“Could It Be Magic” is a song written by Adrienne Anderson and composed by American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, inspired by Frédéric Chopin’s Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20. The song was initially released in 1971 by Featherbed, a group of session musicians featuring Barry Manilow. The song was produced and co-written by Tony Orlando, and later re-recorded as a Manilow solo track on his first album.
The first version of the song was released two years earlier by a group of session musicians called Featherbed, which featured Manilow on lead vocals. The Featherbed version is a bubblegum pop arrangement, with lyrics written by Tony Orlando, Frédéric Chopin, and Barry Manilow. The song was originally released in 1971 by Featherbed, a group of session musicians featuring Barry Manilow.
The song was originally released in 1971 by Featherbed, a group of session musicians featuring Barry Manilow. The song was written by Tony Orlando, Frédéric Chopin, and Barry Manilow, and was released on vinyl in 1971. The song was initially released as a single, with a full track listing and details of the 7″ vinyl record.
In summary, “Could It Be Magic” is a popular song that was initially released in 1971 by Featherbed, a group of session musicians featuring Barry Manilow. The song was initially released as a single, but later re-recorded as a Manilow solo track on his first album. The song has been covered by various artists, including Rob De Nijs, Karel Gott, and Tony Orlando.
📹 1st RECORDING OF: Could It Be Magic – Featherbed, featuring Barry Manilow
It took several years of trying before Barry and his record company found the combination that would put him on the map in late …
I never heard this version before. I was the most familiar with the 1975 version. I heard the original Bell version from Barry Manilow I and found the subtle differences very interesting. This one is really cool and different. I think sonically the 1973 version sounds the best, although I like the 1975 version the best. Barry’s first few albums on Arista didn’t sound as good as he did in the Bell days and after Even Now. One Voice and the recording processes after that really made everything in his voice pop. That’s only my opinion though. Thank you for posting this though. As a fan never hearing this made me very happy.
Adrienne Anderson wrote the original lyrics in 1970-71. Tony Orlando re-wrote them for this one; he was white-hot at the time and Bell thought it might rub off on the young singer. This version did get some notice, but Barry finally got to do it his way, with Adrienne’s lyrics, in 1973, at a full seven minutes. Didn’t chart. After Clive Davis took control at Bell, soon to be Arista, was when “Mandy” (nee Brandy) came along. “It’s a Miracle” came next, and a third single was needed. A re-tooled (and shortened) mix of “Could It Be Magic” was quickly recorded and released, along with a re-tooled version of the 1973 LP, in mid-1975. The 45 hit #6.
Wow, I never heard this version. We saw Barry last week in Vegas & at 80 his voice is still astoundingly top notch, amazing energy! I highly recommend his show. He began on piano singing his slow classic 1975 ballad version but then told the story of how Donna Summer did a disco version of it which he initially didn’t like, “what have they done with my song?!” But then decided to do a dance version, which he sang live. Great stuff! 😄🕺💃🎉🎊
First of all, I adore the Chopin-laden, full version, lyrics and all (though I could do without the “up to where the stallion meets the sun” imagery). However, just for fun & comparison, I’d like to see the Featherbed/Orlando lyrics written out. NOWHERE ARE THEY TO BE FOUND. Would someone please make them available? I’d be content with the lyrics laid over the featherbed recording. I can get most of it, but for the life of me I cannot make out the very first word, and it’s frustrating. Please?
Orlando first signed Manlow to Bell/Columbia Records in 1969. Following having his own solo hits in the early 60s, he became a record exec. He recorded under the pseudonym Dawn and exploded back on the charts but this time to the top. Unfortunately, his work with Manilow in 1970 and 71 didn’t impact the charts. But their boss, Clive Davis, found Mandy and Manilow’s re-arrangement topped the carts. The rest is music history! This s a great recording. I’m so thankful that Orlando and Davis recognized Manlow’s potential.
OK, as I said in the hit version post, would this point/inquiry here. Have this single, but have found that this, along with another posting elsewhere, there are the extra seconds of music before the verses start, and the time is 2:32. The single I have does NOT have those extra parts, and does run closer to the 2:12 time shown on the label. Other differences are the label has some black print (artist and title) and the believe the star is on the other side of the label. Brought the single out and played it/looked over the label.
Today, I was reading the Wikipedia entry on Barry Manilow. Had no idea that he worked with Tony Orlando, let alone that he recorded an earlier version of the song I rank as one of my all time favorite Manilow songs! So I just had to come here to check it out. So what do I think of the original version of “Could It Be Magic?” Well, it’s a product of its time. Some will see it as the light and fun bubblegum pop driven commercial composition it was intended to be. Almost proto-disco in feel. I liked the later Donna Summer disco recording. Her version and the earlier version certainly seem to have a lot in common. However, TBH, I truly prefer the reworked version that Manilow recorded in 1973. Why? Well, in the original, the music is overwhelming. It’s almost impossible to hear Barry’s voice! You can hear him better in the re-make. The piano doesn’t drown him out. It compliments, not competes. Lyrics wise, the song has a more pure and honest feel that the faster versions lacks. It’s a true love song from the heart vs. a giddy infatuation driven “ditty” that was marketed in order to try to get radio airplay and sell quickly. The version from ’73 is softer, more romantic, more “mature” and as such is the one which truly stands the test of time IMO. Plus that slower version also turned me on to the classical music of Frederic Chopin which I still enjoy to this very day.
Will Featherbed ever get back together for a tour? Just kidding….for the time, Tony Orlando really didn’t do a bad job at all, it sounds like an early 70’s bubblegum single should sound like. Of course the “real” version (on the ’75 re-release of Barry Manilow I) is the best version. It would have been funny if this single (or “Amy”) was a smash, then Barry would have had to go out and promote it (a’la “Steam” with Na Na Hey Hey).
When Barry heard this,he hated it…it was not what he wanted or expected AT ALL. Manilow had the music already written,as we know it,,,,give or take a few tweaks here and there….because the man is a musical genius and a perfectionist. Tony had already heard the song the way Barry had written it,but rearranged it to THIS to make it more palatable to the record-buying public of the era. I wish he hadn’t,lol.
This is awesome!!! Never heard this version before. I thought I knew all there was to know about Barry Manilow and this one just got me. Never knew he was in a band with Tony Orlando. It makes sense, though, being they were both on the same label at the beginning. I heard the original Barry Manilow I version from Bell records and that one just sounded very lame. The 1975 remake was definitely the best, but I really enjoy knowing this exists.
1971: Orlando was white-hot and Bell was desperately trying to get a hit out of Manilow, so he partially re-wrote Adrienne Anderson’s lyrics and Manilow and a studio band cut it. It did chart, barely, but enough to keep him as a singles-only artist on the label. It didn’t finally happen until Clive Davis showed up three-plus years later, but not with this song. Davis didn’t like it and relented only with a remix and edit in ’75 (Bell released it, full-length, in 1973).