Way back in Ye Olden Days of 2011, The Second Disc advocated for the release of the original quadraphonic mix of Bette Midler's 1973 debut, The Divine Miss M.  Well, lo these many years later, Rhino has granted our wish, and it's been released on Blu-ray as part of the label's still-growing Quadio series of four-channel reissues.  In Craig Anderson's stellar remaster, it's happily as good as we remember it!  The 4.0 mix by Atlantic Records veteran Tom Dowd, a legendary producer in his own right, is immersive from the get-go.  The opening track, Barry Manilow's sultry, slowed-down rearrangement of Bobby Freeman's "Do You Want to Dance," envelops the listener from the very first notes, with Ralph MacDonald's soft percussion, Ron Carter's bass, and Manilow's piano all discretely placed for maximum effect.  Every hushed whisper of Bette's breathy vocal gains newfound clarity, and the call-and-response with the background vocalists bounces from front to back.  The plush strings provided by Thom Bell deserve their place up front, but never overwhelm the lead vocals.  As an added bonus, the song is significantly extended from the original album version with more of Midler's ad libs.

"Do You Want to Dance" sets the stage for a quad mix that's demonstration disc-worthy.  It doesn't hurt that the original album remains a master class in song interpretation and personalization.  By bending songs of various genres and eras to her own singular style - aided and abetted by musical director/producer Manilow; his co-producers Ahmet Ertegun and Geoffrey Haslam; and original producer Joel Dorn - Midler released an album that defined her persona and launched her on a remarkable, multi-faceted career that continues to this day.

Dowd and his engineer added reverb to many of the vocals, giving the album a "wet" quality that works beautifully in the surround format.  Manilow's dynamic productions of "Chapel of Love" and "Leader of the Pack" bask in the added dimension as does the dramatic "Superstar," using the intimate voice-and-piano combination up front as a starting point and building to the appearance of strings (in front) and brass (in the rear channels).  (Though Midler's rendition inspired Richard Carpenter to arrange the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett song for his sister Karen and their definitive, immaculate record, Bette has the edge when it comes to communicating the sheer sexuality of the unexpurgated lyric.) The funky "Daytime Hustler," another of Manilow's productions on the LP, is leaner but no less sonically interesting with congas and guitar in the back and organ and lead vocals in the front.  The gospel grandeur of "Delta Dawn," another Midler and Manilow stage specialty, is even more thunderous.

As well as helming "Do You Want to Dance" and the album's quieter moments such as "Am I Blue" and John Prine's moving "Hello in There," Joel Dorn produced the album's first version of "Friends."  While Manilow correctly identified that a stronger arrangement could turn Buzzy Linhart's song into a hit (and eventually an anthem), the initial take has its charms - and even more so in Quadio.  The track's multiple vocal overdubs are doled out among the speakers - Midler starts the song in the rear right channel - making the various spoken ad libs, quips, and one-liners much clearer than on the stereo mix.  The familiar Manilow version of "Friends" shines, too, with the joyous background vocals by The Harlettes, a.k.a. Melissa Manchester, Gail Kantor, and Merle Miller, plus Manilow and bassist Michael Federal cutting through with clarity.  The strings are more prominent than in stereo, too, providing a darker shading to the upbeat melody that later became a defiant anthem for the generation stricken by the scourge of AIDS.

Dorn's production of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (featuring Dick Hyman on piano) is surprising, even within the audaciously immersive context, as Midler's multiple Andrews Sisters voices travel from speaker to speaker.  It's not the obvious choice and maybe not even the most effective, but it keeps the listener in the center of an all-encompassing soundscape, as if onstage with a constantly moving Miss M.  Note that "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" features some unique vocals and instrumentation to both the original LP version (which was in mono on the otherwise stereo LP, to capture the retro feeling) and the subsequent, partially re-recorded hit single version.

For those of us (myself included) who didn't get to experience the live Midler in her early days, the Quadio presentation of The Divine Miss M might be the next best thing as it places the listener in the center of an eclectic, alternately rollicking and melancholy party in the studio.  It also ranks as one of the strongest Quadio releases yet.  For more on The Divine Miss M, check out our Reissue Theory which goes into detail about the album's history, and give a spin to the 2016 expanded Deluxe Edition.

Bread's Baby I'm-A Want You, the 1972 studio LP from the Los Angeles band, was their fourth overall and the first to welcome Wrecking Crew veteran Larry Knechtel, replacing founding member Robb Royer on a variety of instruments including keyboards and bass.  Despite the change in personnel, the band's trademark sound didn't change much on the LP.  From the beginning, Bread's albums had featured David Gates' signature ballads - a string of which became major hits and defined the group's sound to radio - alongside edgier rock fare.

Gates' fertile pen yielded two more top ten Pop smashes, the romantic "Baby I'm-a Want You" and poignant "Everything I Own," and the top 15 ballad "Diary."  ("Baby" reached No. 1 AC, while the other two peaked at No. 3 on that chart.)  The prolific James Griffin penned six songs including one with Gates, one with Knechtel, two with Royer, and two solo.  Though Bread's chart fortunes were almost exclusively the result of its buttery ballads, the group could rock.  That often-ignored side of the band could be heard on such tracks as Gates' "Mother Freedom," the lone song held over from sessions with Robb Royer, and the Gates/Knechtel/Griffin co-write "Nobody Like You."  Though Gates was the balladeer-in-chief, Griffin was no slouch, either, as evidenced by "Just Like Yesterday."

Baby I'm a Want-You's quadraphonic mix by engineer Armin Steiner lacks the wholly immersive aspects of The Divine Miss M, and is more traditionally front-heavy.  But it's hardly an uninteresting or boring listen, and those familiar with the stereo version will hear discretely placed instruments that were easy to miss in the stereo mix.  The funky "Mother Freedom" benefits from the four-channel mix, with percussion and acoustic guitars clearly defined in the rear speakers.  Often, Steiner takes a "super stereo" approach, with identical elements such as lead vocals emanating from multiple channels; the effect is lovely and full on the ballads if still subdued.  The background vocals are effectively placed in the rear for the uptempo, jangly "Down on My Knees," one of Bread's stronger rock workouts, and discrete drums jump out at the listener from the rear on the twangy protest song "This Isn't What the Governmeant."  Quad, too, makes Griffin and Royer's softly burbling "Dream Lady" just a bit dreamier.

Baby I'm-A Want You reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and the Gold-certified album remains the band's highest-charting LP and possibly most beloved.  The Quadio presentation is a lovely one indeed to savor Bread's delicious melodies with added dimension.​

Both The Divine Miss M and Baby I'm A-Want You are available now directly from Rhino.com!