Duets

This is an outstanding compilation of 15 Barry duets over the years with some other real famous grammy-award winning folks, and it is wonderful! What a line-up! A hair over one hour (almost 62 minutes) of beautiful music! Also included is a 16-page booklet with photos of Barry with many of these folks as well as a little bit of verbiage about the album. Just for an added special touch, the CD case is heavier and better quality than most you receive with a new CD.

CD
1. You've Got A Friend (with Melissa Manchester) - 2011 release -- "previously unreleased mix" - If you say "I have this already," - yes, so do I, but this has additional enhancement added in and is even better than the rendition from the former collection.
2. Hey Mambo (with Kid Creole and the Coconuts) - 1987 release - Nice peppy song from Barry's "Swing Street" CD - latin-swing.
3. Let Me Be Your Wings (with Debra Byrd) - 1994 release - from the Thumbelina Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. This is a very beautiful song.
4. Cherish/Windy (with The Association) - 2006 release - beautiful arrangement combining the two songs from Barry's "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties" CD.
5. Look to the Rainbow (with Barbara Cook) - 1991 release - from the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow and on Barry's "Showstoppers" CD - I absolutely LOVE this song. It is so very beautiful. (This is one of two Barry songs that makes me feel as if I've come "home" again. I have no idea why.)
6. Islands in the Stream (with Reba McEntire) - 2008 release - a peppy "fun" song from Barry's "The Greatest Songs of the Eighties" CD.
7. Big City Blues (with Mel Torme' and featuring Gerry Mulligan) -- - 1984 release - from Barry's "2:00 a.m. Paradise Café'" jazz CD.
8. On a Slow Boat to China (with Bette Midler) - 2003 release - a cute, peppy rendition of a classic song (with added comedic lyrics) from Bette's "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook" CD. This is a "fun" song.
9. Run to Me (with Dionne Warwick) - 1985 release - from the Warwick "Finder of Lost Loves" CD and from the Barry "The Manilow Collection/Twenty Classic Hits".
10. Summertime (with Diane Schuur and featuring Stan Getz) - 1987 release - This famous Gershwin tune from Porgy and Bess is just awesome.
11. Sincerely/Teach Me Tonight (with Phyllis McGuire) - 2006 release - from Barry's "Greatest Songs of the Fifties". This is also a very pretty arrangement of two great songs. Very smoothly done.
12 .Blue (with Sarah Vaughan) - 1984 release - from Barry's "2:00 a.m. Paradise Café'" jazz CD.
13. Now and Forever (with Sheena Easton) - 1995 release - Such a gorgeous song from the DVD "The Pebble and the Penguin" (such a cute little movie about penguins that Barry did all the musical arranging for). This may be a "kid's" movie, but I loved it too--and the music was superb!
14. I Won't Be the One to Let Go (with Barbra Streisand) - 2002 release from the Barbra Streisand "Duets" CD. A beautiful song! Does it get any better than Manilow and Streisand together!
15. The Last Duet (with Lily Tomlin) - 1980 release from the Barry "Barry" CD. An interesting and lively song, which includes Lily's famous "snort".

Booklet
The full-color 16-page booklet includes pictures of Barry with most of the other celebrities in the duets. What is also so cool is that these are pix over the years, ranging from 1980 to 2008. Pix include Barry with: Kid Creole, Debra Byrd, Reba McEntire, Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Diane Schuur, Phyllis McGuire, Barbra Streisand, Lily Tomlin, and Mel Torme' (in a NY Yankees Baseball cap).

This is just one awesome collection and a real nice bang for the buck!

I tend to ignore compilation discs that repeat tracks which I have already paid for on original albums, but "Duets" compiles an exceptionally wide range of songs from across the years (some of which I had almost forgotten - some admission from a long-time Manilow fan!). It demonstrates the breadth of material that Manilow has performed, including many songs he composed and produced. An album I now listen to often.

A great album if you like Barry Manilow. Lots of unusual tracks with a host of celebraties to accompany him.