After the success of singing the song book of Rosemary
Cloony, the Divine Ms. M has chosen to sing the songs of another American
sweetheart, the fabulous Peggy Lee. With Bette's friend and fellow musician
Barry Manilow helping produce and play on the album, that has Bette singing
her heart out on the classic song's 'Fever' and 'Big Spender', this is
differently a must have CD. The DVD Side of the Dual Disc edition includes
behind-the-scenes footage and more! Columbia. 2005. Bette Midler
and musical director Barry Manilow follow their successful tribute to Rosemary
Clooney with a collection of songs immortalized by Peggy Lee. It starts off
with the inevitable "Fever," which Midler does in a brassy, finger-snapping
way that would feel more at home at the Sands c. 1960 than in a dimly lit
1950s boudoir. It's a deliberate, clever choice that works for Midler. The
selection hits predictable bases ("Is That All There Is?", "Big Spender") but
it's hard to argue when those bases are so loaded. Midler actually sounds a
lot more at ease than on the Clooney disc. She handles the upbeat material as
well as could be expected, but she also shines on the slower numbers,
delivering sultry takes on "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe," "I'm a Woman,"
and "He's a Tramp" (a song copenned by Lee, from the Disney movie Lady and the
Tramp). The neglected gem in the collection is Jerome Kern and Oscar
Hammerstein II's "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," popularized by Irene Dunne
in 1937 before being covered by Lee. Manilow's arrangements are deliciously
lush and Midler uses a slight vibrato at carefully chosen moments, somehow
sounding as if she had suddenly been lifted back to the 1940s. It's a real
treat that epitomizes an accomplished album. --Elisabeth Vincentelli