Guilty (Barbra Streisand album)

Guilty is the twenty-second studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand released on September 23, 1980, by Columbia Records. It was produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and his group's regular production team of Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson.

Guilty
Studio album by Barbra Streisand
Released	September 23, 1980
Recorded	February 1979–March 1980
Studio	Criteria (Miami) Middle Ear (Miami) Sound Labs (Hollywood) Digital Magnetics (Hollywood) Mediasound (New York)
Genre	Pop soft rock post-disco adult contemporary
Length	41:41
Label	Columbia
Producer	Barry Gibb Albhy Galuten Karl Richardson
Barbra Streisand chronology
Wet (1979) Guilty (1980) Memories (1981)
Singles from Guilty
"Woman in Love / Run Wild" Released: August 16, 1980 "Guilty / Life Story" Released: October 1980 "What Kind of Fool / The Love Inside" Released: January 1981 "Promises / Make It Like A Memory" Released: May 1981

Streisand released a sequel to this album, Guilty Pleasures, in 2005, also produced and largely written by Gibb. Both albums can also be considered partial-collaboration albums, since Streisand not only performed two duets with Gibb, but Gibb could also be heard as a background vocalist in a few other songs solely by the artist herself, along with the fact that both singers were on the cover for both albums issued. The album sold over 15 million copies worldwide.^[1]

Background and production

After the huge success of the Bee Gees in the late 1970s, Gibb began to focus on writing and producing songs. Streisand approached Gibb to write songs for her new album—initially he was going to write or co-write only half the album, but the process went so well he ended up doing the entire album. All the songs were written expressly for Streisand except "The Love Inside", which Gibb wrote over a year before.^[2]

Two songs ("Secrets" and "Carried Away") were written for the album but not used. Both appear on The Guilty Demos, which features Gibb singing the songs he wrote for Streisand. The outtake songs would later be recorded and released by Elaine Paige and Olivia Newton-John respectively.

Singles

The lead single "Woman in Love" became one of the most successful songs of Streisand's music career and spent a total of three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Two other singles were released, which also peaked within the top ten on Billboard Hot 100: the title track, a duet between Streisand and Gibb, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1981, released as a second single for the album, and became an instant hit, peaking at number three, and "What Kind of Fool", another duet with Gibb, reached number ten for three weeks. The fourth single, "Promises", a more disco-oriented track released in May 1981, reached as high as number 48 in both the U.S. and Canada. It was a much bigger Adult Contemporary hit in both nations, reaching number eight and number five, respectively.^[3] This song was also released on Streisand's first commercially released 12" single as a solo artist following her 1979 duet with Donna Summer, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", and two promotional singles released for "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" in 1975, and "The Main Event/Fight" in 1979.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Robert Christgau	C+^[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[6]

The album received favorable reviews from music critics. William Ruhlmann from AllMusic wrote that the album is one of the singer's "least characteristic" albums and that "it sounds like a post-Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees album with vocals by Streisand." Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ and criticized Streisand's vocals ("most of the time she oversings") and that "when she dramatizes a soap like "Life Story," the mismatch is ridiculous". Stephen Holden from Rolling Stone gave the album a favorable review and wrote that "while Guilty is a romantic entertainment with no ambitions beyond making billions of hearts flutter and earning millions of dollars, it's also as beautifully crafted a piece of ear candy as I've heard in years". He also wrote that "Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb's album may not be particularly nutritious, but it sure is tasty."^[7]

Commercial performance

Guilty became Streisand's best-selling album to date internationally, with sales of 15 million copies worldwide as well as spawning several hit singles.^[1] According to the liner notes of Barbra's retrospective box set: Just for the Record, the album also received a record certification in Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain. Sweden, Switzerland, and Russia.^[8]

Re-release

Guilty was re-released on DualDisc on 30 August 2005 by Sony Legacy Recordings in advance of its sequel project, Guilty Pleasures and also commemorated its 25th anniversary. The re-release featured remastered audio, new interviews with Streisand and Gibb, two live performances from 1986 and a photo gallery of the original photo session for Guilty by Mario Casilli.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Guilty" (with Barry Gibb)	Barry Gibb Maurice Gibb Robin Gibb	4:23
2.	"Woman in Love"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	3:49
3.	"Run Wild"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:06
4.	"Promises"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:20
5.	"The Love Inside"	B. Gibb	5:08

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"What Kind of Fool" (with Barry Gibb)	B. Gibb Albhy Galuten	4:06
7.	"Life Story"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:38
8.	"Never Give Up"	B. Gibb Galuten	3:44
9.	"Make It Like a Memory"	B. Gibb Galuten	7:28
Total length:			41:41

Credits

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, 6, 7), backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 6, 7), 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 – backing vocals (2, 5) Marti McCall – backing vocals (2, 5)

Production Charles Koppelman – executive producer Barry Gibb – producer Albhy Galuten – producer Karl Richardson – producer, engineer, mixing Don Gehman – engineer, mixing Carl Beatty – assistant engineer Michael Guerra – assistant engineer Dennis Hertzendorfer – assistant engineer Dale Peterson – assistant engineer Sam Taylor – assistant engineer Robert Shames – assistant engineer Patrick Von Wiegandt – assistant engineer Bob Carbone – mastering at A&M Mastering Studios (Hollywood, California). Linda Garrity – production coordinator Nan Leone – studio coordinator Tony Lane – visual coordinator Mario Casilli – photography

Accolades

American Music Awards

Year	Recipient	Award (with notes)	Result
1981	Barbra Streisand	Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist (for her album Guilty)^[9]^[10]	Won

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient (with notes)	Award	Result
1981	Guilty	Album of the Year^[11]	Nominated
	"Woman in Love" (written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb)	Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female^[11]	Nominated
		Record of the Year^[11]	Nominated
		Song of the Year^[11]	Nominated
	"Guilty" (Duet with Barry Gibb)	Best Pop Vocal Performance - Duo or Group^[12]	Won

National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM)

Year	Recipient	Award	Result
1981	Guilty	Best Selling LP by a Female Vocalist^[9]	Honored

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1980) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[13] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[14] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[15] 3 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[16] 1 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[17] 1 French Albums (SNEP)^[18] 1 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[19] 4 Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)^[20] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[21] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[22] 1 Spain Albums (Promusicae)^[23] 1 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[24] 1 UK Albums (OCC)^[25] 1 US Billboard 200^[26] 1 Chart (1981) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[27] 9

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Position Australian Albums Chart^[13] 22 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[28] 11 UK Albums Chart^[29] 9 US Cash Box^[30] 17 Chart (1981) Position Australian Albums Chart^[13] 28 Austrian Albums Chart^[31] 8 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[32] 21 Japanese Albums Chart^[33] 52 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[34] 43 UK Albums Chart^[35] 26 US Billboard 200^[36] 12 US Cash Box^[37] 15

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[38]	6× Platinum	420,000^^
Austria	—	50,000^[39]
Belgium (BEA)^[40]	2× Platinum	250,000^[40]
Canada (Music Canada)^[41]	5× Platinum	500,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)^[42]	Platinum	57,106^[42]
France (SNEP)^[43]	2× Platinum	600,000^*
Germany (BVMI)^[44]	Platinum	500,000^^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)^[45]	Platinum	20,000^*
Italy (FIMI)^[46]	Platinum	400,000^[47]
Japan	—	138,530^[27]^[33]
Netherlands (NVPI)^[48]	3× Platinum	300,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[49]	Platinum	15,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)^[50]	Platinum	50,000^*
Portugal (AFP)^[51]	Silver	10,000^^
Sweden (GLF)^[48]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[53]	Platinum	750,000^[52]
United States (RIAA)^[54]	5× Platinum	5,000,000^^
Yugoslavia	—	11,190^[55]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	15,000,000^[1]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References in popular culture

In October 2010, American DJ duo Duck Sauce released a single titled "Barbra Streisand", the cover of which is modeled directly after Guilty. Neither the song nor the artist are associated in any way with Barbra Streisand.

The Guilty Demos

The Guilty Demos
Demo album by Barry Gibb
Released	10 October 2006
Recorded	October 1979 Criteria Studios, Miami
Length	44:39
Producer	Barry Gibb
Barry Gibb chronology
The Eaten Alive Demos (2006) The Guilty Demos (2006) The Eyes That See in the Dark Demos (2006)

The Guilty Demos is a demo version of the album by Barry Gibb. Not intended for release tapes of these had been circulating among fans before bootleg CDs started emerging. In October 2006 Gibb made these available through iTunes.^[56] Recorded in 1979 all of the songs were written that same year except "The Love Inside" which was written in 1978 during work on Spirits Having Flown. All songs feature Barry Gibb's falsetto voice, except "What Kind of Fool" where he used his natural voice. The songs "Carried Away" and "Secrets" were not used by Streisand but instead recorded by Elaine Paige with only "Secrets" being issued on her 1981 self-titled album. Olivia Newton-John recorded and released "Carried Away" on her Physical album, also in 1981. The demo version of "Never Give Up" remains unreleased.^[57]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Guilty"	Barry Gibb Maurice Gibb Robin Gibb	4:03
2.	"Woman in Love"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	3:53
3.	"Run Wild"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:23
4.	"Promises"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:15
5.	"The Love Inside"	B. Gibb	4:47
6.	"What Kind of Fool"	B. Gibb Albhy Galuten	4:05
7.	"Life Story"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	4:57
8.	"Make It Like a Memory"	B. Gibb A. Galuten	6:34
9.	"Carried Away"	B. Gibb A. Galuten	3:52
10.	"Secrets"	B. Gibb R. Gibb	3:50

Personnel

• Barry Gibb - vocals, guitar
• Albhy Galuten - synthesizer, drum machine
• Blue Weaver - keyboard

See also

• List of best-selling albums by women

References

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2. . barbra-archives.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10.
3. Adult Contemporary RPM. Volume 35, No. 4 (Jul 04, 1981). Retrieved 22 August 2022.
4. AllMusic review
5. Robert Christgau review
6. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rs5star_ed1.htm 5-Star-Albums from the Second Edition (Published in 1983) of "The Rolling Stone Record Guide"
7. Holden, Stephen (December 11, 1980). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
8. Liner notes, C4K 44111. Columbia Records, 1991
9. "Barbra Streisand: AWARDS".
10. "Barbra Streisand: FAQs & Timeline".
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12. "Past Winners Search". grammy.com. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
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30. . Archived from the original on September 13, 2012.. Cash Box magazine.
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33. . Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
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35. . Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
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38. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
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45. . IFPI Hong Kong.
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50. Robertshaw, Nick (March 21, 1981). "International Dateline - Norway" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. 110, no. 32. p. 37. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
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External links

• Barbra Archives "Guilty" page with quotes, vintage clippings, CD repackaging notes, and album photo outtakes.