Jackpot - The Best Bette ( Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track)

Bette Midler | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: WEA
• ASIN: B00139B394
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,468 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon exclusive features one bonus track, 'One True Friend'. Spanning 1972 to the present, this best of collection has been remastered to sound better than ever.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT A Greatest Hits , and Too Many Ballads, November 1, 2008

By 

gassy goon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackpot - The Best Bette ( Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track) (Audio CD)

If this is THE BEST BETTE, you should hear some of the great songs they left off this CD. This CD is basically a companion souvenir for her new Vegas extravaganza. It contains some of the songs she does in the show, and the artwork, which is great, ties into the Vegas motif. The sound IS great, it's really quite elevated from all the other Bette CD's. Out of 19 songs, only 9 are her greatest hits. You do get the single versions of THE ROSE and BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY. The biggest plus is the unissued song SOMETHING YOUR HEART HAS BEEN TELLING ME. Bette co-wrote this mid-tempo percussive song in 1984 that is a keeper. But besides the hit singles and the one unreleased track, picking 10 album cuts for a best of brings this compilation down in every sense of hearing Bette Midler. It's saddled with ballads and Bette's foray into 50's easy listening slow songs. It has 3 songs from BEACHES [ her biggest album ], which are all old nostagia type songs. The other songs are even more ballads from the Rosemary Clooney album, and the one upbeat song they included is a Christmas song - COOL YULE! Maybe they should have pulled a track off her comedy album, MUD WILL BE FLUNG TONIGHT! With 19 Billboard chart hits, they included only 9 of them. And you wouldn't know much from Bette's multi-faceted catalog of rock, blues & contemporay pop songs listening to what they chose to represent " The Best of Bette " on this CD. It's a snoozer listening to all the many adult contemporary ballads and standards on this collection. They are sequenced one after another on here. The only real rocker is BEAST OF BURDEN, and that comes quickly as Track 3. The choices that made in the album tracks they put on this CD makes me wonder " they actually put that on a Best of Bette CD "? . Really, BABY MINE - a throwaway song from the BEACHES soundtrack is actually one of her best ? This CD is mostly toned down , politically correct middle of the road schmaltz that does not represent her energy & fire. A Bette concert is not toned down or politically correct, but many of the selections here fall into the snooze-fest realm . Listen to 2 of Bette's all time classics THE DIVINE MISS M and BETTE MIDLER to fully capture the range of material Bette once did. Her LIVE AT LAST double live album from 1976 will also open up your ears with it's high intensity performance & wit. There are no songs from her early albums on here , except for the hits & the much anthologized ballad HELLO IN THERE. This CD has too much adult contemporary , old-fashioned ballads, neglecting the variety of Bette's wide ranging catalog that they could have culled songs from for this CD. It also would have been a big incentive to have recorded the new opening theme to her Las Vegas spectacular to include as a new song on this album.

After hearing this, I pulled out many of the other Midler CD's, and heard how many great songs they could have included for a more balanced , diversified collection. One day, a box set should be done. Bette's had a career spanning nearly 40 years. Maybe then, we will hear all the live concert songs she did , like PINK CADILLAC, for instance, or the THEME FROM JINXED [ never released ], and the non-album singles like YOU'RE MOVING OUT TODAY. I was more content making my own Bette Midler best of than hearing what they chose for this. Buy the EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE CD, which is more of a greatest hits CD [ which has now been deleted ] if you want a more rewarding listening experience of a single CD of Bette Midler's best.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A missed opportunity but still good...., September 24, 2008

By 

Mr. K "Webmaster of the 'Discovering Doris' w... (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackpot - The Best Bette ( Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track) (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviewer this is a lovely collection and there are many wonderful songs that feature on it but Bette has done so much in her career and it could have gone a little further to truly fly the flag as THE BEST BETTE.

The biggest glaring oversight for me is the DANCE MIX of Bette's massive US club hit TO DESERVE YOU. Why did they have to overlook this gem as anyone who comes across it usually is dead impressed. In fact Bette had a series of American hits on the club scene that could have easily been added to this CD which go further to show her diversity as a singer.

We love you Bette but Rhino/Warner you could have done better (this is coming from a guy who compiles collections for record labels as a living).

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rhino's impressive new anthology surveys Bette Midler's entire thirty five year recording career., September 23, 2008

By 

Paul Tognetti "The real world is so much more... (Cranston, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackpot - The Best Bette ( Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track) (Audio CD)

Since bursting onto the American entertainment scene in early 1973 Bette Midler has quite literally done it all. She spent three years on the Broadway stage in "Fiddler On The Roof" and has appeared in numerous films including
"Down And Out In Beverly Hills", "Ruthless People" and "Beaches" to name but a few. And of course Bette was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the 1979 box office smash "The Rose". After winning the 1973 Grammy Award as "Best New Artist" Bette Midler would go on to have a highly successful recording career as well. Over the past three and a half decades she has sold millions upon millions of records and has become an American icon. Her previous greatest hits package "Experience The Divine" was released by Atlantic way back in 1993. Since that time Bette Midler has changed labels a couple of times and has recorded a number of highly successful albums. Now in 2008, Rhino Records has seen fit to release a comprehensive single disc anthology that spans her entire career. "Jackpot: The Best Bette" features 20 of Bette Midler's biggest hits and finest recordings including a bonus track exclusive to amazon.com buyers. This disc was originally scheduled for release back in February to coincide with the opening of Bette's current two year gig in Las Vegas called "Bette Milder: The Showgirl Must Go On ". Clearly this is one of the most anticipated releases of the year!

Although I can fully appreciate Bette's impressive body of work some of my favorite Midler recordings happen to be among her earliest. In 1973 I was absolutely captivated by her remarkable vocal performance on the Top Ten hit remake of the Andrews Sisters classic "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Later that year "Friends" hit the charts and although it was not a huge hit this bouncy tune remains one of my personal favorites. Both are included in this collection. As her career progressed Bette Midler would record more and more ballads. In 1980 Atlantic released "The Rose" from the motion picture of the same name. This was Bette's biggest hit to this point and the single vaulted all the way to #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart. Throughout her career Bette Midler also enjoyed putting her own stamp on tunes made famous by other artists. You can sample several of these on "Jackpot: The Best Bette" including "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)", "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "Beast of Burden". I suspect you will enjoy them all. In 2003 Columbia records issued the marvelous "Bette Midler Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook" album. I think this was one of Bette's finest albums ever. You will find a pair of tunes from that disc including "This Ole House" and "Tenderly" included here. This is great stuff folks! And of course no Bette Midler collection would be complete without her two biggest singles of all time. Enjoy once again Bette's haunting vocals on her only #1 hit "Wind Beneath My Wings" and of course "From A Distance" from the fall of 1990! Both have become timeless classics.

Now for those of you who already own "Experience The Devine" grabbing a copy of "Jackpot: The Best Bette" might not be necessary. That 14 track 1993 collection is wonderful in its own right! But if you do not yet own a Bette Midler collection then this compilation is definitely the ticket. You will quickly discover that Bette Midler is one of those rare vocalists who can sing just about anything. The sound quality on the disc is impeccable and the cover art is stunning! Indeed, a Bette Midler collection is essential to any serious collection of American popular music. Very highly recommended!