Customer Reviews

Jackpot - The Best Bette ( Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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).

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!

This 20-track collection is the second "Best of Bette" collection & is a good overview of Bette's career. Early hits like "Do You Want to Dance?," "In the Mood," & her signature song "Friends" are balanced with newer recordings like "Cool Yule," which went to #1 on my personal top ten last Christmas. Always, fans will have favorites songs like "In These Shoes," "Shining Star" or "Mambo Italiano" that were not included. However, this volume is well-engineered. The booklet is informative. Several tracks from films are included like the Carole King-David Foster-Carole Bayer Sager tune "My One True Friend" & "Baby Mine" from "Beaches." The previously unreleased demo from 1984, "Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me," is a delightful track co-penned by Bette, "Last night I heard you calling, I heard you calling out a name I did not know." Two tracks shine here in replay, the Rolling Stones' "Beast of Burden" pops out of the speakers with some burning electric lead guitar; and the Temptations' #1 hit "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" shimmers delightfully. "Jackpot!" is an excellent overview from this consummate actress-singer. Bravo!

I initially wasn't going to buy this CD due to the fact that I have most of these songs already, but I am so glad I did. Every song is impeccably remastered and sounds fantastic. Rhino is keeping up their good reputation.

A nice selection, but hardly Bette Midler's finest performances. Really a mix of her best known songs such as 'the Rose' mixed with some lesser known pieces which arguably don't suit her voice as well. Good to complete your Bette collection, but not if you just want her best performances so only 4 out of 5.

I have always loved the way Bette sings and the feeling, passion and dedication that she provides in all of her performances wheather in the big screen as in her albums. She is one of a kind and no one can ever match that unique style of loving what she does....the art of giving. Her talent has been a gift to all of us that love true art and the finest when it comes to talent. Way to go Bette....I wish I could some day meet her....Minnie from Pembroke Pines, Florida.

I love Bette Midler but I feel that this wasn't one of her best recordings.
Just mostly a rehash of some of her old songs. She has done so many great songs and recordings that they left off this CD. I admit I was a bit disappointed.

I was just a little disappointed in this CD - while I knew I was going to get a selection of her past works, I thought they might have been recorded recently rather than the original tracks they seemed to be. It's nice to have this selection of Bette's work all in one place, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. That being said, it is a great sample of the work that she's done and a testament to her career.

Bette Midler has had a 3 decade career and is still going strong. It is very sad that a multiple disc greatest hits collection has not yet been released. It is well deserved and well earned. Also, Bette Midler is very eclectic and has performed many different styles of music over the years. She started out as a bawdy, big mouthed broad with a voice to die for. She was original and unique. Her strong personality matched her strong talent. She then did THE ROSE and won an Oscar while delivering diva rock and roll. Amazing. Then she added some schmaltzy hit ballads undfer her belt like WIND BENEATH MY WINGS. She did a rare thing though and would have recordings with these ballads but the entire album would still work for she never stopped being inventive and being Bette.

This collection does the difficult task of taking songs from her entire career and making a cohesive sounding set. The songs aren't in chronological order but they all mix perfectly for they truly are some of Bette Midler's best performances and the quality and vocal prowess she has always had unites everything. We have the amazing tracks from her early career - FRIENDS, BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY and IN THE MOOD to name a few. BEAST OF BURDEN and JUST MY IMAGINATION flow effortlessly together and they are from different decades of her career. The tracks from THE ROSE - WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN and THE ROSE are standouts of the entire collection. And the ballads WIND BENEATH MY WINGS and FROM A DISTANCE work here and are not over the top. Even the Christmas COOL YULE is in place with its jazzy approach. It fits in fine.

Again, Bette Midler deserves a larger hits collection but we will have to settle for this one for the time being. This one does work and manages to represent her whole career. Enough to probably make you want to buy each cd that the songs are from. Bette Midler is a legend and a rarity. She can sing a novelty number or a heartfelt ballad with the same emotive delivery. This collection is a must have.