Bette Midler -

Bette Midler (born Dec. 1, 1945) is an American singer and actress from Honolulu who rose to prominence on New York’s cabaret scene during the early 1970s. After starring in several Broadway productions (Salvation, Fiddler On the Roof, Tommy), she launched her singing career at the Continental Baths. Between 1972 and 1995, she released 10 studio albums, four soundtracks, and a live double-album on Atlantic.

As an actress, Midler played the role of Mary Rose Foster in the 1979 musical drama The Rose, loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin. During the 1980s, she starred in the screwball comedies Ruthless People, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and Outrageous Fortune.

Her biggest hits as a recording artist include “The Rose” (from the namesake motion picture), “Beat of Burden” (a Rolling Stones cover), and “Wind Beneath My Wings,” a Billboard No. 1 from the soundtrack to her 1988 comedy-drama Beaches.

Background

Bette Midler was born to a Jewish family in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents, housepainter Fred Midler and seamstress Ruth (née Schindel), both hailed from New Jersey. Bette was named after actress Bette Davis, but used a monosyllabic pronunciation of her forename (leaving the second “e” silent, unlike Davis).

Midler attended Radford High School in Honolulu, where she was voted “most talkative” (junior year) and “most dramatic” (senior year, class of 1963). She enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she majored in drama but left after three semesters.

Early Activity

In the summer of 1965, Midler played an extra in the epic drama film Hawaii, released in 1966 and starring Julie Andrews and Richard Harris. Midler used her earnings from that role to fund her move to New York City.

In Manhattan, she studied theatre under German actress Uta Hagen. Within months, she landed a part in two off-Broadway plays by Tom Eyen, Miss Nefertiti Regrets and Cinderella Revisited. From 1966 to 1969, Midler played the role of Tzeitel in a Broadway production of Fiddler On the Roof. In 1969, she joined the original cast of the musical Salvation alongside (future Rocky Horror Picture Show) actor Barry Bostwick.

In 1970, Midler started singing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the Ansonia Hotel at 2109 Broadway. She befriended another up-and-comer, singer and composer Barry Manilow, who she hired as her pianist and musical director. He accompanied her at the Continental, where she built her initial audience and earned the nickname Bathhouse Betty.

In 1971, Midler starred in the first theatrical production of the rock opera Tommy, based on the 1969 concept album by The Who. It was directed by Richard Pearlman with the Seattle Opera. During this run, she made her first of many appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

The Divine Miss M

Bette Midler released her debut album, The Divine Miss M, on November 7, 1972, on Atlantic.

The album contains nine covers, including songs popularized by Bobby Freeman (“Do You Want to Dance?”), The Carpenters (“Superstar”), The Dixie Cups (“Chapel of Love”), The Shangri-La’s (“Leader of the Pack”), and The Andrew Sisters (“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”). Barry Manilow plays backup amid multiple sessionists, including guitarist David Spinozza. Gail Kantor, Melissa Manchester, Merle Miller, and Michael Federal provide additional backing vocals.

The Divine Miss M moves in bold, theatrical swings between bawdy sendups and raw torch performances. “Do You Want to Dance?” opens with a slow, lingering buildup before surging into full-band uplift, balancing brass punctuation with a rising vocal crest. “Superstar” stays pinned to a slow, descending piano pattern while the voice cracks and stretches across each line with increasing pressure. “Delta Dawn” pivots between brittle verses and a rising wail, its slow pacing giving room for pauses to feel deliberate, even bitter.

“Hello in There” lowers the volume—bare piano, suspended chords, soft vocal release—each detail stretched into quiet devastation. In contrast, “Chapel of Love” and “Leader of the Pack” run hot and clipped, layering stacked harmonies over rigid rhythmic pacing. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” lands in tight formation—jittery rhythm, rapid-fire vocals, close three-part harmony breaks. Even the closing version of “Friends” compresses joy and pathos into a brief, compact frame, suggesting levity under pressure. Nothing rests flat—each track bursts, aches, or smirks with exaggerated contour.

A1. “Do You Want to Dance?” (2:56) – originated as a 1958 hit by Bobby Freeman; covered in the 1960s by Cliff Richard and the Beach Boys before Midler’s 1972 revival, which peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A2. “Chapel of Love” (2:52) – originated as a 1964 No. 1 hit by The Dixie Cups, written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector.
A3. “Superstar” (5:09) – first appeared in 1969 as “Groupie (Superstar)” by Delaney & Bonnie; Midler’s version preceded the Carpenters’ 1971 hit cover.
A4. “Daytime Hustler” (3:29) – Jeff Kent, later known for his work with soul-rock artist Karen Dalton and others in the NYC underground.
A5. “Am I Blue” (5:21) – originated as a 1929 standard introduced by Ethel Waters in On With the Show and covered across eras, including a 1957 version by Eddie Cochran.

B1. “Friends” (2:49) – was written by Mark Klingman and Buzzy Linhart; Midler’s version became her theme song and signature stage closer.
B2. “Hello In There” (4:15) – originated as a 1971 ballad by John Prine, who wrote it about aging and loneliness from a caretaker’s perspective.
B3. “Leader of the Pack” (3:41) – was a 1964 No. 1 hit for The Shangri-Las; Midler’s version accelerates through each verse, ending in chaotic speed.
B4. “Delta Dawn” (5:16) – written by country guitarist Larry Collins and singer Alex Harvey (not the SAHB frontman), first recorded by Midler in 1972 before the song became a breakout hit for Tanya Tucker and later Helen Reddy.
B5. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (2:26) – originated as a 1941 WWII anthem by The Andrews Sisters; Midler’s revival reached the US Top 10 in 1973.

Sessions occurred between late 1971 and mid-1972 at Atlantic Studios with producers Ahmet Ertegün, Barry Manilow, Joel Dorn, and Geoffrey Haslam. Atlantic staffer Gene Paul engineered The Divine Miss M in sequence with titles by Aretha Franklin, Danny O’Keefe, Hall & Oates, and Roberta Flack.

The Divine Miss M displays a cover painting by Richard Amsel, whose artwork also graces film posters for The Champ, Chinatown, Julia, The Last Picture Show, The Last Tycoon, Papillon, and The Sting.

Atlantic lifted “Do You Want To Dance?” as the first single (b/w “Superstar”), followed in April 1973 by “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (b/w “Delta Dawn”) and in September 1973 by “Friends” (b/w “Chapel of Love”).

The Divine Miss M reached No. 9 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 5 in Canada.

Bette Midler

Bette Midler released her self-titled second album on November 16, 1973, on Atlantic.

The album features her interpretation of ten pop, jazz, and soul covers, including two medleys.

Bette Midler features twenty-plus backing musicians, including guitarists Cornell Dupree and Hugh McCracken, bassists Chuck Rainey and Will Lee, keyboardists Don Grolnick and Pat Rebillot, and drummers Bernard Purdie, Rick Morotta, and Steven Gadd. Manilow contributes backing vocals along with Sharon Redd and Tasha Thomas.

Bette Midler opens in low register with “Skylark,” where piano rolls in behind a sustained vocal line that arcs slowly upward before tapering into near silence. “Drinking Again” follows the same tension, but with sharper piano phrasing and longer breaks between lines, holding back on flourish in favor of space and phrasing. “Surabaya Johnny” builds from whisper to near howl across a three-minute crescendo, anchored by a slow piano climb and static rhythm. “I Shall Be Released” layers sparse organ behind a restrained vocal that never fully opens, holding the tone in soft ache until the last chorus.

On “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home,” the rhythm tightens into clipped hits under staggered phrasing and gritted sustain. The “Uptown / Da Doo Ron Ron” medley throws a tempo shift, paced faster but with looser control, landing more like a rehearsal than a punch. “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” closes the set with upward momentum, the phrasing more vertical than linear, driven by a low piano cycle and fixed drum pacing that never fully explodes but keeps steady motion. Much of the album rests between restraint and suggestion, with the energy pulled back into controlled builds and flattened climaxes.

A1. “Skylark” (3:02) – written in 1941 by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, who penned the lyrics after his affair with Judy Garland; the song became a standard with countless jazz interpretations.
A2. “Drinking Again” (2:46) – written by Doris Tauber and Johnny Mercer in 1962 and recorded by Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra before Midler’s version.
A3. “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (3:47) – originated as a 1971 Ann Peebles album track and became a blues staple through Albert King’s version, later covered by Etta James and Bob Seger.
A4. “Surabaya Johnny” (4:52) – originated in the 1929 Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht musical Happy End; Midler’s version draws from the Lotta Lenya performance tradition
A5. “I Shall Be Released” (4:55) – written and first recorded by Bob Dylan with The Band during the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions and later issued on The Bootleg Series Vol. 1–3.

B1. “Optimistic Voices; Lullaby of Broadway” (2:26) – combines The Wizard of Oz’s transitional theme with the 1935 Harry Warren–Al Dubin Broadway standard celebrating nightlife and sleepless energy.
B2. “In The Mood” (2:37) – originated as a big band instrumental recorded in 1938 by Edgar Hayes and made famous by Glenn Miller in 1939; its melody stems from Wingy Manone’s “Tar Paper Stomp.”
B3. “Uptown; Da Doo Run Run” (3:22) – blends the Crystals’ early 1960s hits: “Uptown,” a Mann–Weil composition from their 1962 Twist Uptown LP, and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” their 1963 Top 5 hit written by Barry, Greenwich, and Spector.
B4. “Twisted” (2:23) – is a 1952 vocalese classic by Annie Ross, set to Wardell Gray’s 1949 saxophone solo; Joni Mitchell also famously covered the song in 1974 on Court and Spark.
B5. “Higher And Higher (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)” (4:08) – originated as a 1967 Jackie Wilson hit produced by Carl Davis and became a soul standard across decades of reinterpretation.

Sessions occurred in November 1973 at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y., with producers Arif Mardin and Barry Manilow. Gene Paul and Lew Hahn engineered Bette Midler amid work on 1973/74 albums by Paul Simon and Billy Joel.

Bette Midler displays another illustration of the singer by Richard Amsel, who despicts her as a vintage monochrome ink sketch with flaming red hair. The backside shows her pink-lit on a dark stage in a snug satin dress.

Atlantic lifted “In The Mood” as the first single (b/w “Drinking Again”). Bette Midler reached No. 6 on the US Billboard 200, No. 3 in Canada, and No. 14 in Australia.

Songs for the New Depression

Bette Midler released her third album, Songs for the New Depression, on January 8, 1976, on Atlantic.

The album blends theatrical cabaret arrangements with orchestrated soul, early disco, and stylized jazz-pop settings. It marks Midler’s debut as both a songwriter and producer, with arrangements shaped by collaborators like keyboardist Ralph Schuckett and multi-instrumentalist Moogy Klingman, whose electric piano and Mini-Korg textures interplay with contributions from guitarist Todd Rundgren, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and accordionist Sivuca.

Two tracks, “Old Cape Cod” and “Marahuana,” stem from the 1972 Divine Miss M sessions but were remixed in 1975 by Mardin and Lew Hahn. Klingman arranged three tracks and contributed original material alongside Midler, including the French-language “Samedi et Vendredi.” Bob Dylan duets with Midler on his own “Buckets of Rain,” while Tom Waits’ “Shiver Me Timbers” opens the medley.

A1. “Strangers in the Night” (3:22) – originated as “Beddy Bye,” an instrumental by Bert Kaempfert for the 1966 film A Man Could Get Killed; Frank Sinatra’s vocal version became a signature hit that same year.
A2. “I Don’t Want the Night to End” (3:53) – originated on the 1974 debut album by singer–songwriter Phoebe Snow; Midler reinterprets it here with orchestral arrangement and backup singers.
A3. “Mr. Rockefeller” (4:05) – was co-written by Bette Midler and Jerry Blatt and first introduced in her 1975 stage revue Clams on the Half Shell.
A4. “Old Cape Cod” (2:50) – became a 1957 million-seller for Patti Page; widely embraced as the unofficial anthem of Cape Cod for its nostalgic imagery.
A5. “Buckets of Rain” (4:00) – first appeared on Bob Dylan’s 1975 album Blood on the Tracks; Midler duets here with Dylan on a new studio version recorded during the album sessions.
A6. “Love Says It’s Waiting” (1:41) – is a brief original from The Promise Suite by Nick Holmes, originally a Columbia Records artist active in the early 1970s.

B1. “Shiver Me Timbers / Samedi et Vendredi” (6:25) – “Shiver Me Timbers” originated on The Heart of Saturday Night, the 1974 second album by Tom Waits, blending into Midler’s French-language original co-written with Moogy Klingman.
B2. “No Jestering” (3:59) – is a reggae-inflected cover of the Carlton Malcolm track, which originally appeared as a Jamaican single on the Moodisc label.
B3. “Tragedy” (3:06) – originated as a 1959 teen drama song by Gerald Nelson and Fred Burch, first recorded by Thomas Wayne and later covered by numerous artists across pop and country.
B4. “Marahuana” (2:30) – dates to the 1934 pre-Code musical Murder at the Vanities, where Gertrude Michael introduced it under the title “Sweet Marijuana,” written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow.
B5. “Let Me Just Follow Behind” (3:36) – composed by Moogy Klingman and also appears on his 1972 solo album Moogy, produced by Todd Rundgren.

Midler recorded the album between 1972 and 1976 at multiple New York studios, including Electric Lady, Mediasound, Secret Sound, and Atlantic Recording Studios. She oversaw production alongside Jack Malken, Moogy Klingman, Joel Dorn, and Atlantic executives Ahmet Ertegün and Arif Mardin.

“Strangers in the Night” became a hit on the US dance chart, peaking at No. 7. Songs for the New Depression reached No. 27 on the Billboard 200 and No. 14 on the Cash Box Top 100 Albums.

The Bette Midler Show

On June 19, 1976, the HBO cable movie network aired The Bette Midler Show, a 134-minute special filmed at Cleveland Music Hall during her Depression Tour.

Directed by Tom Trbovich and produced by Aaron Russo, the special features Midler’s signature blend of theatrical music, comedy, character monologues, and staged revue pieces like The Vicki Eydie Show and The Story of Nanette.

The HBO version included nearly the full Cleveland performance, mixing footage from two nights in February 1976, but was heavily edited down to 84 minutes for its 1984 home video release. Songs and skits like “Birds,” “Shiver Me Timbers,” “The Story of Nanette,” and a Harlettes spotlight number were cut from the home release but retained on Live at Last, which presents a more complete audio document of the show.

The personnel on both the TV special and the live album are identical, featuring Midler with The Staggering Harlettes (Sharon Redd, Ula Hedwig, Charlotte Crossley) and her touring band Betsy and the Blowboys. Don York serves as musical director, with instrumental highlights from guitarist Lou Volpe, reed player Jaroslav Jakubovic, and trumpeter Miles Krasner. Choreography by Toni Basil and material co-written with Jerry Blatt and Bruce Vilanch round out the production.

Live at Last

In June 1977, Bette Midler released Live at Last, a two-record document of here Depression Tour performances at Cleveland Music Hall, as shown on her 1976 HBO special The Bette Midler Show.

The album captures Midler’s theatrical flair across cabaret standards, comic monologues, and character medleys, with interplay between keyboardist Don York and guitarist Lou Volpe driving the arrangements. Richard Trifan adds tonal variety across dual keyboards, while Jaroslav Jakubovic’s reed passages thread through the transitions between musical numbers and spoken interludes.

The show combines reworked numbers from her first three albums with offbeat covers and comic set pieces like The Vicki Eydie Show and The Story of Nanette. She inserted one new studio track, “You’re Moving Out Today,” co-written with Carole Bayer Sager and produced by Tom Dowd with arrangement by Charlie Calello.

A1. “Backstage” (0:18)
A2. “Friends” / “Oh My My” (2:28) – the Klingman/Linhart number from The Divine Miss M merged with the 1973 Ringo Starr hit, written by Vini Poncia.
A3. “Bang You’re Dead” (3:15) – written by Valerie Simpson and Nickolas Ashford.
A4. “Birds” (4:39) – originated on After the Gold Rush, the 1970 third solo album by Neil Young.
A5. “Comic Relief” (2:38) – monologue
A6. “In the Mood” (2:09) – first covered on Bette Midler.
A7. “Hurry On Down” (2:07) – originated as a 1947 Capitol Americana a-side by Louisianan R&B singer Nellie Lutcher.

B1. “Shiver Me Timbers” (4:00) – Tom Waits song, first covered on Songs for the New Depression.
B2. The Vicki Eydie Show:
“Around the World” (0:23) – originated as the 1956 theme to Around the World in 80 Days by Harold Adamson and Victor Young, who posthumously won the Academy Award for his orchestral score.
“Istanbul” (0:55) – is a 1953 novelty hit by The Four Lads, written to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Constantinople’s fall; it became a gold record and inspired later versions by The Four Preps and They Might Be Giants.
“Fiesta in Rio” (1:52) – Bette Midler, Jerry Blatt
“South Seas Scene / Hawaiian War Chant” (5:13) – prelude credited to one Rik Carlok, merged with the 1860s popular song by Prince Leleiohoku.
“Lullaby of Broadway” (2:00) – Warren–Dubin standard, first covered on Bette Midler.
B3. “You’re Moving Out Today” [studio] (2:56) – co-written by Carole Bayer Sager, Bette Midler, and Bruce Roberts; Midler’s 1977 version peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. Sager herself scored a summer 1977 UK Top 10 hit with her version.

C1. “Delta Dawn” (5:54) – Collins–Harvey country number, first covered on The Divine Miss M.
C2. “Long John Blues” (2:36) – originated as the b-side to “Baby Get Lost,” a 1949 No. 1 R&B single by Dinah Washington, written by jazz critic Leonard Feather but credited to Billy Moore Jr.
C3. “Sophie Tucker Jokes” (2:38) – monologue
C4. The Story of Nanette:
“Nanette” (0:54) – written by librettist Howard Dietz about song-and-dance woman Nanette Fabray, who co-starred in the Dietz-scored 1953 MGM musical film The Band Wagon.
“Alabama Song” (1:34) – written in English in 1925 by Elisabeth Hauptmann for Bertolt Brecht and set to music by Franz Bruinier and Kurt Weill; it later featured in Brecht’s 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and was revived by The Doors and David Bowie.
“Drinking Again” (4:25) – jazz-pop standard first covered on Bette Midler.
“Mr. Rockefeller” (4:00) – Midler original from Songs for the New Depression.

D1. The Story of Nanette (continued):
“Ready to Begin Again / Do You Want to Dance?” (3:23) – Leiber–Stoller number first recorded in 1975 by Peggy Lee as “Ready to Begin Again (Manya’s Song),” merged with the Bobby Freeman chestnut first covered on The Divine Miss M.
D2. “Fried Eggs” (2:37) – monologue
D3. “Hello in There” (3:16) – John Prine song, first covered on The Divine Miss M.
D4. Finale:
“Up the Ladder to the Roof” (2:45) – was a 1970 hit for The Supremes, their first single after Diana Ross’ departure and the first to feature new lead vocalist Jean Terrell; it reached the UK Top 10 and marked a stylistic shift under producer Frank Wilson.
“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (3:04) – originated in the 1941 film Buck Privates and became a No. 6 hit for The Andrews Sisters; Midler’s 1972 version brought the song back to the US Top 10.
“Friends” (2:21) – reprise of the Divine Miss M number.

Midler recorded the live set during her 1976 Depression Tour with stage production by Aaron Russo and musical direction by Don York. Lew Hahn produced the album and handled remixing with Arif Mardin. Fedco Audio Labs provided the mobile recording equipment, with Jack Malken serving as engineer.

Live at Last preserves the full musical arc and comic structure of The Bette Midler Show, including numbers omitted from the edited video version, making it the definitive archival release of her 1976 Cleveland concerts.

“You’re Moving Out Today” reached No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Live at Last peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard 200.

Broken Blossom

Bette Midler released her fourth studio album, Broken Blossom, on November 17, 1977, on Atlantic.

The album moves between stylized torch songs, theatrical pastiche, and Spector-tinged pop, with arrangements anchored by pianist Artie Butler and guitarist Lee Ritenour. Tom Waits duets on piano and voice for “I Never Talk to Strangers,” while Steve Porcaro’s synthesizer textures and Craig Doerge’s piano embellishments add contrasting tonal layers across multiple tracks.

Broken Blossom alternates between torch ballads, theatrical duets, and elaborate pop pastiches. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” builds on sharp backing vocals and echo-heavy production that stacks percussive piano against a pacing rhythm section and Ritenour’s chiming fills. “Paradise” expands on that same layered aesthetic with clipped guitar stabs and a tightly arranged vocal blend that crests under string bursts. “I Never Talk to Strangers” narrows the frame—Waits and Midler trade close-voiced lines against sparse piano and brushed cymbals, pausing for a slow tenor saxophone passage.

“You Don’t Know Me” pares things down further with restrained phrasing over slow piano, while “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” shifts between hushed verses and sweeping transitions. “Red” pushes into harder terrain but offsets the tempo with clipped phrasing and rigid pacing. Most of the album holds a steady, low-tilt motion, driven less by force than by layering and stylistic framing.

A1. “Make Yourself Comfortable” (3:59) – written by Bob Merrill in 1954 and originally recorded by Peggy King and Sarah Vaughan; it became a cheeky jazz-pop standard through numerous mid-century versions.
A2. “You Don’t Know Me” (3:39) – written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1955; Ray Charles’ 1962 version reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains the most widely recognized interpretation.
A3. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” (3:02) – written and recorded by Billy Joel for his 1976 album Turnstiles; Midler amplifies its Spector-styled structure with backup vocals and orchestration.
A4. “I Never Talk to Strangers” (3:39) – originated on Tom Waits’ 1977 album Foreign Affairs, where he also duetted with Bette Midler on the original studio version.
A5. “Storybook Children (Daybreak)” (3:40) – written by David Pomeranz and Spencer Proffer; covered by Cheryl Lynn on her 1978 debut album.
A6. “Red” (3:17) – first recorded by Sammy Hagar on his 1977 second solo album Sammy Hagar; rendered here with taut, brisk, punkish aggression, shouted with wheezing synths across a high-velocity pulse.

B1. “Empty Bed Blues” (3:19) – is a 1928 Bessie Smith song composed by J.C. Johnson, often revived for its blunt lyrics and slow, spoken phrasing over twelve-bar piano blues.
B2. “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” (3:09) – originated in Disney’s Cinderella (1950), where Ilene Woods voiced the song; its melody draws loosely from Liszt’s Transcendental Etude No. 9 (Ricordanza).
B3. “Paradise” (4:15) – was co-written by Harry Nilsson and first recorded by him in 1974 for Pussy Cats; Midler reimagines the track with dense girl-group arrangements and soaring vocals.
B4. “Yellow Beach Umbrella” (4:24) – originated on the 1976 Three Dog Night album American Pastime, co-written by Sixties folk singer Judy Henske and CSN keyboardist Craig Doerge, also covered in 1977 by Libby Titus.
B5. “La Vie en Rose” (2:59) – written and popularized by Édith Piaf in 1946 and reached the US charts in 1950 via versions by Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, and Tony Martin.

Midler recorded the album at Record Plant and Studio 55 in Los Angeles with producer and engineer Brooks Arthur. Artie Butler handled most of the horn and string arrangements and contributed piano and organ parts. Bones Howe produced the duet with Tom Waits, who plays piano and shares vocals on his own composition. Background vocals on select tracks feature Ellie Greenwich, Brenda Russell, and Clydie King. Arthur aimed for layered production, drawing from 1960s-style orchestrations on tracks like “Paradise” and “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

“Storybook Children (Daybreak)” and “Paradise” were released as singles. Broken Blossom reached No. 51 on the Billboard 200 and charted in Australia and Canada.

Discography: