Music Review: Barry Manilow – Duets
Barry Manilow’s latest release is a collection of Duets culled from other albums—some his, some by his duet partners—going back several decades. The one exception is a duet with Melissa Manchester, heard hear for the first time, “You’ve Got a Friend."
Manilow apparently has a lot of friends, and they have joined him throughout the years on a variety of recordings. Duets from the eighties include “Hey Mambo” with Kid Creole and the Coconuts, “Big City Blues” with Mel Torme, “Run to Me” with Dionne Warwick, “Summertime” with Diane Schuur (featuring Stan Getz), “Blue” with Sarah Vaughn, and the standout cut on this album, “The Last Duet” with Lily Tomlin.
The songs were recorded over a twenty-eight year period; the most recent is from 2008 when Manilow paired with Reba McEntire for “Islands in the Stream.” Manilow’s voice doesn’t seem to have changed much in the past thirty years or so, and the selections are so uniformly produced that Duets could almost be described as bland. There is a Las Vegas vibe to nearly all the songs, good news for those who like seeing shows at casinos, not so good for those who don’t.
Manilow’s partners from the 1990s are Debra Byrd (“Let Me Be Your Wings”), Barbara Cook (“Look to the Rainbow”), and Sheena Easton (“I Won’t Be the One to Let Go”). In addition to his pairing with Reba McIntyre, his first decade of the new millennium recordings were made with The Association (“Cherish/Windy”), Bette Midler (“On a Slow Boat to China”), Phyllis McGuire (“Sincerely/Teach Me Tonight”), and Barbra Streisand (“I Won’t Be the One to Let Go”). The most disappointing may be “On a Slow Boat to China,” in which patter with his longtime friend Bette Midler lacks spontaneity, clearly it was scripted.
Manilow’s worldwide record sales exceed 80 million copies; without a doubt, his fans will enjoy Duets. Having been a Manilow fan in the seventies, I am sad to say that I must now join the ranks of former fans (though I’m still a Pepper stuck on Band-Aid).
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