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Album Review: Bette Midler, "Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook" (Columbia)
If Bette Midler 's intention with this album was to redirect listeners back to Peggy Lee 's catalog, then the Divine Miss M certainly succeeded. I couldn't wait to turn Midler off and turn Lee on after listening to this mediocre tribute album.
For better or worse, Midler seems to be working on a series here with producer Barry "Copacabana" Manilow. The duo tackled the works of Rosemary Clooney in 2003 with, often, strained results. And their luck isn't much better here.
Midler goes for the obvious choice by kicking off the album with "Fever," a number that has been delivered by countless other artists with greater success. The vocalist mails in this classic, never managing to even raise the temperature in the room one degree. She follows with a rendition of "Alright, Okay, You Win" that's all right, maybe even OK, but hardly winning.
In general, Midler--get ready for a big shock here--clowns it up too much on this album. Her campy version of "Big Spender" sounds like it was taped at a late-night burlesque show in Vegas. The worst culprit in that regard is the Divine Miss M's less-than-divine take on "I Love Being Here With You," which is performed as duet with Manilow.
