Bette Midler: Bette Midler (1973)

The debut album from the Divine Miss M had been a triumphant success. All the efforts of Bette, her team of musos and everyone at Atlantic Records who had been pushing the album had paid off. "The Divine Miss M" reached the Top 10 on the American Billboard album chart (thank you again, Uncle Wiki) and was awarded a Platinum Disc by the RIAA. There were three successful singles: "Do You Want to Dance?", "Friends" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", all of which made the American Top 40. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was Number #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and Number #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. To this day, all three singles remain some of Bette's most memorable gold standards.

Now they had to produce a follow-up album (although as I'm typing this it's almost difficult for me to imagine that the Divine Miss M *had* to do anything, if you know how sensational she was/is as a performer.) The product of this follow-up emerged pretty much a year and ten days from the first album and to these ears, it is a fine experience and a compelling continuation from where we'd left off with "Friends".

Chart wise, the eponymous "Bette Midler" got as high as Number #6 on the US Billboard 200, #3 on the Canada Top Albums list and #14 in Australia (Uncle Wiki, you have been too good to me.) In that sense, Bette had cemented her success with the new album and was probably going to do pretty well for herself at least in the next ten years, hopefully going off to make a movie in the process or a stage musical. Fans and music listeners around the world would have to wait and see.

Let's have a look at the album.

"Skylark" --- to me, "Bette Midler" more or less begins from where "Friends" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" left off. Even down to the cover art from Richard Amsel, this album feels like a sort of "The Divine Miss M Part 2." "Skylark", Bette’s version of the 1941 jazz song by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer brings us dreamily into the proceedings. It is a relaxing and comforting beginning to a strong follow-up.

"Drinking Again" --- Bette brings us this 1962 song by Johnny Mercer and Doris Tauber which had been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and others. To me, this sort of feels like the "Am I Blue?" of this album, and it leaves a similar effect on my ears, soulful and memorable.

"Breaking up Somebody's Home" --- this time, it sort of feels like the "Daytime Hustler". The tone of the album is beginning to shift here too, before we get to the next song which is very dramatic.

"Surabaya Johnny" --- this has to be my favourite song on the whole album, as much as I like "In the Mood" and "Optimistic Voices/Lullaby of Broadway". It's a song by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill from their musical "Happy End". This was the first piece of music by Brecht & Weill that I had ever heard and I love it to pieces. If it were up to me, this would have made more of her compilation albums.

"I Shall Be Released" --- the A side of the album closes out with this version of the 1967 song by Bob Dylan. I first heard it on another Bette album, the live "Divine Madness" from 1980 and that's where I think it's stayed with me the most, but this is still a very good version.

"Optimistic Voices/Lullaby of Broadway" --- it almost goes without saying at this point that both of these songs feel like the new album's answer to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". It is just great. "Optimistic Voices" is the one time Bette covers a song from "The Wizard of Oz" and I have to wonder what her "Over the Rainbow" would be like. "Lullaby of Broadway" I'm imagining was a real treat to hear live, although she would have been singing it with her back-ups unless she'd overdubbed the voices live.

"In the Mood" --- oh my! Between this, the last song, "Surabaya Johnny" and "Higher and Higher", I am very fond of this album. Yes, "In the Mood" is a version of the great jazz song recorded by Glenn Miller and I love what they've done here. It's like the "Boogie Woogie" Andrews Sisters version and they did record this too I believe.

"Uptown/Don't Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby)/Da Doo Run Run" --- next we get a medley, beginning with the Crystals song "Uptown", "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" from the Cookies, closing out with "Da Doo Run Run" from the Crystals again. It feels like a number from one of Bette's live performances. I almost think I'm listening to "Divine Madness" again but I'm not.

"Twisted" --- I need to hear this one again. Sorry, I can't really remember anything about this right now.

"Higher and Higher (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)" --- to me, this was always a song I remembered from Australian singer Jimmy Barnes, who does a mean version as well. Bette's typically is spectacular and what a way to close things out too. Listening to this, I almost wonder if the next album is going to be a "Divine Miss M Part 3" and well, we'll look at that when we get to it.

In the meantime, this brings us to the end of Album #2. There really isn't any special edition out there unfortunately, and until the recent set with five of Bette's albums it was not an album I ever actually saw in the shops, unless it was second hand. And this is a pity. If you've heard "Divine Miss M" and you're curious about this, definitely check it out!

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.