''Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook'' is a studio album by American singer

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

. Produced by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include " Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Can ...

, it serves as a follow-up to their

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated '' Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook'' (2003). Released in 2005, the

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

tribute was Midler's first album produced in the

DualDisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including MJJ Productions Inc., EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group an ...

format, although the DVD features were limited to a few short video clips; the initial release was affected by

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technology.

Promotion

The album spawned the single "Fever," a cover version of the 1956

Little Willie John William Edward "Little Willie" John (November 15, 1937 – May 26, 1968) was an American R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his successes on the record charts, with songs such as " All Around the World" (1 ...

record which was covered by

and whose 1958 rendition became the most widely known version of "Fever" and the singer's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

. A remix of the song, produced by L.E.X, reached number 4 on the US ''Billboard''

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart in 2006.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor John Bush rated the album three and a half stars out of five and called it "a talented, affectionate record that may not add much to the cause but is a solid tribute ..Midler's studied boredom in the verses is good enough, but when she reaches the uninhibited chorus, she reveals a marvel of catlike glee. The arrangements, most of them by Manilow, are very good, although they reveal a close knowledge of the originals that contributes to the reverence on display." John Anson, writing for '' The Lancashire Telegraph'' found that "it's all too easy to forget that as well as a comedian and actress, Miss M is a great blues and big band singer. This collection of songs originally sung by Peggy Lee gives her a chance to remind us of her vocal talents."

Chart performance

''Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook'' debuted and peaked at number ten on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 55,000 copies in its first week of release. This marked Midler's highest-charting album on the chart since ''

Some People's Lives ''Some People's Lives'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released by Atlantic Records on September 4, 1990 in the United States. It contains one of her biggest hits, " From a Distance," which won songwriter Julie ...

'' went to number six in 1991. By October 2006, it had sold 263,000 in the United States.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

, co-produced by David Benson.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Bette Midler albums Columbia Records albums Tribute albums