"People" is a song composed by Jule Styne with lyrics by Bob Merrill for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song. The song was released as a single in 1964 with "I Am Woman", a solo version of "You Are Woman, I Am Man", also from Funny Girl.
Andy Williams released a version of the song on his 1964 album, The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits. Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song live on her CBS release Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall. The Tymes had a top 40 hit with the song in 1968. Vic Damone recorded a version on his 1982 album Over the Rainbow. It has been covered by Jennifer Lopez, Billy Eckstine, Dionne Warwick, Steve Lawrence, Jack Jones, Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, Wes Montgomery, Gabor Szabo, Perry Como, The Supremes and others, but is considered one of Streisand's signature songs.
In 1998, Streisand's version was inducted in Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, Streisand's version on the soundtrack of Funny Girl finished at #13 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
Origins
"People" was one of the first songs written for the musical score of Funny Girl. It is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedian Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hired to write the musical score and met each other for the first time in 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida. They wrote their songs by day and tested them by night on the Palm Beach socialites at cocktail parties.
As they worked to develop the character of Fanny Brice, they needed to write a special love song depicting her feelings towards Nicky. According to the book, "Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne" by Theodore Taylor, "Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, 'You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] "a very special person." I think I've got a helluva melody for it.'...'Great,' Merrill yelled. 'But now it's not gonna be just a "special person." Listen.' Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: 'People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world".'...The song 'wrote' in thirty minutes..." "People" nearly did not get included in "Funny Girl" during early try-outs as the producers did not like it. Bob fought to keep the song in and finally one night, Barbra was allowed to sing it on stage. It stopped the show and history was made.
The single by Streisand was released in January 1964, and peaked at number five on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the singer's first Top 40 hit. It also spent three weeks at number one on the Pop-Standards (adult contemporary) chart in June/July 1964. This helped to cement its inclusion in Funny Girl, which ran on Broadway from March 26, 1964, to July 1, 1967, and earned Styne and Merrill a nomination for a 1964 Tony Award as Best Composer and Lyricist. The single version was recorded on 20 December 1963 and produced by Mike Berniker.
Barbra Streisand included a revised version of the song on "Partners", her 2014 album of duets. On the song she duets with soul singer Stevie Wonder, who had performed it at the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year gala event honoring Streisand.
It has been said that People was originally written for the animated television special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, but Theodore Taylor's biography of Styne disputes this.
Official versions by Streisand
Streisand recorded the song in the following studio projects: "People" ("Funny Girl" Original Broadway Cast Recording) "People" (People Album Version) / (Single Version) / (Second Recorded Take) "People" ("Funny Girl" Original Soundtrack Album Recording) "People" ("Partners" Album Version Duet with Stevie Wonder)
The song also appears, often in a live version, in other 8 albums: A Happening in Central Park (live) Live Concert at the Forum (live) Barbra Streisand...and Other Musical Instruments (excerpts) One Voice (Barbra Streisand album) (live) The Concert (Barbra Streisand album) (live) Timeless: Live in Concert (live) Live in Concert 2006 (live) Back to Brooklyn (album) (live) and, as previously released material, "People" appears in some of Streisand retrospective/greatest hits albums, like Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits, Just for the Record and The Essential Barbra Streisand.