Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook

Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook is an album by the American singer Bette Midler. It was produced by Barry Manilow and marked the first time that Midler had worked with Manilow in more than twenty years. It was also Midler's first album for Columbia Records after nearly 30 years recording for Warner Music Group (being signed at times to both Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records). Columbia Records is owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook
Studio album by
Bette Midler
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2003
RecordedMay 19–23, 2003
Length30:51
LabelColumbia
Producer
Bette Midler chronology
Bette
(2000)		 Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook
(2003)		 Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook
(2005)
Singles from Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook

After the death of singer Rosemary Clooney in the summer of 2002, Manilow claims to have had a dream that he would produce a tribute album and Midler would be the singer on the album. In the liner notes, Midler writes, "When Barry approached me ("I had this dream!") about recording an album of Rosemary's standards, I was excited, but apprehensive. I wanted to be respectful, but I felt we had to find something new to say as well, and in these (mostly) new arrangements...I believe we have."

Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook was Midler's first album with Columbia Records after being dropped by Warner Bros. in 2001 for declining record sales. The album peaked at #14 on The Billboard 200 with 71,000 copies sold in its initial week of release,[1] and been certified Gold by the RIAA. (As of August 2005, the album had sold 721,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan).[2] It was followed up with Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook, which was somewhat less successful.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

AllMusic editor Matt Collar rated the album four stars out of five. He fpund that "Midler's plucky blonde persona and genre-crossing style and Manilow's modern day blend of Mercer and Porter make this album work – most of the time [...] Midler – who can carry a tune on personality alone – sounds elegant and alive here and Manilow's classy orchestral arrangements frame the proceedings with the urbane glow of nostalgia for a time – be it the '50s or the '70s – when a big band, a great song, and blonde with a nice voice were all you needed for a good time."[3]

Track listing
  1. "You'll Never Know" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) – 1:44
  2. "This Ole House" (Stuart Hamblen) – 3:02
  3. "On a Slow Boat to China" (Frank Loesser) – 2:31 – Duet With Barry Manilow
  4. "Hey There" (Richard Adler, Jerry Ross) – 3:30
  5. "Tenderly" (Walter Lloyd Gross, Jack Lawrence) – 3:11
  6. "Come On-a My House" (Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., William Saroyan) – 1:50
  7. "Mambo Italiano" (Bob Merrill) – 2:50
  8. "Sisters" (Irving Berlin) – 2:53 – Duet with Linda Ronstadt
  9. "Memories of You" (Eubie Blake, Andy Razaf) – 3:20
  10. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer) – 2:44
  11. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) – 3:16

Personnel

Charts
Chart performance for Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 28
US Billboard 200[6] 14

Certifications
Certifications for Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Ask Billboard: Betting on Bette". Billboard. October 15, 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  2. "Ask Billboard: First Clooney, Now Lee". Billboard. August 30, 2005. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  3. Allmusic review
  4. Coleman, Marc; Brackett, Nathan (2004). "Bette Midler". In Brackett, Nathan; Christian, Hoard (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 540. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. "Australiancharts.com – Bette Midler – Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. "Bette Midler Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  7. "American album certifications – Bette Midler – Bette Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook". Recording Industry Association of America.



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