''Songs for the New Depression'' is the third studio album by the American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Bette Midler, released in early 1976 on the Atlantic Records label. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1990. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

in 1995. A limited edition remastered version of the album was released by Friday Music in 2014.

Production and reception

The album which saw her making her debut as a composer ("Mr. Rockefeller" and the French language "Samedi et Vendredi"), as well as co-producer and sound engineer features contributions from musicians as diverse as soul singer Luther Vandross,

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

and Brazilian jazz accordionist

Sivuca Severino Dias de Oliveira (May 26, 1930 – December 14, 2006), known professionally as Sivuca, was a Brazilian accordionist, guitarist and singer. In addition to his home state of Paraíba, Brazil, and cities Recife and Rio de Janeiro, he worke ...

. ''Songs for the New Depression'' includes Midler's version of

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

' "Shiver Me Timbers", a duet with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, "Buckets of Rain", and opens with her discofied take on Frank Sinatra's standard "Strangers in the Night" which became a #7 hit on the US dance charts. Two of the tracks, "Old Cape Cod" and "Marahuana", were originally recorded during the sessions for 1972 debut album ''

The Divine Miss M ''The Divine Miss M'' is the debut studio album by American singer and actress Bette Midler, released in 1972 on the Atlantic Records label. The title of the album refers to Midler's famous stage persona. The album was co-produced by Barry Man ...

'' but remixed three years later by producers Lew Hahn and

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for o ...

for ''Songs for the New Depression''. The album peaked at #27 on the '' Billboard'' album chart. "Mr. Rockefeller" was sampled by rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

on the song, "Last Call", from his debut album, ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received pr ...

''.

Track listing

Side A

Strangers in the Night "Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie ''A Man Could Get ...

" (

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the mus ...

, Charles Singleton,

Eddie Snyder Edward Abraham Snyder (February 22, 1919 – March 10, 2011) was an American composer and songwriter. Snyder is credited with co-writing the English language lyrics and music for Frank Sinatra's 1966 hit, " Strangers in the Night". Snyder was bo ...

) - 3:22 #"I Don't Want the Night to End" (

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...

) - 3:53 #"Mr. Rockefeller" (Jerry Blatt, Bette Midler) - 4:05 #"

Old Cape Cod "Old Cape Cod" is a song written by Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus and Allan Jeffrey that was published in 1957. The single, as recorded by Patti Page, became a gold record, having sold more than a million copies. Hailed by Cape Cod natives as the " ...

" (Claire Rothrock, Allan Jeffrey,

Milton Yakus Milton Yakus (December 25, 1917 – November 6, 1980) was an American songwriter of popular music. He was married to Martha Yakus, and was the father of recording engineer Shelly Yakus, born in 1945HARTMAN, KENT "Goodnight L.A.: The Rise an ...

) - 2:50 #" Buckets of Rain" (

), *Bette Midler - 4:00 #"Love Says It's Waiting" (Nick Holmes) - 1:41 #*From ''The Promise Suite''

Side B

#" Shiver Me Timbers"/"Samedi et Vendredi" (

, Midler, Moogy Klingman) - 6:25 #"No Jestering" ( Carlton Malcolm) - 3:59 #"Tragedy" (Gerald Nelson, Fred Burch) - 3:06 #" Marahuana" ( Arthur Jonston,

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

) - 2:30 #"Let Me Just Follow Behind" (Klingman) - 3:36

Personnel

*Bette Midler – lead vocals (all tracks),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

tracks B1-2 *Glaswegians Orchestra –

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

and

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

(track A1) *Dianne Sumler – backing vocals (track A1) * Luther Vandross – arranger and backing vocals (track A1) *Norman Pride – conga (track A2) *John Siegler –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(tracks A2-3, 5, B2, 5) *John Wilcox – drums (tracks A2-3, 5, B2, 5) *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(tracks A2, B2), backing vocals (track B5) * Moogy Klingman – electric piano,

musical arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, o ...

, musical conductor, string arrangement (track A2),

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, RMI Computer keyboard, Mini

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, th ...

synthesizer, arranger and conductor (track A3), piano, harmonica and arranger (track A5) *

Ralph Schuckett Ralph Schuckett (March 2, 1948 – April 4, 2021) was an American keyboardist, composer and songwriter known as one of the founding members of Todd Rundgren's band Utopia. He composed for film and television, including Pokémon, Sonic X, and A ...

–

acoustic piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and string arrangement (track A2), clavinet (track A3), arranging assistance, arranger and conductor (track B1), piano, organ, arranger and conductor (track B2), piano (track B3), Sound City piano, electric piano, organ, harmonium, string ensemble, arranger and conductor (track B5) *

David Lasley David Eldon Lasley (August 20, 1947 – December 9, 2021) was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including ...

– backing vocals (track A2) *

David Spinozza David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album '' Walkin ...

– guitar (tracks A3, B5) *Erin Dickins – backing vocals (tracks A3, B3) *Annie Sutton – backing vocals (track A3) *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

–

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

(track A3),

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

solo (track B5) *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– horns (track A3) *Barry Rogers – horns (track A3) * Dick Hyman – piano (tracks A4, B4) *Milt Hinton –

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

(track A4), bass guitar (track B4) *Teddy Sommer – drums (tracks A4, B4),

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(track B4) *

– arranger and conductor (track A4), backing vocals, arranger and conductor (track B4) *Marty Nelson – vocal arranger (track A4) *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(track A5) *Dave Webster – slide guitar (track A5) *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in " Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliv ...

– banjo and mandolin (track B1) *Barbara Burton – percussion (track B1) *

Don Brooks Don Frank Brooks (8 March 1947, in Dallas, Texas – 25 October 2000, in Manhattan, New York) was an American blues harmonica performing artist. Career Brooks was a full-time harmonica player with Waylon Jennings and was a prolific session musici ...

– harmonica (track B1) *Dominic Cortese – accordion (track B1) *Boris Matusewitch –

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

(track B1) *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

– drums (track B1) *John Miller – acoustic bass (track B1) *

Kenny Kosek Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed ...

– fiddle (track B1) * John Lissauer – arranger and conductor (track B1), saxes,

chimes Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

, arranger and conductor (track B3) *Mark Rosengarden – drums and percussion (track B1) *Jack Malken – additional percussion (track B1) *

– accordion (track B1) *Jerry Friedman – guitar (track B2) *Angel Allende – percussion (track B2) *

David Nadien David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noise ...

– strings (track B3) *Barry Finclair – strings (track B3) *Raul Poliakin – strings (track B3) *Tony Posk – strings (track B3) *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the ...

– strings (track B3) * Harry Lookofsky – strings (track B3) *Charles McCracken – strings (track B3) *Jessy Levy – strings (track B3) *Donny Beard – backing vocals (track B3) * Charlotte Crossley – backing vocals (tracks A1, B3) *Leata Galloway – backing vocals (track B3) *Ben Harney – backing vocals (track B3) * Rhetta Hughes – backing vocals (track B3) *Thomas Moore – backing vocals (track B3) *Ula Hedwig – backing vocals (tracks A1, B3) * Sharon Redd – backing vocals (tracks A1, B3) *Ramona Stubblefield – backing vocals (track B3) *Clifford Townsend – backing vocals (track B3) *Revelation – backing vocals (track B3) *Rosie – backing vocals (track B3) *Mel Davis –

(track B4) *William Siapin – flute (track B4) *Harry Lookofsky –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

(track B4) *Matthew Raimondi – violin (track B4) *Emanuel Green – violin (track B4) *Gotham – backing vocals (track B4) *

Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", was ...

– pedal steel guitar (track B5)

Production

*Moogy Klingman –

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

for Moogtown Productions *Jack Malken – production assistant, recording and remix engineer, engineer (track A5) *Bette Midler – assistant engineer, producer (tracks A4, B4) *Deborah Turbville –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

* Michaele Vollbracht – shopping bag *Kenn Duncan – poster photos *Richard Amsel – inner sleeve illustration *Aaron Russo –

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

*Lew Hahn – recording engineer and remix engineer (track A1) *Gerry Block – assistant engineer (track A1) *Dave Wittman – assistant engineer (track A1) *

–

(track A1) *

Ahmet Ertegün Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

– production assistance (track A1) *Joel Dorn – producer (tracks A4, B4) *Jan Rathbun – engineer (track A5) *Recorded and mixed at Secret Sound Studio, New York, N.Y. *Track A1 recorded at Electric Lady and Mediasound Studios, New York, N.Y. *Tracks A4 and B4 recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York by Lew Hahn, remixed by Lew Hahn and Arif Mardin

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1976 albums Bette Midler albums Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun Albums produced by Joel Dorn Atlantic Records albums