''Barry Manilow II'' is the second studio album by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

released in 1974. Propelled by the major success of its lead single " Mandy" and featuring a further international hit in " It's a Miracle", the album was a commercial breakthrough for Manilow. First issued by

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

, it was reissued after the company was reorganized into

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. The album's success spawned a notable parody in the picture sleeve of

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...

' 1979 single, " I Need Your Help Barry Manilow". Album peaked at #29 on Canada’s RPM Album Chart.

Track listing

Side 1

#"I Want To Be Somebody's Baby" (Barry Manilow, Enoch Anderson) - 4:18 #"Early Morning Strangers" (Barry Manilow,

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...

) - 3:24 #" Mandy" (

Scott English Sheldon David "Scott" English (January 10, 1937 – November 16, 2018) was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. The song became a No. 1 hit fo ...

, Richard Kerr) - 3:32 #"The Two of Us" (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer) - 3:05 #"Something's Comin' Up" (Barry Manilow) - 2:51

Side 2

#" It's a Miracle" (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer) - 3:58 #"Avenue C" (

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

, Jon Hendricks, Dave Lambert) - 2:37 #" My Baby Loves Me" ( Ivy Hunter, Sylvia Moy, William "Mickey" Stevenson) - 3:18 #" Sandra" (Barry Manilow, Enoch Anderson) - 4:35 #"Home Again" (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer) - 5:34

1996 Remaster

#"I Want To Be Somebody's Baby" #"Early Morning Strangers" #"Mandy" #"The Two of Us" #"Something's Comin' Up" #"It's a Miracle" #"Avenue C" #"My Baby Loves Me" #"Sandra" #"Home Again" Bonus track: #"Halfway Over the Hill"

2006 Expanded Edition

#"I Want To Be Somebody's Baby" #"Early Morning Strangers" #"Mandy" #"The Two of Us" #"Something's Comin' Up" #"It's a Miracle" #"Avenue C" #"My Baby Loves Me" #"Sandra" #Home Again Bonus tracks: #"Good News" #"Halfway Over the Hill"

Charts

Personnel

* Barry Manilow - lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm arrangements, acoustic piano (1–6, 9, 10) * Don Grolnick - acoustic piano (7) * Ellen Starr - acoustic piano (8) * Jon Stroll -

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

(1), electric piano (2–6, 8, 9, 10) * John Barranco - guitar (1, 6) * Dick Frank - guitar (1, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Bob Mann - guitar (1, 6, 10) * Charlie Brown - guitar (2, 3, 10) * Stuart Scharf - guitar (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) * Sam T. Brown - guitar (7) * Will Lee - bass guitar (1, 2, 3, 5, 6) * Russell George - bass guitar (4, 8, 9, 10) *

Bob Cranshaw Melbourne Robert Cranshaw (December 3, 1932 – November 2, 2016) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records as a house bassist to his later involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known f ...

- bass guitar (7) * Chris Parker - drums (1, 6) * Jimmy Young - drums (2, 3, 5) * Bill Lavorgna - drums (7) *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B. J. Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Ge ...

- drums (8, 9, 10) * Lee Gurst - percussion (1, 6) * Norman Pride - congas (1, 2, 5–8, 10) * George Young - saxophone (2) * Artie Kaplan - saxophone (6) * Stanley Schwartz: saxophone (6) * Jack Cortner - horn and string arrangements *

Ron Dante Carmine John Granito (born August 22, 1945), known professionally as Ron Dante, is an American singing, singer, songwriter, Session musician, session vocalist, and record producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fiction ...

- backing vocals * Melvin Kent - backing vocals (1) * Ken Williams - backing vocals (1) * Charlotte Crossley - backing vocals (6) * Robin Grean - backing vocals (6) * Sharon Redd - backing vocals (6)

Production

* Producers: Barry Manilow and Ron Dante * Engineers: Bruce Tergesen, Harry Maslin and Michael DeLugg * Recorded at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History In 1969, songwriter Jerry Ragavoy opened a recording studio in New York City and named it ''The Hit Factory.'' On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, ...

and Mediasound Recording Studios (New York City) * Design: The Music Agency * Front Cover Photo: Joel Brodsky * Back Liner Photo: Linda Allen

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1974 albums Barry Manilow albums Bell Records albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Ron Dante Albums with cover art by Joel Brodsky