Customer Reviews

Sings The Rosemary Clooney Son

5 star:		(111)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

Bette Midler once known as being the most outlandish entertainer in Pop music (the original Lady Gaga of the mid 1970s) returns to a new label with a product styled to seduce fans of traditional pop music.

On this CD, Midler showcases the timeless material from the pop catalogue of legendary female vocalist - Rosemary Clooney (Clooney being one of the top female vocalists during the 1950s and the aunt of actor George Clooney).

Midler along with her former "bathouse" musical mate, Barry Manilow, produce a solid collection of songs that still stand the test of time.

Bette remains a daring yet gentle vocalist who refuses to stoop to annoying vocal acrobatics as a vehicle for delivering lyrical emotion to her audience.
Bette musical/vocal approach is mature and restraint yet she remains an outlandish live personality on stage.

The bulk of the material on this CD is refreshing yet whimsical in nature.

Fans of Rosemary Clooney will be pleased with the end result while Bette Midler fans will not be disappointed with her musical effort and welcome her return to vocally tackling traditional pop music.

Manilow and Midler wisely produced this collection of songs and they paid homage to the artistic integrity that once enabled Ella Fitzgerald to produce several successful tribute recordings.

This is truly a solid effort from a long standing recording artist that was once regarded as being a camp vocalist who sang The Andrew Sisters "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

This collection of song will validate that just as in the case with fine wine; Bette Midler has matured and become a master at her craft as time goes by!

Bette is almost perfect on this cd. Almost. It's enjoyable. I just wish I could sense her passion a little more. But it was close to Divine, oh so close. Good buy though.

It is very hard to listen to a collection of songs like this without comparing them with the original. And though Bette Midler has a decent voice, she just doesn't compare with Rosemary Clooney, some of whose greatest hits she sings in this collection. She certainly can't compare with Rosemary on the "dialect" hits like "Come On-a My House" and "Mambo Italiano," which are definitely far below Rosie's versions. She does somewhat better on most of the other tracks, of which I think the best is "Sisters," with Linda Ronstadt doing the Betty Clooney part. Most of these I'd consider OK if I didn't constantly have to keep comparing them with Rosie's originals.

The clearest example of the effect of comparing her performance with the original is that I think the absolute best track on the CD is "Memories of You." And that is obviously because it's the only one of all the songs in the collection that I can't compare with Rosie's version. I assume that she must have recorded it -- otherwise it wouldn't be in this collection. But if I've ever heard a Rosemary Clooney version of "Memories of You" I have no recollection of it. So all I have to compare it with is the Four Coins' version. And though the Four Coins' version of the song is a great one, and I love it, I don't try to compare female soloists with male groups. So in this case, Bette's version stands on its own. And, as I think I'm making clear, it's a nice version. But I don't know how Rosie did it.

One other comment. Her version of "This Old House" doesn't seem to be inspired by Rosemary Clooney's as much as the other songs in the collection. It is probably closer to the country-music original than Rosie's is. (Never having HEARD the country-music original, I don't know for sure). But I really STILL prefer Rosie's.

I think my advice would be: Listen to this, I suppose, once to see whether you like it. But then go and get the ORIGINALS and see how much better they are!

If you're a fan of Rosie and Bette like me, then you've simply got to have this CD. You won't stop laughing 'cause it's so damn good. And Christ does it ever SWING! Barry & Bette: Thank You Both for this tribute to Rosie.

I bought a cd re-issue of Rosie's 'Love' at the same time as this, so am completely refreshed on that Clooney style. Sure the tracks here (too few, too short) come out of the 'Girl Singer's' repertoire, but don't expect any homage to be paid to the Clooney treatment of a lyric, this is pure Midler (and Manilow) and strays dangerously close to that bathhouse at times. Nothing much wrong with Bette's pipes you'll understand, but why the trade on memories. The real thing is still very much available.

This CD is great, I just got it home and listened to the whole thing and I'm listening to it again. Bette does a great job of singing Clooney's music. Especially like "Sisters" with Linda Ronstadt.

This is a wonderful tribute album to Rosemary Clooney. Bette Midler and Barry Manilow did a very tasteful job in the arrangements of the songs, not taking away or adding too much, just keeping it simple. Plus Bette gets a chance to be camp which is always fun for her and her fans. The best track easily is "Sisters", a duet with Linda Ronstadt. They sound marvlous together! She brings more nuanced performances to clasics like "You'll Never Know", "This Ole House", and "In The Cool, Cool, Cool, Of The Evening". She sounds great with Barry Manilow on "On A Slow Boat To China" and "Come On-A My House". The album is short, but sweet. A great listen!

I was disappointed when I first listened to "White Christmas" because it didn't sound like Rosemary Clooney. (Oops, of course not, she's dead) But when I figured out it is Bette Midler singing the Rosemary Clooney SONGBOOK, I was bowled over. I love Bette's great interpretation of these wonderful songs from the 40's. Her duet with Linda Rondstat (whatever happened to her?) in "Sisters" is great. And I walk around singing, "On a Slow Boat to China". It is a fantastic re-introduction to some of the best "oldies" done by a "goodie"

How dare Bette Midler even attempt to put herself in the same category as the great Rosemary Clooney!
This album continues to demonstrate Midler's inabilty to incorporate emotion in her performances. This material should evoke emotion in any performer, but Midler carries on the tradition of Barbra Steisand of being all "pipes."
Do yourself a favor and buy ANY Rosemary Clooney CD before buying this Junk!

I am not a big fan of tribute or remake collections, but this one really gets it right. Bette's lovely ballad voice adds to the already magical music of Rosemary Clooney, in a mostly straight forward, yet entertaining fashion. I find myself listening to 'In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening' several times a day! The only complaint is the rather skimpy number of tracks on the CD (only 11), but it's pure listening pleasure.