Bette Midler - "A Gift Of Love"

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Bette Midler will release a new studio album titled “It’s The Girls” on November 4th in the United States and November 17th in the United Kingdom. The album is composed of songs made famous by girl groups over the past 70 years. All of the songs that are featured on the record were produced by Marc Shaiman and Scott M. Riesett.

Speaking about the album, her first new studio release in eight years, Bette tells Billboard: “I have loved the sound of females harmonizing since I was a kid; I always sang along. Didn’t we all? I think the idea that you could become part of the group was the thing that endeared me to the girl groups. You weren’t just singing along, you were THERE!”

“It’s The Girls” finds The Divine Miss M covering TLC’s “Waterfalls,” The Boswell Sisters’ “It’s The Girl,” Martha & The Vandellas’ “Come And Get These Memories”, and more. “They say behind every great man, there’s a great woman,” Bette says on her official website. “Well I think that behind every great woman, there should be at least two other women singing and dancing in perfect unison.
I hope “It’s The Girls” gives you the impulse to dig deeper into the music and the lives of the women who made it. You won’t regret a moment.”

Track List:

01 / BE MY BABY
Originally performed by The Ronettes

02 / ONE FINE DAY
Originally performed by The Chiffons

03 / BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN
Originally performed by The Andrews Sisters
All Vocals by Bette Midler

04 / BABY IT’S YOU
Originally performed by The Shirelles
All Vocals by Bette Midler

05 / TELL HIM
Originally performed by The Exciters

06 / HE’S SURE THE BOY I LOVE (duet with Darlene Love)
Originally performed by The Crystals

07 / MR. SANDMAN
Originally performed by The Chordettes

08 / COME AND GET THESE MEMORIES
Originally performed by Martha & The Vandellas

09 / TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA
Originally performed by The Marvelettes

10 / TEACH ME TONIGHT
Originally performed by The DeCastro Sisters

11 / WATERFALLS
Originally performed by TLC

12 / YOU CAN’T HURRY LOVE
Originally performed by The Supremes

13 / GIVE HIM A GREAT BIG KISS
Originally performed by The Shangri-Las

14 / WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW
Originally performed by The Shirelles

15 / IT’S THE GIRL
Originally performed by The Boswell Sisters
All Vocals by Bette Midler

BONUS TRACKS:
16: “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game”
17: “(Talk To Me of) Mendocino”

Source

[Caviar]

Dying to hear "Come Get These Memories".

[HolidayGuy]

"Waterfalls" is a great track for a more modern selection.

Bring it, Bette.

[esoteric76]

Sept 24, 2014 9:09:41 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Waterfalls" is a great track for a more modern selection.

Bring it, Bette.

Please Bette, please do Left Eye's part!

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Sept 24, 2014 10:50:40 GMT -5 esoteric76 said:

Sept 24, 2014 9:09:41 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Waterfalls" is a great track for a more modern selection.

Bring it, Bette.

Please Bette, please do Left Eye's part!

I am super curious about "Waterfalls" too as it's such an unexpected choice for a concept album of this nature.

The previously underground hit "I'm Beautiful Dammit!" was a such a random choice for her to cover on her Bathhouse Betty album but it ended up being really great and over the top.

[Nick]

Hey Kurt can you please lock my thread? Sorry I did not see this last night. It didn't come up in the search.

pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/143375/bette-midler-girls-november-2014

[marcjm]

This is exciting! I am looking forward to this release. It has been too long since she has released a CD. I wonder how she will handle TLC's Waterfalls.

[davidmusiclover]

Please email them, it only takes 2 minutes and if we all do it we can make it happen.

[SHOOTER]

Projected to debut with 23-26k.

Post-SoundScan:

Bette of Roses peaked at #6 (670k to date).

Bathhouse Betty debuted at #32 (496k to date).

Bette debuted at #69 with 20k (233k to date).

Rosemary Clooney Songbook debuted at #14 with 71k (730k to date).

Peggy Lee Songbook debuted at #10 with 55k (274k to date).

[HolidayGuy]

Performed "Waterfalls" on The Tonight Show:

www.zap2it.com/blogs/tonight_show_bette_midler_tlc_waterfalls_jimmy_fallon_video-2014-11

[SHOOTER]

Nov 5, 2014 14:46:25 GMT -5 SHOOTER said:

Projected to debut with 23-26k.

The late night circuit gave her a nice boost per HITS:

-- 3 BETTE MIDLER ATLANTIC 39,216 --
IT'S THE GIRLS

[marcjm]

Can this go Gold?

[toomuchboy]

I saw the "Waterfalls" performance on Fallon a week or so ago. I don't think that song is suited as a ballad, but I do like her so I'll probably pick this up at some point.

[Luckie Starchild]

She looks great but… hmmm… I'm not crazy about the vocals on this album… is it just me? (Sorry to be negative!)

[George]

Divine Intervention Tour Dates:
bettemidler.com/



Recent Concert Reviews:

Bette Midler intervenes at Toyota Center

By Joey Guerra | May 18, 2015 | Updated: May 19, 2015 12:52am

Something happens when Bette Midler sings a ballad.

The legendary singer was near the end of her set, dubbed Divine Intervention, Monday night at Toyota Center. She had cracked jokes. Many of them. She had zipped through a campy reading of "I Put a Spell on You" as "Hocus Pocus" character Winifred, complete with fright teeth and orange wig. She had dished out bawdy Sophie Tucker jokes and laid to rest wheelchair-bound mermaid Delores Delago with a video memorial.

But when Midler, resplendent in a red sequin gown, tore into soul classic "Stay With Me," it hit the audience with hurricane force. She followed with a heartfelt "Wind Beneath My Wings," and it was difficult to find a dry eye.

Her slowed-down take on TLC's "Waterfalls" was an aching, transcendent moment. The R&B group performed in the same venue Saturday night.

The crux of Midler's magic is her ability to switch instantly from heartfelt sentiment to uproarious humor and back again. No one does it quite like her.

"The people's goddess is here tonight, she quipped early in the show. "Ready to lift your spirits like a boob job for the soul."

Songs were punctuated by a rapid succession of one-liners, from self-deprecating to scathing.

"I'm like vodka: ageless, odorless and tasteless," she joked.

"I've got to stay on my toes. I know how Houston likes to put one over on L.A." (Go Rockets!)

Midler, 69, took the stage in a sparkling pink dress that cut above her knee and showed off still-gorgeous gams. She was backed by her Staggering Harlettes, a lively trio of singers. "Do You Want to Dance," her first hit in 1973, was a lovely highlight. She dedicated a healthy segment to last year's "It's the Girls!" album, running through girl-group classics "Tell Him," "Da Do Ron Ron" and "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön."

The diva railed against social media, the waning popularity of cleavage ("Butts have kicked boobs to the curb!") and the Kardashians.

"I could have been a billionaire at 30. I too have had some very steamy episodes," she declared before introducing a series of doctored photos of her in bed with Vladimir Putin, Chris Christie, Dick Cheney and the New England Patriots' Tom Brady.

"I was the first one to suggest he deflate his balls."

Without skipping a beat, Midler launched into emotive versions of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" and Randy Newman's "I Think it's Going to Rain Today."

She slipped into that sequin gown for "Beast of Burden" and jokingly hobbled through "Miss Otis Regrets" before leading the crowd through ballads "The Rose" and "From a Distance." Heads and hands swayed with every lyric. The rousing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" finale was followed by what seemed like genuine shock at the adulation – and, of course, a final quip.

"Follow me on Twitter. I can't believe I said those horrible words."

Bette Midler's Divine Intervention in New Orleans sparkled, even sans Delores
May 17, 2015 at 12:32 PM, updated May 18, 2015 at 11:22 AM



At the midpoint of Bette Midler's two-hour, immensely entertaining Divine Intervention show at New Orleans' Smoothie King Center on Saturday (May 16), she disappeared for a costume change. The time was filled by a slow-motion, Oscars-style memorial video montage of Delores Delago, Midler's brassy mermaid alter-ego. Delores, it seems, is dead.

It was probably time for her to go. Delores' Broadway parodies, a staple of Midler concerts for years, were labor-intensive. During a 2004 tour, Delores and her flapping fishtail were confined to a wheelchair. Clearly age was catching up with her, if not Midler.

By retiring the zany Delores, the 69-year-old Midler may be acknowledging that, on paper at least, she's getting older. If so, that was the only such acknowledgement.

Was she occasionally breathless after an extended bout of singing and dancing across a broad stage, in heels? Understandably, yes. Did she, here and there, trip herself up and take a moment to hit upon the right word in a rushed bout of banter? Sure. Were some passages sung in a lower register than back in the day? Absolutely.

But did she carry the full weight of a meticulously assembled, multi-platform presentation, showcasing her still formidable, broad-spectrum talents with her usual medley of class and sass? Absolutely.

At the show's outset, she was revealed sitting amidst the wreckage left by a purple twister, calming reading a copy of The Times-Picayune. Impeccable in a short sparkling pink dress / nightie, she and her three Harlettes stepped out smartly. Behind them, a crisp band featuring a pair of electric guitarists and five horn players, all in purple suits with red shirts, punched up and finessed songs.

Following an invigorated opening, she caught her breath with Rosemary Clooney's lounge-y "Tenderly." With the Harlettes in pink fringe, they hustled through a set drawn from her 2014 album of girl-group songs, "It's the Girls!": "Tell Him," " He's Sure the Boy I Love," "Da Do Ron Ron." She gave shout-outs to the Dixie Cups, whose "Chapel of Love" she covered on her first album, and the Boswell Sisters, the pioneering 1930s New Orleans vocal trio whose "It's the Girl" gave her current album its title.

As Bette Midler fans waited to enter the New Orleans Smoothie King Center on Saturday (May 16), they discussed the style and sass of divine diva. For a review of the show, read Keith Spera’s ‘Bette Midler's Divine Intervention in New Orleans sparkled, even sans Delores’ on NOLA.com.

When I asked Midler during a pre-tour interview if she would sing "It's the Girl" in New Orleans, she lamented that she likely wouldn't have time to rehearse the difficult arrangement. But she did acknowledge the omission onstage by jokingly asking her musical director for the Boswell chart, only to be told the band didn't have it. "I'm so humiliated," she said in mock exasperation. "A pick-up band – what do you expect?"

She was here, she proclaimed, to "lift your spirits, like a boob job for your soul." She compared herself to vodka: "Ageless, odorless and tasteless."

She wasn't kidding. During an extended Vegas-style showpiece built around "Two in the Bush" – set up, bizarrely, by a tap-dancing egg -- Midler wore red and black plumes while the Harlettes pranced in yellow feathers. They sashayed back and forth as Midler, as Sophie Tucker, reeled off off-color jokes about her fictional beau Ernie as if auditioning for the Friars' Club. A mild example: "Soph, how many men have you slept with?" "Only you – the others, I stayed awake." Ask someone who was there about why Soph wanted to fire the chauffeur. Or about her Chihuahua. Or sitting on the cat.

She noted that the Kardashian empire was essentially built on Kim's long-ago sex tape, and lamented her own short-sightedness in not videotaping herself: "I could have been a billionaire at 30." Screens then displayed faux-iPhone pictures of Midler with in bed with the likes of Dick Cheney ("I was responsible for heart attacks three and six"), New Jersey governor Chris Christie ("the last time we were supposed to hook up, the bridge was closed"), and, perhaps inevitably, Bruce Jenner: "We watched 'Beaches' and painted each others' toenails."

Old-school entertainment values aside – She sings! She dances! She tells off-color jokes! She's all real! -- she is not stuck in the past. She is fluent in social media trends, even if not necessarily a fan: "Remember when people were afraid if they were being followed?" She stumbled while stepping off a keyboard riser, then expressed relief at not falling. "I could see myself in a gif," she said, referring to the online video snippets that endlessly repeated tumbles by "Lady Gaga and Lady Madonna."

She ribbed her aging audience, pointing out the "50 shades of gray" in the seats and expressing surprise that so many of her fans can still drive at night. (Not all of them, apparently – curtains hid the arena's unsold upper seats.)

Most of her jokes and banter are the same at every show, but she customizes comments for her host cities. "You still have clubs, you still have neighborhoods," she gushed of New Orleans. "You don't know what it's like out there (in the rest of America). It's a wasteland." She noted that twerking originated in New Orleans. "It's all your fault."

She even pitched herself as the perfect Carnival participant. "I should be grand marshal of one of those g---- Mardi Gras parades. Call me up." (Hello, Orpheus? Endymion? Bacchus?)

A night after TLC performed "Waterfalls" in the Smoothie King Center as the New Kids on the Block's opening act, Midler delivered her own spare, downtrodden arrangement, which laid bare the ache at the heart of the lyrics. Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" was also suitably dour. Randy Newman's "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today" was an especially good fit.

In a theatrical turn, she emerged in full costume, complete with red wig and faux teeth, as Winifred, her witch character from 1993's "Hocus Pocus," to reprise "I Put a Spell On You." Following the Delores farewell, Midler returned in a fabulous red sequined dress with the Rolling Stones' "Beast of Burden." She introduced Nanci Griffith's "From a Distance," with its refrain of "God is watching us," as an anti-war song. Lorraine Ellison's 1966 soul hit "Stay With Me," which Midler memorably covered in the film "The Rose," gave her far more to dig into. She tore it up.

She made frequent use of tissues to dab her eyes, which didn't seem like showbiz dramatics. She last performed in New Orleans in the fall of 2004, so this was her first opportunity to acknowledge the city's Hurricane Katrina recovery with "Wind Beneath My Wings." More tissues followed.

"The Rose" remains her show-stopping moment. "Everybody loves to sing along," she cautioned. "Please don't. There's only room for one diva." She is still that diva. A singer, in sequins, alone in the spotlight, she nailed a radiant "Rose." No fishtails were necessary.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Bette Midler to Release ‘A Gift Of Love’ December 4
Friday, November 13 2015

Bette Midler has been singing her way into people’s hearts since her debut album, The Divine Miss M (1972), became a platinum-seller and helped the singer win her first Grammy® Award. Since then, she has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and earned the distinction as only the second female singer to score a Top 10 album in five consecutive decades.

Throughout her career, Midler has demonstrated a remarkable musical range, but many of her signature hits have focused on matters of the heart. That’s why Rhino will bring together 18 of her best love songs for a new collection A GIFT OF LOVE, available on December 4 on CD and digitally.

After Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertugun discovered Midler in 1972, the irrepressible singer with the unmistakable voice went on to enjoy an amazing career that continues to this day. This new collection includes highlights from albums she recorded for both Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. between 1976 and 2014.

The earliest recording on the new album is “Let Me Just Follow Behind,” which Midler recorded for her third album, Songs for the New Depression (1976). The most recent tracks – “(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino” and “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” – come from the sessions for Midler’s smash tribute to female trios It’s the Girls.

This new collection spotlights a number of incredibly poignant tracks, like her cover of Marshall Crenshaw’s “My Favorite Waste Of Time” from No Frills (1983); “Every Road Leads Back To You” from the soundtrack to her film For the Boys (1991); “Shining Star” from Bette (2000); plus five tracks from her platinum release Bette of Roses (1995), including “It’s Too Late” and “As Dreams Go By.”

A GIFT OF LOVE would not be complete without three of Midler’s biggest hits: “The Rose” from the 1979 film of the same name in which Midler starred; the #1 Grammy-winning smash “Wind Beneath My Wings” from another Midler film, Beaches; and “From A Distance,” from her double-platinum album Some People’s Lives (1990).

A GIFT OF LOVE Track Listing:

“Favorite Waste Of Time”
“In This Life”
“The Gift Of Love”
“Bed Of Roses”
“From A Distance”
“Wind Beneath My Wings”
“Come Rain Or Come Shine”
“The Rose”
“As Dreams Go By”
“It’s Too Late”
“All I Need To Know”
“Every Road Leads Back To You”
“Shining Star”
“To Deserve You”
“Night And Day”
“(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino”
“The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”
“Let Me Just Follow Behind” V

[Deleted]

http://instagram.com/p/CGli5cFggU4

http://instagram.com/p/CGgF6D3gGwv

[George]

Happy Birthday Bette!

I was gonna watch a movie of hers tonight in honor, but saw that her Vegas show filmed by HBO is available on YouTube!

Also, it’s officially time to bring this album back out:

[blahsi]

Dec 1, 2020 1:35:09 GMT -5 George said:

Happy Birthday Bette!

I was gonna watch a movie of hers tonight in honor, but saw that her Vegas show filmed by HBO is available on YouTube!

Also, it’s officially time to bring this album back out:

I was surprised to find a new version was uploaded to Spotify that includes I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Was a pleasant surprise and fits well with the rest of the album.

[George]

Thanks blahsi, I never knew she recorded this!