Jackpot: The Best Bette

Performer: Bette Midler
Producer: Don Was; Geogre Haslam; Joel Dorn; Ahmet Ertegun; Marc Shaiman; Paul A. Rothchild; Robert Kraft; Arif Mardin; Barry Manilow; Barry Mason
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Liner Note Author: Jay Landers . Arranger: Barry Manilow. JACKPOT: THE BEST BETTE covers the entirety of Bette Midler's career, starting with her iconic self-titled 1972 debut. All of Midler's biggest hits are here, from "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Beast of Burden" to the enormous ballad smashes "Wind Beneath My Wings," "The Rose," and "From A Distance." However, the 20 tracks also include less widely known fan favorites like Midler's sensitve reading of John Prine's "Hello In There" and a lullaby-like reading of "Baby Mine," originally from Walt Disney's DUMBO. Rarities include the swinging Christmas tune "Cool Yule" and a stark demo of "Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me." As the first Bette Midler compilation since 1993's Experience the Divine, Rhino's 2008 Jackpot: The Best Bette is a bit of a long time coming, but as Midler's time as a Top 40 hitmaker essentially ended around 1993 -- while she had a few hits in the years that followed, none of them beg enough to warrant inclusion here -- there wasn't necessarily a great call for a new collection of her hits. The strange thing is, Experience the Divine was the first U.S. compilation of Midler's career, and it was skewed ever so slightly to her big adult contemporary hits from the late '80s and early '90s, downplaying her career-making vaudeville of the '70s. Jackpot strikes a bit of a better balance between all eras of her career, including the years since 1993, winding up as a better overall portrait of Midler's recordings. Not all of her hits are here but all the big ones are, from "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" to "Wind Beneath My Wings," rounded out by some sharp selections from albums ranging from 1972's The Divine Miss M to 2003's Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook. As this covers a lot of ground -- including "Cool Yule" -- it doesn't quite gel as well as it seems like it should, but the showy, often campy eclecticism winds up being a fitting testament to Midler's career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dirty Linen (p.66) - "A soulful take on the Temptations' 'Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),' a scorching, electric-guitar-driven, version of the Rolling Stones' 'Beast of Burden,' and a heartfelt rendition of Julie Gold's 'From a Distance' show Midler's flexibility."

Honolulu-born Bette Midler's flamboyant stage persona, born in the 1970s (though she had been singing professionally in the 1960s), is what makes people take notice, but the self-proclaimed Divine Miss M is more than a singing comedienne. In addition to being a skilled TV and film actress, she's also a canny interpreter of pop and novelty songs in a multitude of genres, some ranging back as far as the Jazz Age. She's tackled everything from the Rolling Stones' "Beast of Burden" to an album's worth of Rosemary Clooney-associated tunes with equal aplomb, and has made a splash on the silver screen many times (THE ROSE, SCENES FROM A MALL, BEACHES, and numerous others).

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