Jackpot: The Best Of Bette

Bette Midler

Rhino, 2008

http://www.bettemidler.com

REVIEW BY: Michael Ehret

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/19/2009

To quote just one of the many hits that are NOT on this Bette Midler hits collection, “That’s it baby, when you’ve got it, flaunt it! Flaunt it! She’s beautiful, she’s beautiful, she’s beautiful, dammit.” (“I’m Beautiful,” my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Bathhouse Betty, 1998).

And therein is the biggest problem with Jackpot! There’s just not enough room on a single disc collection to justify including a song from her Christmas disc (Cool Yule), a song that wasn’t good enough for a previous project (“Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me”), and four songs from the largely abysmal Beaches soundtrack, only one of which, “Wind Beneath My Wings,” was an actual hit (and to leave off “Under The Boardwalk” from that disc in favor of “Baby Mine”?).

Especially when so many others have been left off: “Chapel of Love,” “Big Noise From Winnetka,” “My Mother’s Eyes,” “Only In Miami,” “Every Road Leads Back To You,” “In My Life,” “To Deserve You,” and nothing from her exquisite second songbook album, Bette Midler Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook.

In Midler’s defense (or is it Rhino’s defense?), she has had several other hits collections over the years, and her later era discs -- after, say, 1993 when her hits collection Experience The Divine was released -- have had fewer and fewer hits.

Midler is a singular talent. She’s the Dolly Parton of pop music -- more brass and batons, more attitude and assets. Of course, she does have actual talent too (as does Parton). But we love Bette not so much because of her singing ability, but because she’s Bette Midler -- she’s beautiful, dammit!

Rating: B-

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2009 Michael Ehret and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Rhino, and is used for informational purposes only.