"January Grey" from #PhildaRosa @phillydmusic @RadioRaccoon @AaronBorenstein @WMWMSalem 2:03 pm #Saturday #March11 2023 #JoeViglioneMedia #TPSRecords listen here: https://youtu.be/Dd8tc2h2AxE @YouTubeCreators @TuneCore #tunecore @ASCAP @bmi https://www.phildarosa.com/ @Bandcamp #Music
%20_%20Twitter.png)
%20_%20Twitter.png)
Friends was released in 1973. Notice how the 45 RPM was "Adopted" from the Divine Miss M album, that's because one of the takes on Divine Miss M was re-mixed with some new vocals from Bette and is 7 seconds longer on the 45. On May 8, 2003, on my birthday, Buzzy let me interview him for my article on the song for AMG, AllMusic.com. It is now 2023, can you believe it, 50 years of "Friends?" https://www.allmusic.com/song/friends-mt0032141796 the song is on at least 4 Bette Midler albums including "best of" and live.
Atlantic single #2980, "Friends" by Bette Midler, is a different vocal and mix of a magical song which opens and closes side two of the singer's sensational 1972 debut, The Divine Miss M. The first version on the lp is campy with tons of off-the-cuff vocalizing by the soon-to-be superstar. After the first chorus she says touchingly "Standing at the end of the road, Buzz" instead of "boys", a nod to co-songwriter and friend Buzzy Linhart. The second go round on that version she says "Standing at the end of a real long road, Jack." This version is an entirely different take with different musicians save for pianist/rhythm track arranger/co-producer Barry Manilow. It features David Spinozza on guitars, Ron Carter on bass, Ralph MacDonald on percussion with Ray Lucas on drums.
All the vocals are by Bette, and they get quite energetic and wonderfully chaotic.
The single is actually taken from the second version which concludes the album, featuring a new vocal by Miss M. on at least the first half of the 45 rpm where she goes up an octave. It is one of the interesting and cool aspects of the single version. Another important component is arranger, conductor and co-producer Barry Manilow's gorgeous harmony vocals up in the mix(on the album the instrumentation is in front of Barry's voices). It's a stunning production by Ahmet Ertegun, Geoffrey Haslam and Manilow which has a fade nine seconds longer (2:59) than the two minute and fifty-second version that concludes the album. The song hit the Top 40 in November of 1973, the third hit for the singer that year, but it should have been much, much bigger. Barry Manilow covered it on his Bell Records debut, also in 1973, and though Manilow would prove to be an incredible interpreter - how can this be said with respect - his version on Barry Manilow I is absolutely dreadful. Those delicious harmonies he added to the Midler disc are replaced by neo-disco. Just imagine this wonderful tune transformed into some sort of prototype for his 1978 Top 10 hit "Copacabana (At The Copa)". If that combo sounds bad on paper, rest assured the end result is even worse. Barry has 2/3rds of The Harlettes on his version, Gail Kantor and Merle Miller (then girlfriend of co-writer Moogy Klingman ). Laurel Masse is the third backing vocalist on Manilow's version while Melissa Manchester is the original Harlette with Bette and appears on the hit. Steve Gadd plays drums on Barry's rendition, Utopia drummer Kevin Ellman is on the Midler smash while the guitar on both Bette (model 2 and 3) and Barry's is by Dickie Frank with pianos by Sir Barry. https://www.allmusic.com/song/friends-mt0032141796
In an interview with AMG 5/08/03 co-writer Linhart noted that the song still hasn't peaked. He listened to all three versions with this writer and we picked out the nuances three decades after it charted. The song appears for a moment in the smash film Shrek, finds its presence in other movies, was used on the Cher farewell television special in March of 2003 - a version with that diva and Lily Tomlin, but is more than just an extraordinary song about people caring about other people. Linhart notes that it hauntingly became a source of consolation after the AIDS epidemic hit. Bette Midler, after all, found her initial fame in the alternative lifestyle environment of The Continental Baths and the line "I had some friends but they're gone" became a tragic reality. Linhart's original version was released in 1971 with the Ten Wheel Drive rhythm section on his The Time To Live Is Now album, re-recorded for the noted vibraphonist's critically acclaimed 1974 release Pussycats Can Go Far. Various early renditions have been issued on both Klingman and Linhart's respective labels in the 2000's. The songwriters composed the tune relatively quickly, and were invited to a Midler performance when she was interested in it becoming her theme song. Friends indeed is synonymous with The Divine Miss M, opening and closing her beautiful 1977 Live At Last double disc, produced by Lew Hahn, the original engineer and re-mixer from the Divine Miss M sessions. The hit single was tracked at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City and is as timeless a pop tune as could ever be written. That's because like "Happy Birthday", Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" and Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" the song does something so important to gaining classic status - it can move every single human being on the planet, quite simply because - you've got to have friends.
Atlantic single #2980, "Friends" by Bette Midler, is a different vocal and mix of a magical song which opens and closes side two of the singer's sensational 1972 debut, The Divine Miss M. The first version on the lp is campy with tons of off-the-cuff vocalizing by the soon-to-be superstar. After the first chorus she says touchingly "Standing at the end of the road, Buzz" instead of "boys", a nod to co-songwriter and friend Buzzy Linhart. The second go round on that version she says "Standing at the end of a real long road, Jack." This version is an entirely different take with different musicians save for pianist/rhythm track arranger/co-producer Barry Manilow. It features David Spinozza on guitars, Ron Carter on bass, Ralph MacDonald on percussion with Ray Lucas on drums.
All the vocals are by Bette, and they get quite energetic and wonderfully chaotic.
The single is actually taken from the second version which concludes the album, featuring a new vocal by Miss M. on at least the first half of the 45 rpm where she goes up an octave. It is one of the interesting and cool aspects of the single version. Another important component is arranger, conductor and co-producer Barry Manilow's gorgeous harmony vocals up in the mix(on the album the instrumentation is in front of Barry's voices). It's a stunning production by Ahmet Ertegun, Geoffrey Haslam and Manilow which has a fade nine seconds longer (2:59) than the two minute and fifty-second version that concludes the album. The song hit the Top 40 in November of 1973, the third hit for the singer that year, but it should have been much, much bigger. Barry Manilow covered it on his Bell Records debut, also in 1973, and though Manilow would prove to be an incredible interpreter - how can this be said with respect - his version on Barry Manilow I is absolutely dreadful. Those delicious harmonies he added to the Midler disc are replaced by neo-disco. Just imagine this wonderful tune transformed into some sort of prototype for his 1978 Top 10 hit "Copacabana (At The Copa)". If that combo sounds bad on paper, rest assured the end result is even worse. Barry has 2/3rds of The Harlettes on his version, Gail Kantor and Merle Miller (then girlfriend of co-writer Moogy Klingman ). Laurel Masse is the third backing vocalist on Manilow's version while Melissa Manchester is the original Harlette with Bette and appears on the hit. Steve Gadd plays drums on Barry's rendition, Utopia drummer Kevin Ellman is on the Midler smash while the guitar on both Bette (model 2 and 3) and Barry's is by Dickie Frank with pianos by Sir Barry. https://www.allmusic.com/song/friends-mt0032141796
In an interview with AMG 5/08/03 co-writer Linhart noted that the song still hasn't peaked. He listened to all three versions with this writer and we picked out the nuances three decades after it charted. The song appears for a moment in the smash film Shrek, finds its presence in other movies, was used on the Cher farewell television special in March of 2003 - a version with that diva and Lily Tomlin, but is more than just an extraordinary song about people caring about other people. Linhart notes that it hauntingly became a source of consolation after the AIDS epidemic hit. Bette Midler, after all, found her initial fame in the alternative lifestyle environment of The Continental Baths and the line "I had some friends but they're gone" became a tragic reality. Linhart's original version was released in 1971 with the Ten Wheel Drive rhythm section on his The Time To Live Is Now album, re-recorded for the noted vibraphonist's critically acclaimed 1974 release Pussycats Can Go Far. Various early renditions have been issued on both Klingman and Linhart's respective labels in the 2000's. The songwriters composed the tune relatively quickly, and were invited to a Midler performance when she was interested in it becoming her theme song. Friends indeed is synonymous with The Divine Miss M, opening and closing her beautiful 1977 Live At Last double disc, produced by Lew Hahn, the original engineer and re-mixer from the Divine Miss M sessions. The hit single was tracked at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City and is as timeless a pop tune as could ever be written. That's because like "Happy Birthday", Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" and Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" the song does something so important to gaining classic status - it can move every single human being on the planet, quite simply because - you've got to have friends.
The double-LP live album phenomenon was utilized in 1973 on Around the World With Three Dog Night to collect loads of hits and release them in another format. Three years later, Bob Seger's Live Bullet, J. Geils Band's Blow Your Face Out, and Frampton Comes Alive solidified the double disc as a way to bring important rock artists to the forefront. Come 1977, the Rolling Stones' Love You Live failed to live up to their single disc Get Your Ya Ya's Out or any of the brilliant bootleg performances of theirs proliferating. In the middle of all this arrives the very strong in-concert artist, Bette Midler, with her fourth album for Atlantic. This undated (probably 1976) performance from the Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH, does a decent job of capturing the magic of Midler. Having a show stretched across four sides was essential for this performer; the brilliance of her rendition of the Supremes' 1970 hit "Up the Ladder to the Roof" takes it out of the Motown context and brings it to Midler's Andrews Sisters world of girl group devotion. Segueing into a driving "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" answers the question asked in the opening medley of her signature tune, "Friends," with Ringo Starr's "Oh My My," Midler being astonished that anyone would ask the question if she can boogie. Another live LP, Divine Madness, was released only three years after this when she was riding her fame from the film The Rose, and that single disc concentrated on the comedienne's song performances ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" gets reprised there), while 1985's single disc Mud Will Be Flung Tonight gave the fans her funny bits; thankfully with four sides of music and fun, Live at Last is allowed to run the gamut. With an adult contemporary (dare it be said, Vegas-style) act like Bette Midler, the sad thing is that bootlegs and live tapes don't proliferate. It's a shame, as she has lots to offer on every show, and when you think about it, only one double-live disc in a career this rich and this lengthy is unfair to both the artist and her fans. There are some brilliant moments here; along with "Up the Ladder to the Roof," her version of Johnny Mercer's "I'm Drinking Again" is better than the studio take on her self-titled second disc. "Delta Dawn" is wonderful, as are the up-tempo "Do You Wanna Dance" and John Prine's "Hello in There." Midler performs Neil Young's "Birds," tells raunchy jokes so cliché that they depend upon her brilliant delivery, and has her personality captured in audio form splendidly. There's a very interesting "intermission" which features a Tom Dowd studio production of "You're Moving out Today," a tune written by Bruce Roberts, Midler, and Carole Bayer Sager, who simultaneously released a studio version the same year. It was a neat trick sliding it onto this release. Live at Last has lots to offer and has yet to be appreciated as the pure document that it is. Atlantic should be given a thumbs up for giving their performer the chance to artistically breathe here. A similarly misunderstood Top 40 artist from this era was the Guess Who, and it took 30 years for that group's pivotal 1972 Live at the Paramount album to get the full treatment. Luckily for fans of Midler, she -- and they -- were spared the indignity that may have cost the Guess Who serious FM radio time. Classic stuff exists in the grooves of Live at Last. [The label did release a single-disc promo-only version to radio which contained highlights.]
Live at Last Review
by Joe Viglione
[-]The double-LP live album phenomenon was utilized in 1973 on Around the World With Three Dog Night to collect loads of hits and release them in another format. Three years later, Bob Seger's Live Bullet, J. Geils Band's Blow Your Face Out, and Frampton Comes Alive solidified the double disc as a way to bring important rock artists to the forefront. Come 1977, the Rolling Stones' Love You Live failed to live up to their single disc Get Your Ya Ya's Out or any of the brilliant bootleg performances of theirs proliferating. In the middle of all this arrives the very strong in-concert artist, Bette Midler, with her fourth album for Atlantic. This undated (probably 1976) performance from the Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH, does a decent job of capturing the magic of Midler. Having a show stretched across four sides was essential for this performer; the brilliance of her rendition of the Supremes' 1970 hit "Up the Ladder to the Roof" takes it out of the Motown context and brings it to Midler's Andrews Sisters world of girl group devotion. Segueing into a driving "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" answers the question asked in the opening medley of her signature tune, "Friends," with Ringo Starr's "Oh My My," Midler being astonished that anyone would ask the question if she can boogie. Another live LP, Divine Madness, was released only three years after this when she was riding her fame from the film The Rose, and that single disc concentrated on the comedienne's song performances ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" gets reprised there), while 1985's single disc Mud Will Be Flung Tonight gave the fans her funny bits; thankfully with four sides of music and fun, Live at Last is allowed to run the gamut. With an adult contemporary (dare it be said, Vegas-style) act like Bette Midler, the sad thing is that bootlegs and live tapes don't proliferate. It's a shame, as she has lots to offer on every show, and when you think about it, only one double-live disc in a career this rich and this lengthy is unfair to both the artist and her fans. There are some brilliant moments here; along with "Up the Ladder to the Roof," her version of Johnny Mercer's "I'm Drinking Again" is better than the studio take on her self-titled second disc. "Delta Dawn" is wonderful, as are the up-tempo "Do You Wanna Dance" and John Prine's "Hello in There." Midler performs Neil Young's "Birds," tells raunchy jokes so cliché that they depend upon her brilliant delivery, and has her personality captured in audio form splendidly. There's a very interesting "intermission" which features a Tom Dowd studio production of "You're Moving out Today," a tune written by Bruce Roberts, Midler, and Carole Bayer Sager, who simultaneously released a studio version the same year. It was a neat trick sliding it onto this release. Live at Last has lots to offer and has yet to be appreciated as the pure document that it is. Atlantic should be given a thumbs up for giving their performer the chance to artistically breathe here. A similarly misunderstood Top 40 artist from this era was the Guess Who, and it took 30 years for that group's pivotal 1972 Live at the Paramount album to get the full treatment. Luckily for fans of Midler, she -- and they -- were spared the indignity that may have cost the Guess Who serious FM radio time. Classic stuff exists in the grooves of Live at Last. [The label did release a single-disc promo-only version to radio which contained highlights.]
by Joe Viglione
[-]The double-LP live album phenomenon was utilized in 1973 on Around the World With Three Dog Night to collect loads of hits and release them in another format. Three years later, Bob Seger's Live Bullet, J. Geils Band's Blow Your Face Out, and Frampton Comes Alive solidified the double disc as a way to bring important rock artists to the forefront. Come 1977, the Rolling Stones' Love You Live failed to live up to their single disc Get Your Ya Ya's Out or any of the brilliant bootleg performances of theirs proliferating. In the middle of all this arrives the very strong in-concert artist, Bette Midler, with her fourth album for Atlantic. This undated (probably 1976) performance from the Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH, does a decent job of capturing the magic of Midler. Having a show stretched across four sides was essential for this performer; the brilliance of her rendition of the Supremes' 1970 hit "Up the Ladder to the Roof" takes it out of the Motown context and brings it to Midler's Andrews Sisters world of girl group devotion. Segueing into a driving "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" answers the question asked in the opening medley of her signature tune, "Friends," with Ringo Starr's "Oh My My," Midler being astonished that anyone would ask the question if she can boogie. Another live LP, Divine Madness, was released only three years after this when she was riding her fame from the film The Rose, and that single disc concentrated on the comedienne's song performances ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" gets reprised there), while 1985's single disc Mud Will Be Flung Tonight gave the fans her funny bits; thankfully with four sides of music and fun, Live at Last is allowed to run the gamut. With an adult contemporary (dare it be said, Vegas-style) act like Bette Midler, the sad thing is that bootlegs and live tapes don't proliferate. It's a shame, as she has lots to offer on every show, and when you think about it, only one double-live disc in a career this rich and this lengthy is unfair to both the artist and her fans. There are some brilliant moments here; along with "Up the Ladder to the Roof," her version of Johnny Mercer's "I'm Drinking Again" is better than the studio take on her self-titled second disc. "Delta Dawn" is wonderful, as are the up-tempo "Do You Wanna Dance" and John Prine's "Hello in There." Midler performs Neil Young's "Birds," tells raunchy jokes so cliché that they depend upon her brilliant delivery, and has her personality captured in audio form splendidly. There's a very interesting "intermission" which features a Tom Dowd studio production of "You're Moving out Today," a tune written by Bruce Roberts, Midler, and Carole Bayer Sager, who simultaneously released a studio version the same year. It was a neat trick sliding it onto this release. Live at Last has lots to offer and has yet to be appreciated as the pure document that it is. Atlantic should be given a thumbs up for giving their performer the chance to artistically breathe here. A similarly misunderstood Top 40 artist from this era was the Guess Who, and it took 30 years for that group's pivotal 1972 Live at the Paramount album to get the full treatment. Luckily for fans of Midler, she -- and they -- were spared the indignity that may have cost the Guess Who serious FM radio time. Classic stuff exists in the grooves of Live at Last. [The label did release a single-disc promo-only version to radio which contained highlights.]
The double-LP live album phenomenon was utilized in 1973 on Around the World With Three Dog Night to collect loads of hits and release them in another format. Three years later, Bob Seger's Live Bullet, J. Geils Band's Blow Your Face Out, and Frampton Comes Alive solidified the double disc as a way to bring important rock artists to the forefront. Come 1977, the Rolling Stones' Love You Live failed to live up to their single disc Get Your Ya Ya's Out or any of the brilliant bootleg performances of theirs proliferating. In the middle of all this arrives the very strong in-concert artist, Bette Midler, with her fourth album for Atlantic. This undated (probably 1976) performance from the Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH, does a decent job of capturing the magic of Midler. Having a show stretched across four sides was essential for this performer; the brilliance of her rendition of the Supremes' 1970 hit "Up the Ladder to the Roof" takes it out of the Motown context and brings it to Midler's Andrews Sisters world of girl group devotion. Segueing into a driving "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" answers the question asked in the opening medley of her signature tune, "Friends," with Ringo Starr's "Oh My My," Midler being astonished that anyone would ask the question if she can boogie. Another live LP, Divine Madness, was released only three years after this when she was riding her fame from the film The Rose, and that single disc concentrated on the comedienne's song performances ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" gets reprised there), while 1985's single disc Mud Will Be Flung Tonight gave the fans her funny bits; thankfully with four sides of music and fun, Live at Last is allowed to run the gamut. With an adult contemporary (dare it be said, Vegas-style) act like Bette Midler, the sad thing is that bootlegs and live tapes don't proliferate. It's a shame, as she has lots to offer on every show, and when you think about it, only one double-live disc in a career this rich and this lengthy is unfair to both the artist and her fans. There are some brilliant moments here; along with "Up the Ladder to the Roof," her version of Johnny Mercer's "I'm Drinking Again" is better than the studio take on her self-titled second disc. "Delta Dawn" is wonderful, as are the up-tempo "Do You Wanna Dance" and John Prine's "Hello in There." Midler performs Neil Young's "Birds," tells raunchy jokes so cliché that they depend upon her brilliant delivery, and has her personality captured in audio form splendidly. There's a very interesting "intermission" which features a Tom Dowd studio production of "You're Moving out Today," a tune written by Bruce Roberts, Midler, and Carole Bayer Sager, who simultaneously released a studio version the same year. It was a neat trick sliding it onto this release. Live at Last has lots to offer and has yet to be appreciated as the pure document that it is. Atlantic should be given a thumbs up for giving their performer the chance to artistically breathe here. A similarly misunderstood Top 40 artist from this era was the Guess Who, and it took 30 years for that group's pivotal 1972 Live at the Paramount album to get the full treatment. Luckily for fans of Midler, she -- and they -- were spared the indignity that may have cost the Guess Who serious FM radio time. Classic stuff exists in the grooves of Live at Last. [The label did release a single-disc promo-only version to radio which contained highlights.]
User Reviews
Track Listing - Disc 1
| Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bette Midler | 00:18 | ||||
| 2 | Bette Midler | 02:28 | ||||
| 3 | Bette Midler | 03:15 | ||||
| 4 | Bette Midler | 04:39 | ||||
| 5 | Bette Midler | 02:38 | ||||
| 6 | Bette Midler | 02:09 | ||||
| 7 | Bette Midler | 02:07 | ||||
| 8 | Bette Midler | 04:55 | ||||
| 9 | Bette Midler | 13:37 | ||||
| 10 | Bette Midler | 03:06 |
Track Listing - Disc 2
| Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bette Midler | 06:23 | ||||
| 2 | Bette Midler | 04:37 | ||||
| 3 | Bette Midler | 02:42 | ||||
| 4 | Bette Midler | 14:02 | ||||
| 5 | Bette Midler | 02:37 | ||||
| 6 | Bette Midler | 03:25 | ||||
| 7 | Bette Midler |
No comments:
Post a Comment