[MRL 393] Barry Sisters (Bagelman Sisters) - Our Way (Tahka - Tahka)

reissue cover

Claire & Merna Barry - Vocals
Al Cohn - Orchestration
Jerry Graff - Orchestration, Vocal Arrangement
Jim Tyler - Orchestration
Archie Bleyer - Producer

Frank Kolleogy - Photography
Josh Kun - Reissue Liner Notes


1 Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head [Trop'ns Fin Regen Oif Mein Kop] (2:26)
2 Alice Blue Gown [Klaideleh Fin Himel Bloi] (2:56)
3 Cabaret (2:55)
4 My Way [Mein Vaig] (4:27)
5 Bei Mir Bist du Schön (3:27)
6 It's Impossible [S'ken Nit Maiglich Zein] (3:47)
7 Tea for Two [Tay Far Tzvay] (3:12)
8 Mame (2:25)
9 Love Story [A Meiseh Fin Liebeh] (3:57)
10 To Life [L'Chaim] (2:47)

Reissued 2008 by Reboot Stereophonic



Dusty Groove review:

Very groovy work from The Barry Sisters -- and quite different than their better-known early work for Roulette Records! This set's still got the hip harmonies of the pair in place, but is done with a warmer 70s sort of glow -- orchestrated by Jim Tyler with a relatively full feel, but one that's a nice change for the duo -- who sing in Yiddish throughout, and bring a really fresh feel to a host of familiar numbers from the late 60s/early 70s. Reboot have done an excellent job with the reissue -- adding in extra photos, lots of notes, and an overdue appreciation of this lost vocal gem -- which, with its change of language, reminds us a bit of some of the hip titles that have been reissued on the Bureau label of late. Titles include "Love Story", "To Life", "My Way", "Cabaret", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", and "It's Impossible"

Amazon.com review:

Born to Yiddish speaking immigrants in the Bronx, the Barry Sisters rose to the forefront of the Jewish-American music world in the 1930s through their early recordings with RCS Victor and their association with the biggest names on the Second Avenue scene. They became the official voices of the Yiddish Swing Craze in the '40s and '50s during their tenure on Sam Medoff's radio shows, and went on to release a slew of singles and full-length LPs that garnered them recognition beyond the confines of the Jewish musical community.

Our Way is the eleventh and final album by the Barry Sisters, released by Mainstream Records in 1973. On this album, the sisters took on the '20s pop chestnut "Tea For Two" and used Yiddish to return the vanilla Perry Como smash "It's Impossible" to its Mexican bolero roots. They raided Hollywood for "Love Story" (imagine Ryan O'Neal crooning in Yiddish at the bedside of a dying Ali McGraw), raided Broadway for "Cabaret" and "Alice Blue Gown," and turned out what just might be--second only to the version Cuban audio priestess La Lupe did just three years earlier--the most liberating version ever of the Sinatra staple "My Way." So they didn't sing "What's Goin' On" or "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (which, for what it's worth, would have been called "Ikh vil zein dein hoont"). The effect was still the same: seventies America woke up in a Technicolor Yiddish dream.