps soaring up and up into a stratosphere of shag-carpeted luxury. Even Gibb’s wavering vocals are great–and not a little like a
disco version of Mandy Patinkin. And of course, the hits are out of this world: “Woman in Love” and “What Kind of Fool” are titanium-plated classics the likes of which Streisand has not topped since. A guilty pleasure, sure–just indulge. by Elisabeth Vincentelli
Tracks:-------
1. Guilty Featuring [Duet With] – Barry Gibb - 4:28
2. Woman In Love - 3:54
3. Run Wild - 4:09
4. Promises - 4:22
5. The Love Inside - 5:12
6. What Kind Of Fool Featuring [Duet With] – Barry Gibb - 4:08
7. Life Story - 4:38
8. Never Give Up - 3:45
9. Make It Like A Memory - 7:32
Personnel:-----
Barbra Streisand – lead vocals
George Bitzer – grand piano (1, 4, 6, 7), electric piano (1), synthesizers (5, 7, 8)
Richard Tee – electric piano (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8), grand piano (2, 9), clavinet (8)
Albhy Galuten – synthesizers (4–7), horn and string arrangements
Barry Gibb – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8), lead vocals (1, 6), horn and string arrangements
Cornell Dupree – guitar (1, 8, 9)
George Terry – guitar (1, 5, 8, 9), slide guitar (3), gut-string guitar (9)
Pete Carr – guitar (2, 6, 9), acoustic guitar (6)
Lee Ritenour – guitar (4, 7)
Harold Cowart – bass guitar (1–4, 6, 8, 9)
David Hungate – bass guitar (7)
Steve Gadd – drums (1–4, 6, 8, 9)
Bernard Lupe – drums (2, 6, 7)
Dennis Bryon – drums (7)
Joe Lala – percussion (1, 2, 4, 7, 9)
Jerry Peel – French horn (2, 3)
Whit Sidener – baritone saxophone (4, 9)
Dan Bonsanti – tenor saxophone (4, 9)
Neal Bonsanti – tenor saxophone (4, 9)
Peter Graves – trombone (4, 6, 7, 9), horn arrangements
Russ Freeland – trombone (6, 7)
Mike Katz – trombone (6, 7)
Ken Faulk – trumpet (4, 6, 7, 9)
Brett Murphy – trumpet (4, 6, 7, 9)
Gene Orloff – string contractor
Myrna Matthews – backing vocals (2, 5)
Denise (Maynelli) DeCaro – backing vocals, vocal contractor (2, 5)
Marti McCall – backing vocals (2, 5)
All thanks to original releaser