Bette Midler is the eponymous second studio album by American female vocalist Bette Midler

Bette Midler

Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

, released in 1973 on the Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 label.

The album, produced by Arif Mardin and Barry Manilow, includes Midler's interpretations of Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

 and Hoagy Carmichael

Hoagy Carmichael

Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...

's "Skylark", Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill

Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...

's "Surabaya Johnny", Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

's "I Shall Be Released" and Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller

Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...

's "In the Mood

In the Mood

"In the Mood" is a big band era #1 hit recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. Joe Garland and Andy Razaf arranged "In the Mood" in 1937-1939 using a previously existing main theme composed by Glenn Miller before the start of the 1930s...

" as well as a Phil Spector

Phil Spector

Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

 medley.

Bette Midler reached #6 on the US albums chart and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the RIAA.

The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD by Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

/Warner Music in 1995 but with no bonus tracks.

Side A

1. "Skylark
   Skylark (song)
   "Skylark" is an American popular song with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Hoagy Carmichael, published in 1941. Mercer said that he struggled for a year after he got the music from Carmichael before he could get the lyrics right....
   
   " (Hoagy Carmichael
   Hoagy Carmichael
   Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
   
   , Johnny Mercer
   Johnny Mercer
   John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
   
   ) - 3:02
2. "Drinking Again
   Drinking Again
   "Drinking Again" is a 1962 torch song, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Doris Tauber. The song has been recorded by Frank Sinatra , Dinah Washington , Aretha Franklin and Bette Midler , among others.The song was recorded by The Jeff Beck Group in 1968 "Drinking Again" is a 1962 torch...
   
   " (Johnny Mercer, Doris Tauber) - 2:48
3. "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" (Al Jackson Jr., Timothy Matthews) - 3:49
4. "Surabaya Johnny
   Happy End (musical)
   Happy End is a surrealistic three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances...
   
   " (Bertolt Brecht
   Bertolt Brecht
   Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
   
   , Herbert Hartig, Kurt Weill
   Kurt Weill
   Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
   
   ) - 4:54
5. "I Shall Be Released
   I Shall Be Released
   "I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
   
   " (Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
   
   ) - 4:56

Side B

1. "Optimistic Voices
   Optimistic Voices
   "Optimistic Voices" is the name of both a song and the choir singing it, from the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz. The music is by Herbert Stothart & Harold Arlen and the lyrics are by E.Y. Harburg....
   
   "/"Lullaby of Broadway
   Lullaby of Broadway (song)
   "Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The song was introduced by Wini Shaw in the musical film, Gold Diggers of 1935, and, in an unusual move, it was used as background music in a sequence in the Bette Davis film...
   
   " (Arlen, Al Dubin
   Al Dubin
   Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
   
   , Feist, E.Y. Harburg, Herbert Stothart
   Herbert Stothart
   Herbert Stothart was a song writer, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning Best Original Score for The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:...
   
   , Harry Warren
   Harry Warren
   Harry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
   
   ) - 2:27
2. "In the Mood
   In the Mood
   "In the Mood" is a big band era #1 hit recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. Joe Garland and Andy Razaf arranged "In the Mood" in 1937-1939 using a previously existing main theme composed by Glenn Miller before the start of the 1930s...
   
   " (Joe Garland
   Joe Garland
   Joseph Copeland "Joe" Garland was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger, best known for writing "In the Mood"....
   
   , Andy Razaf) - 2:39
3. "Uptown"/"Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)
   Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)
   "Don't Say Nothin' Bad " is a 1963 song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King for the girl group The Cookies. It was the group's most successful single and their only one to reach the top ten on the U.S. Pop charts....
   
   "/"Da Doo Ron Ron
   Da Doo Ron Ron
   "Da Doo Ron Ron" is a 1963 hit single by The Crystals, produced by Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound style. The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector. The drummer was Hal Blaine....
   
   " (Jeff Barry
   Jeff Barry
   Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
   
   , Gerry Goffin
   Gerry Goffin
   Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
   
   , Ellie Greenwich
   Ellie Greenwich
   Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
   
   , Carole King
   Carole King
   Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
   
   , Mann, Mother Bertha, Phil Spector
   Phil Spector
   Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
   
   , Weil) - 3:23
4. "Twisted" (Wardell Gray
   Wardell Gray
   Wardell Gray was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods.Today often overlooked, Gray's playing displays a unique style, an unmatched tone and a strong presence.-Early years:...
   
   , Annie Ross
   Annie Ross
   Annie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
   
   ) - 2:25
5. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
   (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
   " Higher and Higher" is a hit R&B song originally performed by Jackie Wilson in 1967. The song was notably recorded by Rita Coolidge in 1977.-Overview:...
   
   " (Chevis, Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, Carl Smith) - 4:06

Personnel

• Bette Midler - lead vocals
• Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , percussion, backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  , musical arranger, musical conductor
• Ken Ascher - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Pat Rebillot - keyboards
• Don Grolnick
  Don Grolnick
  Don Grolnick was an American jazz and pop pianist and composer, most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Billy Cobham, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Bob Mintzer, Dave Holland and Steely Dan...
  
   - keyboards
• David Spinozza
  David Spinozza
  David Spinozza is an American musician , who worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album Walking Man....
  
   - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s
• Cornell Dupree
  Cornell Dupree
  Cornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3...
  
   - guitars
• Frank Vento - guitars
• Hugh McCracken
  Hugh McCracken
  Hugh McCracken is a rhythm guitar player and session musician, arranger and producer based in New York.Especially in demand in the 60s, 70s and 80s, he appears on many recordings by Steely Dan, as well as albums by Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B...
  
   - guitars
• Stu Woods - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  s
• Chuck Rainey
  Chuck Rainey
  Chuck Rainey, is an American bass guitar session musician, known for playing with many well-known American musicians and acts, including Donald Byrd, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones, and Aretha Franklin.-Biography:Rainey's youthful pursuits included violin, piano and trumpet...
  
   - bass guitar
• Bill Salter - bass guitar
• Milt Hinton - bass guitar
• Will Lee
  Will Lee
  Will Lee was an American actor best known for playing the store proprietor Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street, from the show's debut in 1969 until his death in 1982.-Early career:...
  
   - bass guitar
• Rick Marotta
  Rick Marotta
  Rick Marotta is a US-based drummer and percussionist who appears on many recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Stevie Nicks, Wynonna, Roy Orbison, Todd Rundgren, Roberta Flack, Peter Frampton, Quincy...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Grady Tate
  Grady Tate
  Grady Tate, , is a hard bop and soul-jazz drummer and singer.He has played with Lional Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lena Horne, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count...
  
   - drums
• Bernard Purdie
  Bernard Purdie
  Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...
  
   - drums
• Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
  
   - drums
• Luther Rix - drums, percussion
• Ralph MacDonald
  Ralph MacDonald
  Ralph MacDonald is an American percussionist and song-writer. He joined Harry Belafonte's band at age 17. He wrote the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song "Where is the Love" with songwriting partner William Salter. Probably his best-known composition is the Grover Washington, Jr...
  
   - percussion
• Arif Mardin
  Arif Mardin
  Arif Mardin 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...
  
   - percussion
• Kenneth Bichel - synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  s
• Gene Orloff - concert master
• Gale Kantor - background vocals
• Merle Miller - background vocals
• Sylvia Shemwell - background vocals
• Myrna Smith - background vocals
• Tasha Thomas - background vocals
• Shirley Brewer - background vocals
• Ann S. Clark - background vocals
• Sharon Redd
  Sharon Redd
  Sharon Redd was an American singer from New York. She was the half sister of R&B singer Pennye Ford.-Biography and career:...
  
    - background vocals
• Robin Grean - background vocals
• Charlotte Crossley - background vocals

Production

• Arif Mardin
  Arif Mardin
  Arif Mardin 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...
  
   - producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
  
   - producer
• Gene Paul - recording engineer
• Lew Hahn - recording engineer
• Jimmy Douglas - recording engineer for additional recordings
• Robbert Warner - recording engineer for additional recordings
• Elliot Sheiner - recording engineer for additional recordings
• Buzz Richmond - recording engineer for additional recordings
• Scott Schreckengosf - recording engineer for additional recordings
• George Piros - mastering
• Dennis King - mastering
• Richard Amsel - cover art
  Cover art
  Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
  
  
• Lee Gurst - backliner photo
• Loring Eutemey - album design
• Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y.
• Additional recordings at A & R Studios, New York, N.Y.; Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y. & Kaye / Smith Studios, Seattle, Washington
• Re-mixed by: Lew Hahn & Arif Mardin