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I’m A Woman      Check Out These Great Sites To Learn More About Miss Peggy Lee The Official Site Of Miss Peggy Lee Peggy Lee Discography & Videography Peggy Lee Audio Samples: Yahoo Audio Search October
12, 2005 Editorial
Reviews 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
"One of the projects we're most excited about, of course, is the upcoming Bette Midler CD. We were beyond pleased when we learned that she and Barry Manilow were putting together this album. My mother and I have heard most of the tracks, and they sound just amazing. Maybe we're biased, but both my mother and I think Bette has never sounded better than she does on this CD (and that's saying something, because we're both big Bette fans). The CD will be part of a "dual disc," so it will come with a short DVD. Both my mother and I make an appearance on the DVD, but the fact that will interest you most is that we've arranged for Sony/Columbia to use some never-before-seen home video footage of my grandmother. We had the honor of spending time with Bette at the DVD shoot, and she couldn't have been lovelier. If I could have scripted what I would want for her to say about my grandmother, it couldn't have been better than what she said on her own. We're really hoping that Bette's CD will help introduce my grandmother's music to a new audience." From Billboard Magazine: August 30, 2005 The Divine Miss M’s new album, “Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook,” will be released Oct. 25 in the United States via Columbia. A track list and other assorted details have not yet been announced. The
“Peggy Lee” album is the follow-up to Midler’s 2003 set “Bette
Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook.” (posted
August 30, 2005) If
this turns out to be wrong, well, I'll have a little egg on
my face! Although egg on the face is an uncomfortable feeling...well,
been there, done that! Alright,
Okay, You Win
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