People
"People" was written by Jule Styne (composer) and Bob Merrill (lyricist) for the Broadway musical Funny Girl (1964). It starred Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song. It is often known by a line from its chorus, "People who need people....". It has been recorded by Jack Jones, Richard Clayderman, Perry Como, The Supremes and others, but is most closely associated with Streisand as her signature song. Ella Fitzgerald recorded this live and it can be heard on her CBS release "Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall".
The single by Streisand was released in January 1964, and peaked at #5 on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the singer's first Top 40 hit. It also spent three weeks at #1 on the Easy Listening chart, which would later become known as the Adult Contemporary chart. 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.
Tutorial At Tempo, then Slow
Sheetmusic
